Martin Scorsese Wins DGA Award; On Path To Oscar

In a recent ap release, it was announced that Martin Scorsese won the top honor from the Directors Guild of America for his mob saga “The Departed,” helping to push his case to finally receive Hollywood’s biggest filmmaking prize at the Academy Awards.

After five prior nominations with no victories, Scorsese finally captured the award given by his peers. It is important to note that the guild winner usually goes on to win the best-director Oscar.

Scorsese said that he was pleased at the apparent success of the film, but that he only became convinced it was doing well when the studio called with box-office revenues from the first couple of weekends.

"If you look at the graph at the spikes at where the picture is doing really great figures, it’s like looking at a veritable map of the American underworld,” such as Boca Raton, Fla., Scorsese said. “Vegas, forget about it, it was amazing.”

“The Departed” is an adaptation of the Hong Kong crime thriller “Infernal Affairs”. The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio as an undercover cop in a Boston crime outfit, Matt Damon as a mob mole who has infiltrated the police, and Jack Nicholson as the gang leader pulling everyone’s strings.

It has become Scorsese’s biggest commercial hit, and critics praised it as a welcome return to the vivid, bloody crime genre whose modern conventions the director helped pioneer in such films as “Taxi Driver” and “Goodfellas.”

“I started watching his work when I was 15 years old”, said DiCaprio, who has starred in Scorsese’s last three films and introduced the director to the guild audience earlier in the evening. “It was like entering a seamless cinematic reality.”

“The Departed” marked Scorsese’s sixth nomination for best director at the Academy Awards, an honor that also has eluded him. A sixth loss at the Oscars would put Scorsese in the record books as the filmmaker with the most nominations without winning.

But many awards watchers feel this is Scorsese’s year, labeling him the front-runner for the Feb. 25 Oscars. A Directors Guild win helps give him the inside track.

The guild prize is a solid forecast for who might win the directing honor at the Academy Awards. Only six times in the 58-year history of the guild awards has the winner failed to go on to receive the directing Oscar.

Meanwhile, Scorsese was coy backstage when asked if it was his year to win at the Oscars.

“I don’t know,” Scorsese said. “It’s good to have a nomination, especially for this picture.”

Following is a complete list of DGA winners:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film

Martin Scorsese, “The Departed” (Warner Bros.)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television

Walter Hill, “Broken Trail” (AMC)

Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series Night

Jon Cassar, “24” - “7:00am - 8:00am” (FOX)

Directorial Achievement In Comedy Series

Richard Shepard, “Ugly Betty” - “Pilot” (ABC)

Directorial Achievement In Musical Variety

Rob Marshall, “Tony Bennett: An American Classic” (NBC)

Directorial Achievement In Reality Programs

Tony Sacco, “Treasure Hunters” - “Episode #101” (NBC)

Directorial Achievement In Daytime Serials

Jill Mitwell, “One Life To Live” (Episode #9779) (ABC)

Directorial Achievement In Children’s Programs

Kenny Ortega, “High School Musical” (Disney Channel)

Directorial Achievement in Documentary

Arunas Matelis, “Before Flying Back To The Earth”, Studio Nominum

Directorial Achievement in Commercials

Dante Ariola, MJZ

2007 DGA Service and Career Achievement Award Recipients

Carl Reiner - DGA HONORARY LIFE MEMBERSHIP AWARD
Given Recognition of Service to the Directors Guild of America and Outstanding Creative Achievement.

Paris Barclay and Taylor Hackford - ROBERT B. ALDRICH SERVICE AWARD
For extraordinary service to the Directors Guild of America and its Membership.

Terry Benson - 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.

George Paul - LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD IN NEWS DIRECTION
For distinguished achievement in News Directing.

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