Danny Boyle nabs DGA feature award

Danny Boyle at 2008 Telluride Film Festival Labor Day Picnic;
Danny Boyle Roach (center right) with presenter Ethan Coen
First Assistant Director Raj Acharya and presenter Joel Coen

The winners of the 2008 Directors Guild of America Outstanding Directorial Achievement Awards and the recipients of the Guild's 2009 Career Achievement Awards were announced tonight during the 61st Annual DGA Awards Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. Danny Boyle won the DGA's Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for Slumdog Millionaire.

"If I can get here, so can you," the 52-year-old Boyle told the audience in a brief acceptance speech. "Dream kind, dream hard." This is Mr. Boyle's first DGA Feature Film Award.

Following the welcome by DGA President Michael Apted to an audience of more than 1,500 guests, actor/comedian Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men) hosted the ceremony. Jon Cryer subbed as the emcee for Carl Reiner, who took ill Friday from food poisoning. Reiner had served as host for 21 years.

Cryer noted that he's also a member of the DGA, which he noted has "awesome" health insurance that includes coverage of therapy. "Imagine if SAG covered therapy," he quipped.

Presenters included: Amy Adams* and Viola Davis* (Doubt), Christian Bale (The Dark Knight), Josh Brolin* and Sean Penn* (Milk), DGA Secretary/Treasurer Gil Cates, Claire Danes (Stardust), Lisa Edelstein (House), Jodie Foster (Panic Room), Rachel Griffiths (Brothers & Sisters), Richard Jenkins* (The Visitor), Taraji P. Henson* (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Frank Langella* and Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon), Melissa Leo* (Frozen River), Michelle Monaghan (Eagle Eye), Dev Patel and Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road), DGA National Vice President Steven Soderbergh, Marisa Tomei* (The Wrestler), Blair Underwood (In Treatment), and 2007 DGA Feature Film Award winners Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men).

* 2009 Academy Award Nominee

Roger Ebert with wife Chaz Hammelsmith Ebert
and stepdaughter Sonia

Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert, who can no longer speak due to complications from thyroid cancer, received a standing ovation when honored with an honorary lifetime membership in the guild along with recorded testimonials from Steven Spielberg, Patty Jenkins, Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese and Oliver Stone.

"I think it's very brave of directors to give a critic an honorary membership," Ebert said in a statement read by his wife. "The person responsible above all else for a film is the director."

2009 DGA AWARD WINNERS

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN FEATURE FILM
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures)
Unit Production Manager: Sanjay Kumar
First Assistant Director: Raj Acharya
Second Assistant Director: Avani Batra
Second Second Assistant Director: Sonia Nemawarkar

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES FOR TELEVISION/MINI-SERIES
Jay Roach, Recount (HBO)
Unit Production Manager: Scott Ferguson
First Assistant Director: Michael Hausman
First Assistant Director/Second Assistant Director: Peter Thorell
Second Assistant Director: Tudor Jones
Second Second Assistant Director: Rob Dickerson Jr.

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMATIC SERIES NIGHT
Dan Attias, The Wire - "Transitions" (HBO)
Unit Production Manager: Nina Noble
First Assistant Director: Eric Henriquez
Second Assistant Director: Xanthus Valan
Second Second Assistant Director: Tim Blockburger

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY SERIES
Paul Feig, The Office - "Dinner Party" (NBC)
Unit Production Manager: Robert Rothbard
First Assistant Director: Kelly Cantley
Second Assistant Director: Jennie O'Keefe
Second Second Assistant Director: Jasmine Alhambra
DGA Trainee: Alicia Cho

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSICAL VARIETY
Brent (Bucky) Gunts, Opening Ceremony Beijing 2008 Olympic Summer Games (NBC)
Associate Directors: Carol Larson, Brian Orentreich
Stage Manager: Steve Hollander

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN REALITY PROGRAMS
Tony Croll, America's Next Top Model - "1002" (CW)
Associate Director: John Downer

