The award is also the oldest to honor
film directors in science fiction, fantasy and horror. It has been given 36 times, including a tie for the 1977 film year.
James Cameron holds the record of the most wins with seven (for eight nominations), while
Steven Spielberg is the most nominated director with fourteen nominations (for four wins). Only three other directors have won the award more than once:
Peter Jackson (three times),
Bryan Singer and
Ridley Scott (two times). As of 2026, Cameron is the only director to have won the award two years in a row (having won at both the
17th and
18th ceremonies for
The Abyss and
Terminator 2: Judgment Day, respectively). Spielberg is the only director to win at least one award in four consecutive decades, while Cameron has won awards in four non consecutive decades and is the only director to win multiple awards in multiple decades (winning two in the 80s, 90s, and 20s). At the
22nd Saturn Awards,
Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the award, and is one of three female directors to win the award (the others being
Lana and Lily Wachowski).
Roland Emmerich became the first of four LGBTQ person to win the award at the
23rd ceremony (the others being the Wachowskis and Singer). To date the Wachowskis are the only transgender filmmakers to win the award, but were not out as such at the time of their victory.
John Woo became the first person of Asian descent to win the award at the
24th ceremony and
Ryan Coogler became the first African-American to win the award at the
44th ceremony. == Winners and nominees ==