MAYBE
1. GEORGE CLOONEY (THE MONUMENTS MEN)
Oscar Record: 1 nomination, no win (for directing), 3 nominations and 1 win for acting, 2 nominations for writing, 1 win for producing
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
2. BENNETT MILLER (FOXCATCHER)
Oscar Record: 1 nomination, no win
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
POSSIBLE
3. PAUL GREENGRASS (CAPTAIN PHILLIPS)
Oscar Record: 1 nomination, no win
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
4. RIDLEY SCOTT (THE COUNSELOR)
Oscar Record: 3 nominations, no win
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
5. STEVE MCQUEEN (TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE)
Oscar Record: 3 nominations, no win
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
5. STEVE MCQUEEN (TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE)
Oscar Record: No nomination
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
6. Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Oscar Record: 7 nominations, with a win for The Departed (as director), 2 nominations as writer, 1 nomination as producer
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
7. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (Inside Llewyn Davis)
Oscar Record: 2 nominations, with a win for No Country for Old Men (as directors), 3 nominations and 2 wins for writing, 3 nominations and 1 win for producing, 2 nominations for editing
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
8. John Wells (August: Osage County)
Oscar Record: No nomination
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
9. Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale)
Oscar Record: No nomination
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
10. Woody Allen (Blue Jasmine)
Oscar Record: 6 nominations, with a win for Annie Hall (as director), 12 nominations and 3 wins for writing, 1 nomination for acting
Pre-Oscar Citations: None
Other Contenders
David Lowery (Ain't Them Bodies Saints)
Richard Linklater (Before Midnight)
Richard Linklater (Before Midnight)
Sofia Coppola (The Bling Ring)
Lee Daniels (The Butler)
Atom Egoyan (Devil's Knot)
Bill Condon (The Fifth Estate)
Bill Condon (The Fifth Estate)
Olivier Dahan (Grace of Monaco)
Wong Kar Wai (The Grandmasters)
Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)
Baz Luhrmann (The Great Gatsby)
Pedro Almodovar (I'm So Excited)
Jason Reitman (Labor Day)
James Gray (Lowlife)
Luc Besson (Malavita)
Luc Besson (Malavita)
Alexander Payne (Nebraska)
Spike Lee (Oldboy)
Nicolas Winding Refn (Only God Forgives)
Asghar Farhadi (The Past)
Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man)
Ron Howard (Rush)
John Lee Hancock (Saving Mr. Banks)
Susanne Bier (Serena)
Roman Polanski (Venus in Fur)
Nat Faxon, Jim Rash (The Way, Way Back)