photos by Howard Wise
On the morning of February 7, the DGA again presented its membership with a unique opportunity to celebrate the craft of directing during the 35th Annual Meet the Nominees: Theatrical Feature Film symposium. Following a welcome from President Christopher Nolan, the 2025 Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film Award nominees — Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another), Ryan Coogler (Sinners), Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein), Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme) and Chloé Zhao (Hamnet) — joined moderator Jeremy Kagan in the Guild’s Los Angeles Theater for an in-depth discussion about their work.
About the Panelists:
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One Battle After Another (Warner Bros. Pictures) Unit Production Manager: Will Weiske First Assistant Director: Adam Somner Second Assistant Director: Trevor Tavares, Ian Stone Second Second Assistant Director: Dominic Pacitti, Rafael Sanz-Jimenez Additional Second Assistant Director: Nuekellar Hardy, Chunning Chang, Kit Conners, Kasia Trojak, Tyler Young Anderson’s other directorial credits include the feature films Phantom Thread, Inherent Vice, The Master, Punch-Drunk Love, Magnolia, Boogie Nights and Hard Eight. Prior to One Battle After Another, Anderson was nominated for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for There Will Be Blood (2007) and Licorice Pizza (2021). He has been a DGA member since 1996. |
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Sinners (Warner Bros. Pictures) Unit Production Manager: Will Greenfield, Kenneth Yu First Assistant Director: Marvin Williams Second Assistant Director: Amir R. Khan Second Second Assistant Director: Gio Paredes-Utforskare Additional Second Assistant Director: Gregory S. Carr, Desiree Stevenson
Coogler’s other directorial credits include the feature films Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Creed and Fruitvale Station. He also won a DGA Student Film Award for “Best African American Student Filmmaker - West Region” for his 2010 short, Fig. Coogler has been a DGA member since 2015 and has served on the Western Directors Council. |
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Frankenstein (Netflix) Unit Production Manager: J. Miles Dale First Assistant Director: Walter Gasparovic Second Assistant Director: Chad Belair
Del Toro’s directorial credits include the features Cronos, Mimic, The Devil’s Backbone, Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, Pacific Rim, Crimson Peak, Nightmare Alley and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; the pilot for the series The Strain; and episodes of the series Hora Marcada and Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia. His 2017 feature, The Shape of Water, earned del Toro the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film and went on to garner four Academy Awards including Best Director and Best Motion Picture of the Year. He has been a member of the DGA since 1996. |
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Marty Supreme (A24) Unit Production Manager: Anthony Katagas, Joe Guest First Assistant Director: Jeremy Marks Second Assistant Director: Zach Citarella Second Second Assistant Director: Kailyn Dabkowski Assistant Unit Production Manager: Max Samu, Suk Yi Mar, Samson Jacobson Location Manager: Matthew Kania, Ross Brodar
Alongside his brother Benny, Safdie’s other directorial credits include the feature films Uncut Gems, Good Time, Heaven Knows What, Daddy Longlegs and The Pleasure of Being Robbed; and the documentary Lenny Cooke. He has been a DGA member since 2018. |
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Hamnet (Focus Features)
Zhao’s other directorial credits include the feature films Songs My Brothers Taught Me, The Rider and Eternals. She won the 2020 DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for her third feature, Nomadland, which also earned her Academy Awards for “Best Motion Picture” and “Best Achievement in Directing.” She has been a DGA member since 2019. |
 Jeremy Kagan (moderator)Kagan’s directorial credits include the features Shot, The Big Fix, The Chosen, The Journey of Natty Gann; the movies for television Roswell: The UFO Cover-Up and Katherine, The Making of an American Revolutionary; the television documentary Conspiracy: The Trial of The Chicago 8; and episodes of The Handler, Heroes and The West Wing. He was nominated for a DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs for Crown Heights. He is also the author of three volumes of Directors Close Up and the eTextbook Keys to Directing. A DGA member since 1972, Kagan initiated the DGA’s Meet the Nominees Theatrical Feature Film symposia and has served on the Western Directors Council and the DGA National Board and is the former chair of the DGA Special Projects Committee. In 2004, Kagan received the DGA Robert B. Aldrich Award for his service to the Guild. |
Directed by: Tracey Smith Baumert
Stage Manager: Redelia Shaw
