A welcome annual tradition, the Directors Guild of America has once again gathered their nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film––Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza), Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog), Steven Spielberg (West Side Story), Denis Villeneuve (Dune), and Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)––for an extensive, 2.5-hour conversation. Moderated by Jeremy Kagan, the conversation took place on March 12 at the DGA’s Los Angeles Theater ahead of Campion taking home the top award.
The wide-ranging talk dives deep into the preparation and production of each of the features, with PTA revealing that the rehearsal scenes in Drive My Car (the director of which, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, should certainly be on this stage) rang true to his process for readying Licorice Pizza, Spielberg discussing the precise visual rhythms of West Side Story with extensive storyboarding, Villeneuve discussing how having a bad trip with his son helped him prep for Dune, Campion talking about how working with a dream coach was one of the most beneficial experiences as a director, and much, much more.
Watch in full below.