Directors Guild Nominations Include Ben Affleck And Kathryn Bigelow; Quentin Tarantino And David O. Russell Left Out

Nominations for the Oscars will be announced later this week (on Thursday morning, to be precise) but for now we've got the five names nominated by the Director's Guild of America for achievement in directing in 2012. The list features one newcomer to the DGA award slate, and four directors who have won in prior years.

In short, the names on the list are: Ben Affleck, Kathryn Bigelow, Tom Hooper, Ang Lee and Steven Spielberg. Everyone will likely have something to say about their favorite director who didn't get the DGA nod this year, whether it is Quentin Tarantino, David O. Russell, or Paul Thomas Anderson.

Awards will be given out at the 65th Annual DGA Awards Dinner on Saturday, February 2, 2013. The full list of nominee info is below.

There's conversation to be had about how this might affect the Oscar nomination list, but in this case the DGA ballot was announced after the Oscar nomination voting deadline. So while the Best Director Oscar nomination list will likely be very similar to this, it could have a few key differences.
Here's the full nomination list from the DGA:

Ben Affleck, Argo

(Warner Bros. Pictures)

Mr. Affleck's Directorial Team:

Unit Production Manager: Amy Herman

First Assistant Director: David Webb

Second Assistant Director: Ian Calip

Second Second Assistant Directors: Clark Credle, Gavin Kleintop

First Assistant Director (Turkey Unit): Belkis Turan

This is Mr. Affleck's first DGA Feature Film Award nomination.

Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty

(Columbia Pictures)

Ms. Bigelow's Directorial Team:

Unit Production Manager: Colin Wilson

First Assistant Director: David A. Ticotin

Second Assistant Directors: Ben Lanning, Sarah Hood

First Assistant Director (Jordan Unit): Scott Robertson

Second Assistant Directors (Jordan Unit): Jonas Spaccarotelli, Yanal Kassay

Second Second Assistant Director (Jordan Unit): Tarek Afifi

Unit Production Manager (India Unit): Rajeev Mehra

This is Ms. Bigelow's second DGA Feature Film Award nomination. She won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for The Hurt Locker in 2009.

Tom Hooper, Les Misérables

(Universal Pictures)

Mr. Hooper's Directorial Team:

Unit Production Manager: Patrick Schweitzer

First Assistant Director: Ben Howarth

Second Assistant Director: Harriet Worth

Second Second Assistant Director: Dan Channing Williams

This is Mr. Hooper's second DGA Feature Film Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for The King's Speech (2010) and was previously nominated for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television/Mini-Series for John Adams in 2008.

Ang Lee, Life of Pi

(Twentieth Century Fox)

Mr. Lee's Directorial Team:

Unit Production Manager: Michael J. Malone

Unit Production Manager (Taiwan): Leo Chen

First Assistant Directors: William M. Connor, Cliff Lanning

Second Assistant Directors: Robert Burgess, Ben Lanning

Unit Production Manager (India Unit): Sanjay Kumar

First Assistant Director (India Unit): Nitya Mehra

Second Assistant Director (India Unit): Ananya Rane

Second Second Assistant Directors (India Unit): Namra Parikh, Freya Parekh

Second Assistant Directors (Montreal Unit): Derek Wimble, Renato De Cotiis

This is Mr. Lee's fourth DGA Feature Film Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and was nominated for Sense and Sensibility in 1995.

Steven Spielberg, Lincoln

(Dreamworks Pictures/Twentieth Century Fox)

Mr. Spielberg's Directorial Team:

Unit Production Manager: Susan McNamara

First Assistant Director: Adam Somner

Second Assistant Director: Ian Stone

Second Second Assistant Directors: Eric Lasko, Trevor Tavares

This is Mr. Spielberg's eleventh DGA Feature Film Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film three times for Saving Private Ryan (1998), Schindler's List (1993) and The Color Purple (1985). He was also nominated in this category for Munich (2005), Amistad (1997), Empire of the Sun (1987), E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Jaws (1975). Mr. Spielberg was honored with the DGA's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000.