SMUGGLER topped the production house tally with two directors scoring nominations today (1/26) for the DGA Award recognizing Outstanding Directorial Achievement For Commercials in 2021–Kathryn Bigelow and Henry-Alex Rubin. Both are first-time DGA spot nominees but Bigelow is no stranger to Guild honors. She won the DGA Award in 2010, taking the marquee feature prize for The Hurt Locker. Three years later she was nominated for Zero Dark Thirty.
Bigelow’s first commercial nomination came for Apple iPhone 13’s “Hollywood In Your Pocket” out of TBWAMedia Arts Lab.
Meanwhile Rubin’s DGA nod was for Sandy Hook Promise’s “Teenage Dream” for BBDO New York.
Bigelow and Rubin are joined by two other first-time commercial category nominees–Ian Pons Jewell of RESET and Bradford Young of Serial Pictures (U.S.) and Somesuch (U.K.)–as well as Steve Ayson of MJZ, who is now a four-time DGA nominee for his commercialmaking endeavors.
Jewel earned his first career DGA nomination for Apple Watch’s “Sleep” and “ECG,” Squarespace’s “Time” and an Instacart spot titled “Your Mom’s Short Ribs.” The latter came out of Goodby Silverstein & Partners.
Young, an Oscar-nominated cinematographer for Denis Villeneuve’s feature Arrival, received his DGA nomination for U.K. Channel 4 Paralympics promo spot “Super. Human.” out of agency 4Creative.
And Ayson’s latest DGA nod was on the strength of two Miller Lite spots, “Award Speech” and “Networking” from DDB Chicago, and Mattress Firm’s “Anthem” for Droga5 New York. This marks the second straight year Ayson has been nominated for the DGA spot honor. His first two Guild nominations came in 2013 and 2019.
Women nominees
Bigelow joins a select field of women directors to gain recognition in the commercials category with nominations–the first being Amy Hill as half of the directorial duo Reiss/Hill in 1999; followed by Katrina Mercadante as half of the team known as The Mercadantes in 2015. That same year, Lauren Greenfield also received a nomination, making her the first individual female helmer to earn that distinction in the commercials competition. Greenfield, however, was no stranger to the nominees’ circle, having broken through for the feature documentary
The Queen of Versailles back in 2013.
In 2018, Alma Har’el became the second solo woman director to be nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials since this category was established in 1980. Har’el of course made a major breakthrough in 2020 when she won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Feature Film for Honey Boy.
And just last year, two more solo women directors garnered DGA spot nominations–Nisha Ganatra and Melina Matsoukas. The latter from production company PRETTYBIRD wound up winning the award for “Beats By Dr. Dre’s “You Love Me.” Matsoukas became the first woman and first person of color to win the Guild’s spot honor. This was Matsoukas’ third career DGA nomination–the first coming in 2018 for an episode of the comedy TV series Master of None, and then in 2020 for Queen & Slim in the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Feature Film.
Spot rundown
Here’s a full list of this year’s DGA Award nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials for 2021 are (in alphabetical order):
STEVE AYSON
(MJZ)
Anthem, Mattress Firm – Droga5
Unit Production Manager: Adriana Cebada-Mora
First Assistant Director: George Nessis
Second Assistant Directors: Jesse Carmona, Brent Martin
Award Speech, Miller Lite – DDB Chicago
Networking, Miller Lite – DDB Chicago
KATHRYN BIGELOW
(SMUGGLER)
Hollywood In Your Pocket, iPhone 13 – Media Arts Lab
First Assistant Directors: Allison Kunzman, Arle Bordas
Second Assistant Director: Abbey Hansen
Second Second Assistant Director: Cody Maher
IAN PONS JEWELL
(RESET)
ECG, Apple Watch – Apple
Sleep, Apple Watch – Apple
Time, Squarespace – Squarespace
Your Mom’s Short Ribs, Instacart – Goodby Silverstein
HENRY-ALEX RUBIN
(SMUGGLER)
Teenage Dream, Sandy Hook Promise – BBDO – New York
First Assistant Director: Anthony Dimino
Second Assistant Director: David Ebel
BRADFORD YOUNG
(Serial Pictures x Somesuch)
Super. Human., Channel 4 Paralympics – 4Creative
First Assistant Director: Jez Oakley
