DGA Awards 2026: Paul Thomas Anderson wins top honor
What's the story
Director Paul Thomas Anderson bagged the top honor at the 78th Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards on Saturday (local time). Anderson won Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for One Battle After Another, a win that could indicate a potential Academy Award victory. The ceremony, which recognized outstanding directorial achievements in film and television for the year, was held in Beverly Hills and hosted by Kumail Nanjiani.
Acceptance speech
Anderson's emotional tribute to late assistant director Adam Somner
During his acceptance speech, Anderson paid a heartfelt tribute to his late assistant director Adam Somner, who passed away in 2024. He said, "Obviously, we are up here, minus one. A lot of people in this room know our hero, our man, Adam Somner. He took this work so seriously and did not take himself seriously at all. And that was a great gift... He made us feel safe."
Television winners
'The Pitt' and 'The Studio' directors also won big
On the television front, The Pitt clinched the top Dramatic Series prize with director Amanda Marsalis helming the winning episode 6:00pm. In the comedy category, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg won for The Studio episode The Oner. They also won a directing Emmy last September. Goldberg and Rogen dedicated their victory to the late The Studio star Catherine O'Hara during their acceptance speech.
Additional winners
Other notable winners from the evening
The evening's honors began with Liz Patrick winning in the Variety category for SNL50: The Anniversary Special. Shannon Murphy, director of Dying for Sex, won in the Limited or Anthology Series category. Mike Sweeney from Conan O'Brien Must Go took home the award for Reality/Quiz and Game. Netflix's Nonnas won TV movie honors under Stephen Chbosky's direction.
Award history
DGA Awards are a reliable Oscars predictor
The DGA has accurately predicted the Academy Award winner for Best Director in all but eight instances, according to Variety. The last time this happened was in 2019 when Sam Mendes won the DGA Award for 1917 but lost the Oscar to Bong Joon Ho for his South Korean drama Parasite, which also won Best Picture. Last year, Sean Baker took home the DGA's top prize for Anora, which later won four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director.