Female Emmy Winners/Nominees for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
In order of nomination by year.
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- Director
- Actress
- Producer
Karen Arthur was born on 24 August 1941 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. She is a director and actress, known for Legacy (1975), Get Smart (1965) and Cagney & Lacey (1981).Winner for Cagney & Lacey (1985)- Director
- Producer
- Actress
Buckinghamshire-born Gabrielle Amanda Beaumont was the first woman to make a groundbreaking impact in Hollywood as a prolific director of episodic prime-time television. She worked on some of the most popular TV shows of the 80s and 90s, including M*A*S*H (1972), Dynasty (1981), Cagney & Lacey (1981), Hill Street Blues (1981), Miami Vice (1984), L.A. Law (1986) and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993). She also became the first female director in charge of Star Trek episodes, working on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) (including Booby Trap and Face of the Enemy, both ranking among the best of the series), as well as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) and Star Trek: Voyager (1995).
Beaumont's family was steeped in the arts and entertainment. Her father, Gabriel Toyne, was a master swordsman, an actor, poet and stunt man. Her mother, Diana Beaumont, was a leading lady in British films and an accomplished comedienne on the West End stage. A great-uncle was the noted thespian Sir Gerald du Maurier, more famous today as the author of the novel Svengali.
Gabrielle started out as a juvenile stage actress, debuting in a 1948 touring production of Peter Pan. She then spent five years with the ensemble of a repertory theatre company in London, appearing in classic plays like Billy Liar, Saint Joan and Five Finger Exercise. She had graduated to stage direction before joining the BBC as an editor, quickly working her way up the ladder to assistant director, production manager and producer. Having produced/directed and worked as occasional writer on several BBC documentaries and a couple of horror films, Beaumont travelled to Los Angeles in 1980 in search of new challenges. Hired by producer Aaron Spelling, she began her American sojourn by directing an episode of Vega$ (1978). She remained gainfully employed in Hollywood for the next two decades. Beaumont was a member of the Directors Guild of America, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Beaumont retired to Fornalutx, a municipality on the Spanish island of Mallorca where she spent the last two decades of her life. She was formerly married to the actor and writer Olaf Pooley and to the cinematographer Michael J. Davis, both of whom predeceased her.Nominee for Hill Street Blues (1986)- Director
- Sound Department
- Editor
Sharron Miller was born in Enid, Oklahoma, USA. She began her career as a script supervisor, then worked as a film and sound editor before becoming a professional director. She is known for directing various award-winning television series and films, including Cagney & Lacey (1981), Homefront (1991), The Trials of Rosie O'Neill (1990), The Woman Who Willed a Miracle (1983), and Pigeon Feathers (1988). She has also written, produced and directed several short films, including Deportee (1976) and Cradle Song (1981).
She is the first woman to win the Directors Guild Award for directing a dramatic (non-documentary) film, for The Woman Who Willed a Miracle (1983).Nominee for Cagney & Lacey (1987)- Director
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Kim Friedman was born on 15 November 1949. She is a director and producer, known for L.A. Law (1986), Star Trek: Voyager (1995) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993).Nominee for L.A. Law (1988)- Producer
- Director
Mimi Leder was born on 26 January 1952 in New York City, New York, USA. She is a producer and director, known for The Morning Show (2019), On the Basis of Sex (2018) and Deep Impact (1998). She has been married to Gary Werntz since 26 January 1986. They have one child. She was previously married to Allen Garfield.Nominee for China Beach (1991, 1992)
Winner for ER (1995)
Nominee for ER (1996)
Nominee for The West Wing (2006)
Nominee for The Morning Show (2020)- Actress
- Director
- Producer
Nancy Malone was born on 19 March 1935 in Queens Village, Long Island, New York, USA. She was an actress and director, known for Naked City (1958), Merlene of the Movies (1981) and The Long, Hot Summer (1965). She died on 8 May 2014 in Duarte, California, USA.Nominee for The Trials of Rosie O'Neill (1992)
Nominee for Sisters (1993)- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Laura Innes was born on August 16, 1957 in Pontiac, Michigan. She was introduced to professional theater by her father, who often took the family to the Stratford Festival of Canada in Stratford, Ontario. With the support of her father, she attended Northwestern University and earned a degree in theater. She went on to appeared in several theater productions before her film debut in Brian De Palma's The Fury (1978), played the role of Jody. She then played the daughter to Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara in the short-lived sitcom The Stiller & Meara Show (1986). In the fall of 1995, she joined the ensemble cast of the NBC medical drama ER (1994) in its second season. She played the role of the experienced, but abrasive, Dr. Kerry Weaver. Her performance earned her three Primetime Emmy Award nominations.Nominee for The West Wing (2001)- Director
- Script and Continuity Department
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Discouraged from watching television as a child, Arlene Sanford first explored her interest in television production at the University of Rochester, where she created short films while majoring in psychology. After graduating, she secured a job as a game show writer for Goodson-Todman Productions. She worked her way from writer to production assistant and eventually to associate director while based in New York. Persuaded to move to Los Angeles by veteran television director James Burrows, she made the move and began as an associate director in daytime television, ultimately directing Days of Our Lives. Seeking to direct episodic television, she produced, wrote and directed Welcome Home, a short starring Jamie Lee Curtis, which was picked up by HBO. This project led to her first episodic television assignment on The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd.