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DAYTIME SERIALS
Larry Carpenter, One Life to Live - Episode #10,281, "So You Think You Can Be Shane Morasco's Father?" (ABC)
Associate Directors: Teresa Anne Cicala, Paul Glass, Tracy Casper Lang
Stage Managers: Alan Needleman, Keith Greer, Brendan Higgins,
Production Associates: Kevin Brush, Beth Kravitz

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS
Amy Schatz, Classical Baby (I'm Grown Up Now) "The Poetry Show" (HBO)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMERCIALS
Peter Thwaites, Production Company: Gorgeous Enterprises
Waterslide, Barclaycard -BBH
Light Show, Guinness - Irish International BBDO

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DOCUMENTARY
Ari Folman, "Waltz with Bashir" (Les Films D'ici, Razor Films, Sony Pictures Classics)

2009 DGA SERVICE AND CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS
Film Critic/Author Roger Ebert – DGA Honorary Life Member Award for recognition of outstanding creative achievement, or contribution to the guild, or the profession of directing.

DGA Second Vice-President/Director William M. Brady - Robert B. Aldrich Award for extraordinary service to the DGA and to its membership.

DGA Board Member/Unit Production Manager Kim Kurumada - Frank Capra Achievement Award, given to an Assistant Director or Unit Production Manager in recognition of career achievement in the industry and service to the Directors Guild of America.

DGA Assistant Secretary-Treasurer/Associate Director Scott Berger - Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award for an Associate Director or Stage Manager in recognition of career achievement in the industry and service to the Directors Guild of America

The DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film has traditionally been one of the industry's most accurate barometers for who will win the Best Director Academy Award.

Only six times since the DGA Awards began in 1948 has the Feature Film winner not gone on to win the corresponding Academy Award.

Source: Directors Guild of America
Variety.com

Freida Pinto to receive Breakthrough Performance Award at PSIFF

The 20th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival will honor Freida Pinto with the Breakthrough Performance Award for her performance in Slumdog Millionaire from Fox Searchlight. The festival is presented by Cartier, on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at the Palm Springs Convention Center and will be hosted by “Entertainment Tonight’s” Mary Hart. The Festival runs January 6-19, 2009.

Festival chairman Harold Matzner said, “Slumdog Millionaire is one of the best films of 2008 and we’re delighted to be able to present the Breakthrough Performance Award to the extraordinary beautiful Freida Pinto for her compelling, standout performance in the film.” Past recipients of the Breakthrough Award include Marion Cotillard, Jennifer Hudson and Felicity Huffman.

Pinto stars in Slumdog Millionaire, the story of a young man who looks to become a contestant on the Hindi version of “Who Wants to be A Millionaire” in order to re-establish contact with the girl he loves, who is an ardent fan of the show. The Fox Searchlight Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures release is directed by Danny Boyle from a screenplay by Simon Beaufoy based on the novel Q & A by Vikas Swarup. The cast includes Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Madhur Mittal and Freida Pinto.

Freida Pinto graduated from St Xavier’s College in Mumbai with a BA in English in 2005 and was signed up to the Elite Model Agency in India where she was selected for numerous campaigns for brands such as De Beers, Visa, MTV, Chanel, eBay and Airtel. She has appeared on several TV shows including “Wendell Rodricks for Lakme Fashion Week 2006,” “Sahara” and the History Channel. She went on to anchor “Full Circle” on Zee International Asia Pacific, successfully completing 52 episodes where she presented a unique report on Afghanistan and explored the vibrant cultures and traditions of Fiji, Malaysia and Singapore among others. Her role as Latika in Slumdog Millionaire is her first lead role in a feature film.

