Toni Saarinen and Brook Durham of Saarinen, Los Angeles, have been named to handle the West Coast and Texas for Superior Assembly Editing Company, Santa Monica….Open Frame Productions, New York, has signed Connie Mellors of Connie Mellors & Company, Toluca Lake, Calif., to handle West Coast representation; Cathi Connor, Jim Waldron and Wendy Hanson of The Connor Group, Chicago, for the Midwest; and Fran Montoya of Montoya Reps, Dallas, to cover Texas. Maggie Klein of New York-based Maggie Klein & Co. remains Open Frame’s New York rep….Lee Pisarski of Lee+Lou Productions, a Los Angeles-based independent rep firm, is now handling national sales for director Scott Miller of Scott Miller & Company, Malibu, Calif….Steve Lewis, president/directors agent of Studio City, Calif.-based The Directors Network, has signed several helmers for exclusive freelance representation: Milan-based director/cameramen Alberto Dell’Orto; Yas, a Japanese spotmaker who resides in Los Angeles and is known for his stylized work; New York-based monologue and real-people specialist Conrad Fink; Les Luxford, whose reputation is in complex live action/visual effects design combo jobs; and director/cameraman Michael Dali, a Midwest artisan whose reel combines strong visuals with real people and monologue….Production designer Lauryn LeClere has joined The Skouras Agency, Santa Monica, for exclusive representation….Cinematographer John Toll has wrapped the feature Vanilla Sky and is now available for spots through the Judy Marks Agency, Los Angeles….Rick Lee has been appointed senior account executive of sales and marketing for Picture Pipeline, a West Los Angeles-based secure broadband solutions company launched by TRW (SHOOT, 1/26, p. 7). Picture Pipeline offers digital dailies, postproduction collaboration and file transfer services to the film, TV, spot and music video communities. Lee formerly was a senior account exec at post house Hollywood Digital….
DGA Feature Nominees: Audiard, Baker, Berger, Corbet and Mangold
The field of feature nominees for the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards spanning two categories is set. Nominated for the DGA honor for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2024 are: Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez, Sean Baker for Anora, Edward Berger for Conclave, Brady Corbet for The Brutalist, and James Mangold for A Complete Unknown.
The DGA also revealed the nominees for the Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film. The first-time narrative feature directors are: Payal Kapadia for All We Imagine as Light, Megan Park for My Old Ass, RaMell Ross for Nickel Boys, Halfdan Ullman Tondel for Armand, and Sean Wang for Diddy.
“2024 has been a truly extraordinary year for storytelling--and today’s nominees have created audacious and unique films that expand the possibilities of cinematic excellence,” said DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter. “I am thrilled to congratulate all our nominated directors for their brilliant work, which is visionary, inspirational and speaks to the depth of the human experience. To be chosen by one’s peers is the true marker of outstanding directorial achievement and what makes these nominations so very special.”
The winners will be announced at the 77th Annual DGA Awards on Saturday, February 8.
Here’s a fuller rundown of the nominees in both DGA Award categories:
THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2024 (in alphabetical order):
JACQUES AUDIARD
Emilia Pérez
(Netflix)
SEAN... Read More