Since her first assignment in 1987, Sanford has amassed more than a hundred episodic directing credits in all genres, including Designing Women, The Ellen Burstyn Show, The Wonder Years, The Torkelsons, Dream On, Friends, Caroline in the City, Gilmore Girls, Malcolm in the Middle, Ally McBeal, Boston Public, Arrested Development, Boston Legal, Medium, My Boys, Desperate Housewives, Nashville, Bones, Pretty Little Liars, and Grace and Frankie among many others. Along the way, she has also directed feature films including A Very Brady Sequel (1996) and I'll Be Home for Christmas (1998), as well as movies for television Camp Bicknell (1992), More, Patience (2006), and 12 Men of Christmas (2009).
For her directorial efforts, Sanford has been nominated for a DGA Award in 2004 in the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Comedy Series category for Desperate Housewives and again in 2006 for Boston Legal. She has also received two Emmy nominations for her work on Ally McBeal and Boston Legal. She has been a Guild member since 1976, has served on the 1999 Negotiating Committee and served as a Directors Guild Foundation trustee from 2002 to 2017.Nominee for Boston Legal (2008)- Director
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Lesli Linka Glatter is a director of film, network, cable, and premium cable television drama, with both pilots and episodes to her credit. Lesli's TV work includes Homeland (2011), The Newsroom (2012), The Walking Dead (2010), Justified (2010), Ray Donovan (2013), Masters of Sex (2013), Nashville (2012), Boss (2011), True Blood (2008), Mad Men (2007), The Good Wife (2009), Weeds (2005), House (2004), Heroes (2006), The West Wing (1999), NYPD Blue (1993), ER (1994), and Freaks and Geeks (1999), to name a few. Her first series was Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories (1985) followed by Twin Peaks (1990), for which she received her first Directors Guild Award nomination. Lesli has also directed numerous pilots including Grace (2011), Gilmore Girls (2000), In My Life (2002), Newton (2003), Six (2017) and Pretty Little Liars (2010). In addition, Lesli was the Co-Executive Producer/Director of Shawn Ryan's The Chicago Code (2011), NBC's The Playboy Club (2011), John Wells' Citizen Baines (2000), HBO's The Leftovers (2014) and was the Executive Producer/Director of Homeland (2011) Seasons 3 through 8.
Lesli began her directing career through the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women. Her short film, Tales of Meeting and Parting (1985), was nominated for an Academy Award, as well as winning numerous awards in festivals throughout the country.
Lesli made her feature film directorial debut with New Line's coming-of-age comedy, Now and Then (1995), featuring Demi Moore, Melanie Griffith, Rosie O'Donnell and Christina Ricci, followed by Polygram's romantic period drama The Proposition (1998), featuring Kenneth Branagh, Madeleine Stowe and William Hurt. She directed HBO's State of Emergency (1994), which she received a Cable ACE nomination for Best Picture, as well as a Humanitas Award nomination. Lesli's other HBO films include Into Into the Homeland (1987) and The Promise.
In 2010, Lesli was nominated for an Emmy for directing the Mad Men (2007) episode "Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency (2009)," as well as winning a Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Dramatic Series for the same episode. In 2013, she was nominated for her third Directors Guild Award for the Homeland episode Q&A (2012) as well as an Emmy nomination for the same episode. In 2013, Lesli was nominated for her fourth Director's Guild Award for the season finale of Homeland (2011), The Star (2013). In 2015, Lesli won the Director's Guild Award for the Homeland (2011) episode From A to B and Back Again (2014) and received her 3rd Emmy nomination for that episode as well. Lesli's 6th DGA Award nomination was for the Homeland (2011) episode The Tradition of Hospitality (2015) as well as her 4th Emmy nomination. Lesli received her 5th Emmy nomination for the Homeland (2011) Season Finale, America First (2017) and her 7th DGA nomination for the America First (2017) Season Finale, Paean to the People (2018). Lesli has also received 2 Emmy Nominations as part of the America First (2017) production team for Best Drama Series.