The Festival’s annual Awards Gala, will honor previously announced honorees Clint Eastwood with the Career Achievement Award, Ron Howard with the Director’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Dustin Hoffman with the Chairman’s Award, Revolutionary Road with the Ensemble Performance Award, Sean Penn and Anne Hathaway with the Desert Palm Achievement Award for Acting, Amy Adams with the Spotlight Award, Dakota Fanning with the Rising Star Award, Gus Van Sant with the Sonny Bono Visionary Award and Alexandre Desplat with the Frederick Loewe Award for Film Composing.

PSIFF, founded in 1990 by then Mayor Sonny Bono, is scheduled from January 6-19, 2009, screening 210 films from 73 countries. The Festival presents a majority of the films submitted for consideration in the Best Foreign Language category for the Academy Awards®, as well as a large number of American independent and international features and documentaries marking their world, North American or U.S. debuts.

NBR names 'Slumdog' best of year; David Fincher wins directing kudos for 'Button'

Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Labor Day Picnic, 2008 Telluride Film Festival
Danny with Moi (left) and Terri Atmore (right)

"Slumdog Millionaire" was named best film of the year yesterday by the National Board of Review. Released Nov. 12, it was acquired by Searchlight midyear after it was orphaned through Time Warner’s shuttering of Warner Independent. (Warner Bros. remains a partner in the pic.) After its boffo preem in Telluride (WooHoo), the Danny Boyle-helmed tale of a Mumbai-raised boy competing for 20 million rupees on India’s "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" was on its way.

David Fincher, 2008 Telluride Film Festival
(Elks Park Panel )

David Fincher wins NBR directing kudos for 'Button'. At Telluride's "Tribute to Fincher" packed house, we got a first look at twenty minutes of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". Awesome, magical! 'Button' has garnered much awards buzz to date. It opens Dec 25th. The incomparable Fincher deserves a Best Director Oscar® nom.

Marking its 100th year of existence, the NBR will hand out the awards Jan. 14 at its annual gala at Cipriani 42nd Street. Whoopi Goldberg will host.

The 122 members of the org are described variously as "knowledgeable film buffs," academics, historians and industryites, including the 41 "young voices" of students or filmmakers. Members typically view about 300 titles a year before voting on their picks; this year the number reached 330.

And the winners are:

Film: "Slumdog Millionaire"
Director: David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Actor: Clint Eastwood, "Gran Torino"
Actress: Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"
Supporting Actor: Josh Brolin, "Milk"
Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Foreign Language Film: "Mongol"
Documentary: "Man On Wire"
Animated Feature: "Wall-E"
Ensemble Cast: "Doubt"
Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: Dev Patel, "Slumdog Millionaire"
Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: Viola Davis, "Doubt"
Directorial Debut: Courtney Hunt, "Frozen River"
Original Screenplay: Nick Schenk, "Gran Torino"
Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire"
Eric Roth, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Spotlight Award: Melissa Leo, "Frozen River"
Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor"
The BVLGARI Award for NBR Freedom of Expression: "Trumbo"

TOP TEN FILMS
(in alphabetical order)
* "Burn After Reading"
* "Changeling"
* "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button"
* "The Dark Knight"
* "Defiance"
* "Frost/Nixon"
* "Gran Torino"
* "Milk"
* "Wall-E"
* "The Wrestler"

TOP FIVE FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILMS
(in alphabetical order)
* Edge Of Heaven
* Let The Right One In
* Roman De Guerre
* A Secret
* Waltz With Bashir

TOP FIVE DOCUMENTARY FILMS
(in alphabetical order)
* American Teen
* The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
* Dear Zachary
* Encounters At The End Of The World
* Roman Polanski: Wanted And Desired

TOP INDEPENDENT FILMS OF 2008
(in alphabetical order)
*Frozen River
*In Bruges
*In Search of a Midnight Kiss
*Mr. Foe
*Rachel Getting Married
*Snow Angels
*Son of Rambow
*Wendy and Lucy
*Vicky Cristina Barcelona
*The Visitor

WILLIAM K. EVERSON FILM HISTORY AWARD:
Molly Haskell And Andrew Sarris

Source: NBRMP.org