Rob Marshall Wins Directors Guild Award for Bennett Special

Rob Marshall, director of the critically acclaimed NBC television special TARGET PRESENTS: TONY BENNETT/AN AMERICAN CLASSIC, won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical Variety for 2006 at the 59th Annual DGA Awards ceremony held Saturday, February 3 in Los Angeles.

Marshall's work on "Tony Bennett/An American Classic" marks a second DGA win for the director who took home the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film in 2002 for his direction of the Academy Award winning Best Picture, "Chicago."

Danny Bennett, the program's executive producer, commented, "Rob Marshall's vision for this project from the beginning was to create a musical special for television that redefined the genre. He not only accomplished that but produced a program whose quality and substance has surpassed all our expectations."

"Collaborating with Rob Marshall on 'TARGET PRESENTS: TONY BENNETT/AN AMERICAN CLASSIC' was truly an honor, and we wish him all the best as he accepts this accreditation for his talents and vision," said John Remington, vice president, marketing, Target. "The entire creative process of this effort was thrilling -- from the artists in front of the camera to the artist behind -- and we're so pleased to be a part of this celebration captured on film."

TARGET PRESENTS: TONY BENNETT/AN AMERICAN CLASSIC, originally aired on NBC during Thanksgiving week of 2006 to widespread critical acclaim with The Hollywood Reporter calling it "a masterpiece" and Associated Press touting it as a "grand slam." The show features Tony performing with Barbra Streisand, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, Michael Buble, John Legend, Chris Botti, Diana Krall, k.d. lang and Juanes accompanied by narrative segments about the artist's life and career hosted by Billy Crystal, Robert DeNiro, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Travolta and Bruce Willis. Marshall's Oscar winning team was on board for cinematography, choreography, production design, costumes and lighting to create a groundbreaking television experience. Associate Director: Yudi Bennett; Stage Managers: Barbara J. Roche, Lee Grant And Murray Siegel. Executive producers are Danny Bennett/RPM TV Productions and Rob Marshall and John DeLuca/LUCAMAR Productions and produced by Jodi Hurwitz.

TARGET PRESENTS: TONY BENNETT/AN AMERICAN CLASSIC is a companion piece to Bennett's latest Grammy-nominated CD "Tony Bennett -- Duets: An American Classic." The platinum-certified CD has been nominated for three Grammy Awards this year and is the top-selling album of the artist's career.