Film Directors Who Were Oscar-Nominated for Writing Songs for Their Films: Full List

Jacques Audiard, the director of Emilia Pérez, made Oscar history this year, becoming the first person to be nominated as a director and as a songwriter in the same year. He is vying for best original song for co-writing “El Mal” with Clément Ducol and Camille.

Audiard is the only the third person to be nominated in both the directing and original song categories at any point in their careers. He follows Leo McCarey (who was nominated for directing in 1937, 1944 and 1945 and for song in 1957) and Spike Jonze (who was nominated for directing in 1999 and for song in 2013).

And Audiard is the 15th person to receive an Oscar nod for writing or co-writing a song for a film that he or she directed. He’s the first person to do so since Ryan Coogler scored two years ago for co-writing “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.  Other members of this exclusive and rather eclectic club include Barbra Streisand, Mel Brooks, Spike Jonze, Seth MacFarlane and Trey Parker.

Most of these people (including Audiard) wrote or co-wrote the lyrics, not the melody. This suggests that the directors know what their film is trying to say, and can help put that message across in a song. Only four of the 15 – Coogler, Parker, Streisand and Joe Brooks – contributed both music and lyrics.

If Audiard wins the Oscar for best original song on March 2, he will become just the second person in Oscar history, and the first in nearly 50 years, to win an Oscar for writing or co-writing a song from a film he directed. The first was Joe Brooks (no relation to Mel Brooks), who wrote “You Light Up My Life,” which won in 1978.

Here’s a complete list of everyone who has been nominated for best original song for writing or co-writing a song from a film they directed. The list is in reverse chronological order.