Since 1992, the Directors Guild of America has hosted an annual symposium featuring its nominees for outstanding feature film directing. From the first, film and television director Jeremy Kagan has moderated these sessions in which the finest contemporary directors weigh in on every aspect of the filmmaking process. In Directors Close Up, Second Edition, Kagan culled the most insightful and entertaining responses from sessions conducted between 1992 and 2005.

In Directors Close Up 2, an all-new sequel, Kagan shines his spotlight on nominees from the 2006-2012 seminars as they discuss their work on some of the most brilliant films of the last several years. From script development through pre-production to production and post-production, the directors offer personal insights into every step of the creative process. They also reveal their candid takes on the best and worst aspects of their profession. Featuring materials from their productions-including storyboards, script notes, sketches, and on-set photos-Directors Close Up 2 will be of interest to both professional and aspiring directors, as well as film fans who will enjoy this inside look into making movies.

The interviewed nominees featured in this volume:

Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
James Cameron, Avatar
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck.
Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, No Country for Old Men
Bill Condon, Dreamgirls
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, Little Miss Sunshine
Lee Daniels, Precious
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Stephen Frears, The Queen
Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton
Paul Haggis, Crash
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Babel
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Bennett Miller, Capote
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight and Inception
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
David O. Russell, The Fighter
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Martin Scorsese, The Departed and Hugo
Steven Spielberg, Munich
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Gus Van Sant, Milk