'The Shape of Water' wins at DGA Awards

Guillermo del Toro won the Directors Guild of America's top honor Saturday night at the DGA Awards for his fantastical fable "The Shape of Water", the latest in a string of prizes that have made his film one of the clear frontrunners heading into next month's Academy Awards, Los Angeles Times reports.

Christopher Nolan ("Dunkirk"), and Jordan Peele ("Get Out") were also nominated for the DGA's outstanding feature film directing award.

"Handmaid's Tale, ' "Veep" and "Big Little Lies" won the major TV awards".

Del Toro's win comes on the heels of his best director victory at the Golden Globes.

"Get Out" director Jordan Peele has won the first-time feature film award from the Directors Guild of America.

Schlamme emphasized the guild's commitment to opposing sexual harassment. "This is not just a fight by women for women". He stressed a drive toward respectful and inclusive workplaces and said that "we must keep our foot firmly on the pedal and not let up" in their "decades long fight" to ensure the participation of women and people of color in the director's chair. "They didn't create this problem".

The Directors Guild also honors directing live-action and scripted programming and even commercials.

The Directors Guild Awards are often a reliable predictor of who will walk away with the best director Oscar at the Academy Awards.

The odds are definitely in favor of del Toro at the upcoming Academy Awards, as only seven of the past 70 winners since the DGA Awards started in 1948 have not gone on to capture the Best Director Oscar. Aziz Ansari is among those nominated for directing a comedy series. Facing off against del Toro in the category are Gerwig, Nolan, Peele and Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread), whose nod knocked DGA nominee McDonagh out of contention.