In a surprise, Tom Hooper has won the 2011 DGA Award for feature film directing for “The King’s Speech.” Hooper upset expected winner David Fincher (“The Social Network”) and Christopher Nolan (“Inception) who were the expected frontrunners for the prize.
This is a big coup in the Oscar race for “Speech” as the film has won both the Producer’s Guild and the Director’s Guilds honors. Considering the unanimous end of year acclaim for “Network” by most critic’s groups, these two upsets have clearly pushed “Network” out of the driver’s seat for best picture. The last best picture winner to win without securing the DGA or the PGA was “Crash” in 2006. It is extremely rare.
The guilds form the backbone of the Academy membership and while the Screen Actor’s Guild is expected to select “The Fighter” for best ensemble, most actors don’t equate that award with best film in their voting. Although, “Crash” did win SAG, so “Network” will have to hold out hope for an upset Sunday night.
It’s worth noting “Speech” was deemed ineligible for the Writer’s Guild Awards, but was nominated for the best original screenplay Oscar.
There were few surprises in the rest of this year’s winners.
FEATURE FILM
Tom Hooper, “The King’s Speech”
(The Weinstein Company)
DOCUMENTARY
Charles Ferguson, “Inside Job”
(Sony Pictures Classics)
MOVIES FOR TELEVISION AND MINI-SERIES
Mick Jackson, “Temple Grandin”
(HBO)
DRAMATIC SERIES
Martin Scorsese, “Boardwalk Empire”
(HBO)
COMEDY SERIES
Michael Spiller, “Modern Family,” “Halloween”
(ABC)
REALITY PROGRAMS
Eytan, Keller, “The Next Iron Chef,” “Episode #301”
(Food Network)
MUSICAL VARIETY
Glenn Weiss, “64th Annual Tony Awards”
(CBS)
DAYTIME SERIALS
Larry Carpenter, “One Life to Live,” “Starr X”d Lovers, The Musical, Part Two”
(ABC)
CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS
Eric Bross, “Boy Who Cried Werewolf”
(Nickelodeon)
COMMERCIALS
Stacy Wall
(Imperial Woodpecker)
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