Director Dee Rees Wins DGA Award For “Bessie”
Posted by Wilson Morales
February 7, 2016
Last night, director Dee Rees (“Pariah”) won the Directors Guild of America award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Mini-Series in 2015 for her work on HBO’s “Bessie,” which starred Queen Latifah.
“There’s a million reasons why I shouldn’t be in this room, and there are a million more reasons why I shouldn’t be on this stage,” Rees said in her acceptance speech. “It all comes down to 10 or 15 people (who are) the reason why I am in this room and the reason why I am on this stage.”
Rees was the only woman (out of 14) to take home a prize. There were 47 nominations in total.
Ms. Rees’s Directorial Team includes:
Unit Production Manager: Ron Schmidt
First Assistant Director: Michael J. Moore
Second Assistant Director: Basti Van Der Woude
Second Second Assistant Director: Joann Connolly
For her next project, Rees will be partnering with producer Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beer on an adaption of Isabel Wilkerson’s “The Warmth of Other Suns” for FX.
The big story was that “The Revenant” director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu also won award for feature film, marking the first back-to-back DGA win for any director. He won last year for “Birdman,” which also netted the Oscar for Best Film and Best Director.
Winners
Feature Film
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – The Revenant WINNER
Tom McCarthy – Spotlight
Adam McKay – The Big Short
George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road
Ridley Scott – The Martian
Documentary
Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi — Meru
Liz Garbus – What Happened, Miss Simone?
Alex Gibney – Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
Matthew Heineman – Cartel Land WINNER
Asif Kapadia – Amy
First-Time Feature Film Director
Fernando Coimbra – A Wolf at the Door
Joel Edgerton – The Gift
Alex Garland – Ex Machina – WINNER
Marielle Heller – The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Laszlo Nemes – Son of Saul
Dramatic Series
Michael Engler – Downton Abbey, Episode 8
Leslie Linka Glatter – Homeland, The Tradition of Hospitality
David Nutter – Game of Thrones, Mother’s Mercy WINNER
Steven Soderbergh – The Knick, Williams and Walker
Matthew Weiner – Mad Men, Person to Person
Comedy Series
Chris Addison – Veep, Election Night WINNER
Louis C.K. – Louie, Sleepover
Mike Judge – Silicon Valley, Binding Arbitration
Gail Mancuso – Modern Family, White Christmas
Jill Soloway – Transparent, Kino Hora
Movies for TV and Miniseries
Angela Bassett – Whitney
Laurie Collyer – The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
Paul Haggis – Show Me a Hero
Kenny Leon, Matthew Diamond – The Wiz Live!
Dee Rees – Bessie WINNER
Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Regularly Scheduled Programming
Paul G. Casey – Real Time with Bill Maher, #1334
Dave Diomedi – The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, episode #325
Don Roy King – Saturday Night Live, Host: Tracy Morgan/Musical Guest: Demi Lovato
Ryan McFaul and Amy Schumer – Inside Amy Schumer, 12 Angry Men
Chuck O’Neil – The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Episode #20142
Variety/Talk/News/Sports — Specials
Sofia Coppola – A Very Murray Christmas
Hamish Hamilton – The 87th Academy Awards
Don Roy King – Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special WINNER
Beth McCarthy Miller – Adele Live in New York City
Chris Rock – Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo
Reality Programs
Brady Connell — The Great Christmas Light Fight, Episode 304
Ken Fuchs – Shark Tank, 702
Steve Hryniewicz — Cutthroat Kitchen, Superstar Sabotage Finale: It’s Raining Ramen
Bertram Van Munster – The Amazing Race, Bring the Fun, Baby
Adam Vetri – Steve Austin’s Broken Skull challenge, Gods of War WINNER
Children’s Programs
Paul Hoen – Invisible Skull
Joseph Mazzarino – Sesame Street, The Cookie Thief
Kenny Ortega – Descendants – WINNER
Amy Schatz – Saving My Tomorrow, Part 3
Sasie Sealy — Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street, Gortimer and the Vengeful Violinist
Commercials
Juan Cabral, MJZ
Miles Jay, Smuggler
Tom Kuntz, MJZ
Andreas Nilsson, Biscuit Filmworks – WINNER
Steve Rogers, Biscuit Filmworks