Did You Know? 9 Directing Debuts That Got Oscar Nomination, Including 2018 “Lady Bird” and “Get Out”
Some filmmakers spend their whole careers trying to get at least one Oscar nomination. Here are 9 directors who were nominated for an Oscar for their first efforts.
Greta Gerwig with “Lady Bird”
“Lady Bird” writer/director Greta Gerwig became the first woman to get a nod for her debut film with her nomination in the best director category.
Source: Merie Wallace/A24
Jordan Peele with “Get Out”
Jordan Peele made Oscars history with “Get Out” nominations. He became the third person to earn the best picture, best director, and best screenplay nominations for a directorial debut.
Source: Universal Pictures
Orson Welles with “Citizen Kane”
Citizen Kane was nominated for nine Academy Awards in 1942 including one for Best Director for its director (and star and writer) Orson Welles but only won a single award for its original screenplay.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Spike Jonze with “Being John Malkovich”
In 1999, Jonze earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Director for his “Being John Malkovich”. Although Jonze is one of the youngest directors to be nominated for an Oscar, the then-30-year-old filmmaker lost the award to Sam Mendes for American Beauty, which also won Best Picture.
Source: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times
Sam Mendes with “American Beauty”
“American Beauty” won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Kevin Spacey, and Best Director fo Mendes in his film directorial debut.
Rob Marshall with “Chicago”
Chicago was the ninth movie musical to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was nominated for 13 Oscars for the 75th Academy Awards, including Best Director for Rob Marshall, who was making his feature debut.
Benh Zeitlin with “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
At the beginning of 2013, 30-year-old Benh Zeitlin was honored with an Academy Award nomination for his directorial debut, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”, but the award went to Ang Lee for his skillful direction of Life of Pi.
Source: Matt Petit / A.M.P.A.S.
Lee Unkrich with “Toy Story 3”
He later began directing, first as co-director of Toy Story 2. After co-directing Monsters, Inc. and Finding Nemo, Unkrich made his solo directorial debut with Toy Story 3 in 2010, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film, and most recently directed Coco in 2017.
Frank Darabont with “Shawshank Redemption”
Screenwriter Frank Darabont made his feature directing debut with an Oscar-nominated adaptation of Stephen King’s novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, and over the last twenty years, this gripping story of hope and courage has become one of the most beloved films of its time.
Source: Michael Weinstein / Warner Bros.
See also:
- First LOUD Oscars 2018 Scandal: Guillermo del Toro Is Sued Over ‘Shape of Water’ Plagiarism
- Why Oscar Nominated “Phantom Thread” Will Make You Forget About Relationship Counseling?
