NEW YORK (AP) — Paul Thomas Anderson won the top prize at the 78th Directors Guild Awards, putting the “One Battle After Another” filmmaker on course to potentially win his first Oscar.

The DGA Awards, held Saturday night at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, is among the most reliable Academy Awards precursors. In the last 10 years, nine DGA winners have gone on to win best director at the Oscars. In the guild’s nearly eight-decade history, only eight times has the guild not predicted the Oscar winner.

The award adds to a virtual awards-season sweep for “One Battle After Another,” which has won with critics groups, the Gotham Awards and the Golden Globes. It’s considered the favorite for best picture at the March 15 Oscars. Academy voting begins Feb. 26.

The other nominees were Ryan Coogler (“Sinners”), Guillermo Del Toro (“Frankenstein”), Josh Safdie (“Marty Supreme”) and Chloé Zhao (“Hamnet”).

As he’s often done through awards season, Anderson in his brief speech paid tribute to late assistant director Adam Somner, who died in 2024. “Obviously,” he said, “we are up here minus one.”

The awards, hosted by Kumail Nanjiani, were the first presided over by n ew Directors Guild of America president Christopher Nolan. He began the ceremony acknowledging “very hard times” for filmmakers.

“In 2024, our employment in our guild was down about 40%, and that was followed by another decline in ’25,” said Nolan. “The amount of money that people spend on our work, on entertainment, is very, very stable. Audiences are invested in us, we have to be sure that we’re able to repay that investment.”

Other winners Saturday included “The Plague” filmmaker Charlie Polinger for first-time director; “2000 Meters to Andriivka” director Mstyslav Chernov for best documentary filmmaking; and “The Studio” directors Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg for comedy series.