The Director’s Guild of America (DGA) held their 25th Annual Meet the Nominees symposium recently, and this year was a doozy! On February 6th, the DGA’s gathered five of the nominees for their 2015 Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film Award.
Adam McKay (The Big Short), Alejandro G. Iñárritu (The Revenant), George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road), Tom McCarthy (Spotlight), and Ridley Scott (The Martian) all gathered at the DGA’s Los Angeles Theater just one week before the 88th Academy Awards.
Each of the directors is nominated for Best Director at the Oscars this year, except Ridley Scott. Lenny Abrahamson was the lone director outside of the group at the recent gathering. He’s nominated by the Academy for his work on Room.
There is some real funny and interesting stories being told throughout the two hours and 40 minutes of in-depth talks. Each director has a great personality, and they all play off each other is a fantastic way. For example, George Miller explains that when he was shooting the first Mad Max film, he received some key advice he’s taken with him since: directing is like Vietnam, you don’t know where the landmines are going to be, where the snipers are, but somehow you’ll have to find your way through it. An interesting perspective to say the least!
Moderator Jeremy Kagan (a director himself), does a great job leading the talks and asking questions to keep the discussions going. Each director covers topics like inspirations, other directors that impacted their early work and professional careers, and what they’ve learned along the way. Fun stories and jokes between the directors also play out, like Adam McKay jokingly comparing the News Team fight scene in the first Anchorman film to action scenes in The Revenant. “I don’t want to talk about which is better, we can just do that later, “ he says.
Sit back and enjoy the talks in the video below. It’s well worth the time, especially if you’re into the behind-the-scenes and insider types of talks like I am.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb0VNtNZQUc[/embedyt]
