Directors Guild Sets 2020 Awards Show Date

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The Directors Guild of America has set Jan. 25, 2020, as the date for its 72nd awards show — about two weeks before the Academy Awards.

The DGA made the announcement on Tuesday, a day after the SAG Awards staked out Jan. 26, 2020 , as the date for its 26th annual carmony and the Producers Guild of America claimed Jan. 18, 2020, as the date for its 31st annual Producers Guild Awards.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently moved the 2020 Oscar telecast forward by two weeks to Feb. 9. The rule changes — which included the creation of a controversial best popular film category and limiting the telecast to three hours — came in response to declining ratings and concerns that viewers had become fatigued by the ever-increasing number of televised awards shows.

That’s led to the Hollywood guilds having to deal with a shorter awards season timeline in 2020. The DGA did not announce a location for the 2020 awards ceremony.  The 71st annual DGA Awards will take place on Feb. 2, 2019, at Hollywood & Highland Center’s Ray Dolby Ballroom in Hollywood.

Guillermo del Toro won the DGA Award  this year for outstanding directorial achievement for “The Shape of Water.” He went on to nab the Academy Award for best director and best picture.

The DGA Award is one of the top indicators of Oscar sentiment, with all but seven of the DGA winners since 1948 going on to take the best director Oscar. The last divergence came in 2013 when Ben Affleck won the DGA Award for “Argo,” even though he did not receive an Oscar nomination.

The “Handmaid’s Tale,” “Veep,” and “Big Little Lies” won the major TV awards at the ceremony on Feb. 3 at the Beverly Hilton.