Directors Guild of America Awards

The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D.W. Griffith.

The DGA award for "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures" was first awarded in 1949 to Joseph L. Mankiewicz for A Letter to Three Wives. Since then, this award has frequently been considered a harbinger of the Academy Award; in 49 out of 55 years, the winner of the DGA Award has also won the Oscar for "Best Director."