Paul Thomas Anderson Takes Top Directing Prize at the 78th DGA Awards — See the Full Winners List

Paul Thomas Anderson keeps adding trophies to the mantel. At the 78th Directors Guild of America Awards, he took the top film honor for 'One Battle After Another' — the movie everyone and their cousin has been buzzing about since it hit theaters. If you are wondering what this means for the Oscars: it helps. A lot.

PTA takes the big one

Anderson won Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 'One Battle After Another.' That puts him a step closer to Best Director on Oscar night. He beat a stacked lineup that included Ryan Coogler ('Sinners'), Guillermo del Toro ('Frankenstein'), Josh Safdie ('Marty Supreme'), and Chloe Zhao ('Hamnet'). Strong field, decisive result.

TV highlights: drama, comedy, and limited series

On the drama side, Amanda Marsalis won for 'The Pitt' with the episode '6:00 p.m.' She edged out Liza Johnson ('The Diplomat' - 'Amagansett'), Janus Metz ('Andor' - 'Who Are You?'), Ben Stiller ('Severance' - 'Cold Harbor'), and John Wells (also 'The Pitt' - '7:00 a.m.'). Two nominations for the same show in the same category is always a flex.

Comedy went to Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg for 'The Studio' with their episode 'The Oner.' They were up against Lucia Aniello ('Hacks' - 'A Slippery Slope'), Janicza Bravo ('The Bear' - 'Worms'), Christopher Storer ('The Bear' - 'Bears'), and Mike White ('The White Lotus' - 'Denials'). That 'Oner' episode is appropriately named and apparently just as effective on voters as it is on editors.

Shannon Murphy took Limited or Anthology Series for 'Dying for Sex' ('It’s Not That Serious'), outrunning Jason Bateman ('Black Rabbit' - 'The Black Rabbits'), Antonio Campos ('The Beast in Me' - 'Sick Puppy'), Lesli Linka Glatter ('Zero Day' - 'Episode 6'), and Ally Pankiw ('Black Mirror' - 'Common People').

In Movies for Television, Stephen Chbosky won for 'Nonnas' (yes, that Netflix one with Vince Vaughn, Lorraine Bracco, and Talia Shire). He topped Jesse Armstrong ('Mountainhead'), Scott Derrickson ('The Gorge'), Michael Morris ('Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy'), and Kyle Newacheck ('Happy Gilmore 2').

Elsewhere: variety, sports, reality, ads, docs

Variety went big and nostalgic: Liz Patrick won for 'SNL50: The Anniversary Special,' beating out episodes from 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,' 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!,' 'SNL50: The Homecoming Concert,' and 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.' If you watched that marathon of legacy talent and cue-card wizardry, this tracks.

Sports went to Matthew Gangl for the 2025 World Series Game 7 — Dodgers vs. Blue Jays. (A seven-gamer for the DGA win? Fitting.) He bested coverage of the Masters and the Super Bowl.

Reality/Quiz and Game: Mike Sweeney won for 'Conan O'Brien Must Go' ('Austria'), over entries from 'Jeopardy!' and 'The Price is Right.' A travel-doc-comedy hybrid taking a trophy in a game show bracket is exactly the kind of category oddity awards season was made for.

Commercials is always a wild mix. Kim Gehrig won for a body of work highlighted by 'I’m Not Remarkable' for Apple and 'You Can’t Win. So Win.' for Nike. Other nominated reels came from Miles Jay (a trio of ChatGPT spots), Spike Jonze (Apple AirPods 4), Andreas Nilsson (Apple iPhone 16 Pro and an Andrex spot), and Steve Rogers (Amazon, Squarespace, and Coinbase work).

Docs: Mstyslav Chernov won Documentary Film for '2000 Meters to Andriivka' (PBS). In Documentary Series/News, Rebecca Miller won for 'Mr. Scorsese' ('All This Filming Isn’t Healthy') on Apple TV+. That title alone deserves a statuette.

And for first-time features, Charlie Polinger took the Michael Apted honor for 'The Plague,' over Hasan Hadi ('The President’s Cake'), Harry Lighton ('Pillion'), Alex Russell ('Lurker'), and Eva Victor ('Sorry, Baby').

All the winners at a glance

• Theatrical Feature Film: Paul Thomas Anderson, 'One Battle After Another' (Winner)
• Michael Apted First-Time Theatrical Feature Film: Charlie Polinger, 'The Plague' (Winner)
• Dramatic Series: Amanda Marsalis, 'The Pitt' - '6:00 p.m.' (Winner)
• Comedy Series: Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg, 'The Studio' - 'The Oner' (Winner)
• Limited and Anthology Series: Shannon Murphy, 'Dying for Sex' - 'It’s Not That Serious' (Winner)
• Movies for Television: Stephen Chbosky, 'Nonnas' (Winner)
• Variety: Liz Patrick, 'SNL50: The Anniversary Special' (Winner)
• Sports: Matthew Gangl, '2025 World Series – Game 7 – Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Toronto Blue Jays' (Winner)
• Reality / Quiz and Game: Mike Sweeney, 'Conan O'Brien Must Go' - 'Austria' (Winner)
• Commercials: Kim Gehrig (Somesuch) for a body of work including 'I’m Not Remarkable' (Apple) and 'You Can’t Win. So Win.' (Nike) (Winner)
• Documentary Film: Mstyslav Chernov, '2000 Meters to Andriivka' (Winner)
• Documentary Series / News: Rebecca Miller, 'Mr. Scorsese' - 'All This Filming Isn’t Healthy' (Winner)

What it means for the Oscars

The DGA often lines up with the Academy on Best Director, and PTA just planted a flag. Expect 'One Battle After Another' to hear its name a lot on Oscar night. Surprises will happen — they always do — but momentum is momentum.

Who got a deserved win? Who got robbed? Hit the comments. I’ll be over here replaying 'The Oner' and finally giving 'One Battle After Another' the attention my inbox copy has been begging for.