Lesli serves as the 1st Vice President of the Directors Guild of America, is on the DGA's Western Directors Council, as well as being an adviser at the Sundance Directors Lab. She serves on the Executive Committee of the Directors Branch of The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Lesli recently received the Caucus Foundation Award, the Dorothy Arzner Directing Award from Women in Film, and the Franklin Schaffner Award from the American Film Institute, as well as an Honorary Degree from the American Film Institute. Lesli has been actively mentoring for many years and most recently helped develop the successful program, NBC Female Forward. Lesli has been involved on projects for Netflix, Amazon, Showtime and Epix.
Prior to her work as a director, Lesli was a modern dance choreographer, working throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States.Nominee for Mad Men (2010)
Nominee for Homeland (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020)- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Having graduated from FAMU in Prague film (1971), Agnieszka Holland returned to Poland and began her film career working with Krzysztof Zanussi as assistant director, and Andrzej Wajda as her mentor. Her first feature film was PROVINCIAL ACTORS (1978), one of the flagship pictures of the "cinema of moral disquiet" and the winner of the International Critics Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1980. Subsequently, she made the films FEVER (1980) and THE LONELY WOMAN (1981). In 1981, just before the declaration of the state of emergency in Poland, Agnieszka Holland emigrated to France.
She directed ANGRY HARVEST (1985) which was nominated for a foreign-language Oscar. Her film EUROPA EUROPA (1990) also received a U.S. Academy Award nomination (best screenplay) and IN DARKNESS (2011) was again nominated as best foreign-language film. She also collaborated with her friend Krzysztof Kieslowski on the screenplay of his trilogy, THREE COLOURS (1993).
Holland's other films include TO KILL A PRIEST (1988), OLIVIER, OLIVIER (1992), THE SECRET GARDEN (1993), TOTAL ECLIPSE (1995), WASHINGTON SQUARE (1997), THE THIRD MIRACLE (1999), SHOT IN THE HEART (2001), JULIE WALKING HOME (2001), COPYING BEETHOVEN (2006), IN DARKNESS (2011), BURNING BUSH (2013), SPOOR (2017), MR. JONES (2019) and CHARLATAN (2020). She also directed several episodes of many notable TV series, including THE WIRE, JAG, COLD CASE, TREME (for the pilot of the latter she was nominated for an Emmy) and HOUSE OF CARDS. Agnieszka Holland has also written or co-written screenplays for films made by other directors and directed plays for Polish television. She was elected chairwoman of the Board of the European Film Academy in 2014 and was elected as its President in 2021.Nominee for Treme (2010)- Producer
- Director
- Production Manager
Michelle MacLaren was born in Canada. Michelle is a producer and director, known for Breaking Bad (2008), Game of Thrones (2011) and Shining Girls (2022).Nominee for Breaking Bad (2010, 2013)- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Patty Jenkins is a writer/director best known for directing Wonder Woman, the Warner Bros./DC Comics blockbuster of 2017, and her debut feature Monster. Patty also works in television where she is best known for the pilot and finale episode of AMC's hit show The Killing.
Patty began her career as a painter at The Cooper Union in New York City. Upon transitioning to filmmaking, she spent eight years as an Assistant Camera Person/Focus Puller on commercials and music videos. After attending the AFI in Los Angeles, she wrote and directed Monster.
Roger Ebert named Monster as The #1 Best Film of 2004 and #3 Best Film of the decade. AFI named it on the Ten Best Films of the Year. Patty also garnered a number of awards and nominations, including winning Best First Feature at the 2004 Independent Spirit Awards. Charlize Theron went on to sweep the awards circuit winning the Oscar, Golden Globe, SAG Award, and numerous critics' awards in the Best Actress category.
Jenkins went on to direct many commercials and TV programs including Fox's Arrested Development and HBO's Entourage and the pilot episodes for ABC's Betrayal and Exposed. She won the DGA award for best directing for The Killing pilot, as well as being nominated for an Emmy. She also received an Emmy nomination for her work on the final segment of FIVE - a series of short films about breast cancer.
In 2017, Jenkins broke the record for Biggest Grossing Live-Action Film Directed by a Woman, Domestic and Worldwide, with Wonder Woman. The film also received critical acclaim, broke several records and went on to become highest grossing film of the summer of 2017.Nominee for The Killing (2011)- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Reed Morano was born on April 15, 1977 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. She is known for directing and executive producing the pilot as well as episodes 2 & 3 of 'The Handmaid's Tale' (2017) and directing the feature film, 'Meadowland' (2015), which she also served as her own DP on. She also did double duty as director/DP on her second feature, 'I Think We're Alone Now' (2018). As a cinematographer, Reed is known for her work on Lemonade (2016), the Oscar nominated feature 'Frozen River' (2008) and 'The Skeleton Twins' (2014).Winner for The Handmaid's Tale (2017)- Director
- Producer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Nominee for The Handmaid's Tale (2017)- Director
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Emmy-nominated, BAFTA award-winning director Kari Skogland is CEO of Mad Rabbit, a development and production company. Skogland is committed to producing high-end one-hour dramas for the international market while she continues her award- winning work. Most recently she was Executive Producer and Director of all 6 episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier for Marvel, starring Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan. Before that she was pilot, multiple episode director and an executive producer of Showtime's limited series The Loudest Voice starring Russell Crowe as Roger Ailes. She won several awards for her work as director on the hit series The Handmaid's Tale and is recognized for the pilot episodes of AMC's NOS4A2 starring Zachary Quinto, and the pilot of Starz's The Rook.
Skogland has become one of the world's most prolific female directors of one-hour dramas and feature films. She was named one of The Hollywood Reporter's "Ten Directors to Watch" for her auteur debut, won a prestigious BAFTA award for directing The Handmaid's Tale season one finale, nominated for a 2018 Emmy award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for The Handmaid's Tale season two and most recently the Loudest Voice was nominated for a Golden Globe best mini series and won best actor for Russell Crowe. Kari was also featured in Variety's 2018 Women's Impact Report.
Skogland's additional television credits include the premiere season of Condor (Audience), The Borgias and Penny Dreadful (Showtime), Boardwalk Empire (HBO), The Killing, The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead (AMC), Under the Dome (CBS), Vikings (History Channel), Power (Starz), The Americans (FX), House of Cards and The Punisher (Netflix) and many more. Skogland also directed Sons of Liberty (History), a 6-part event miniseries for which she won the Directors Guild of Canada (DCG) award for best director of a television miniseries.Nominee for The Handmaid's Tale (2018)- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Lisa Brühlmann is a director, writer and actor, best known for Blue My Mind (2017) and Killing Eve (2018). She was born and raised in Zurich, Switzerland. Before becoming a director, she was acting in numerous film and TV productions. Brühlmann has been nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy for her work on Killing Eve.Nominee for Killing Eve (2019)- Daina Reed is known for No Free Lunch (2015).Nominee for The Handmaid's Tale (2019)
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
Jessica Hobbs has been working as a drama director for 30 years. Her work has taken her from New Zealand, where she grew up, to Australia, the US and now Europe. She moved with her family to London in 2014 and she has loved getting to know the vast talent that exists in the UK film and TV community.
Jessica's background is in television drama and her credits include The Crown, The Split, Apple Tree Yard, River, Broadchurch and The Slap. She has experience as an executive producer and as a commissioning editor for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and she served on the board of the Australian Directors' Guild. In 2021, Jessica was awarded the Emmy for Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series.Nominee for The Crown (2020)
Winner for The Crown (2021)- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Liz Garbus was born on 11 April 1970 in the USA. She is a producer and director, known for What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015), The Farm: Angola, USA (1998) and Becoming Cousteau (2021). She is married to Dan Cogan. They have two children.Nominee for The Handmaid's Tale (2021)- Director
- Producer
Julie Anne Robinson is a BAFTA and Golden Globe-nominated director. Julie Anne has directed various network pilots that have gone to series, including "The Middle" and "Selfie".
Her American television credits include a variety of episodic work including "Nurse Jackie", "Brooklyn Nine-Nine", "Scandal", "Manhattan", Orange is the New Black", "Grey's Anatomy", "Pushing Daisies", "Weeds", and "Big Love".
Her British Television credits include the critically-acclaimed, BAFTA, RTE and Golden Globe nominated mini-series, "Viva Blackpool" for BBC; as well as the BAFTA-nominated television movie "Coming Down The Mountain".
Julie Anne also directed the features "The Last Song" and "One For The Money".Nominee for Bridgerton (2021)- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Karyn Kusama was born on 21 March 1968 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She is a director and producer, known for The Invitation (2015), Destroyer (2018) and Girlfight (2000). She has been married to Phil Hay since October 2006. They have one child.Nominee for Yellowjackets (2022)- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Lorene Scafaria was born on 1 May 1978 in Holmdel, New Jersey, USA. She is a producer and writer, known for Hustlers (2019), Coherence (2013) and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012).Nominee for Succession (2022, 2023)- Director
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Dearbhla Walsh is known for Bad Sisters (2022), Little Dorrit (2008) and The Handmaid's Tale (2017).Nominee for Bad Sisters (2023)