Jan 3, 2007–A blend of studio and indie films represents the best picture nominees of the Producers Guild of America: Paramount Vantage’s “Babel,” Warner Bros.’ “The Departed,” Paramount/DreamWorks’ “Dreamgirls,” Fox Searchlight’s “Little Miss Sunshine” and Miramax’s “The Queen.”
The PGA, with over 3,000 members, will announce the winner of its Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year kudo in ceremonies January 20 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.
The nominated producers, announced Wednesday, are Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Steve Golin and Jon Kilik for “Babel;” Graham King for “The Departed;” Laurence Mark for “Dreamgirls;” Marc Turtletaub, David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf and Albert Berger & Ron Yerxa for “Little Miss Sunshine” and Andy Harries, Christine Langan and Tracey Seaward for “The Queen.”
Little Miss Sunshine Producers
The PGA’s determination of producer credits has no limit on the number of producers on its nominated films but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences limits that number to three for its Best Picture nominees. If “Little Miss Sunshine” receives an Oscar nomination, the producers branch of AMPAS will have to decide which three of the five producers are credited. The five “Sunshine” producers are the only ones eligible for an Oscar, based on the Academy’s decision in 2005 to follow the PGA’s determination in producer credits.
The Departed
“The Departed” is by far the biggest domestic grosser of the PGA’s nominated pics with $120.5 million, followed by “Little Miss Sunshine with $59 million, the recently released “Dreamgirls” with $41.4 million, “The Queen” with $28.5 million and “Babel” with $20 million.
Notable omissions from the PGA’s list of nominees include Paramount’s “Flags of Our Fathers,” Warner’s “Letters From Iwo Jima,” New Line’s “Little Children,” Universal’s “United 93.”
The PGA and Oscar
The PGA voting has been a good indicator of Academy sentiment with a match about two-thirds of the time between the PGA’s top feature award and the Best Picture Oscar – even though the orgs have differed for the past two years. The PGA selected “Brokeback Mountain” last year while the Academy Award went to “Crash,” and in 2005, the PGA opted for “The Aviator” while “Million Dollar Baby” won the Best Picture Oscar.
However, 11 of the previous 15 PGA winners went on to win the Best Picture Oscar. “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” was a double PGA-Oscar winner in 2004, joining “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Dances With Wolves,” “The Silence of the Lambs,” “Schindler’s List,” “Forrest Gump,” “The English Patient,” “Titanic,” “American Beauty,” “Gladiator” and “Chicago.”
Animation
The PGA also announced Wednesday the noms for its feature animation award are Disney/Pixar’s “Cars,” DreamWorks’ “Flushed Away,” Warner’s “Happy Feet,” Fox’s “Ice Age: The Meltdown” and Sony’s “Monster House.” DreamWorks’ “Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit” won the initial awrad last year.
Nominated producers for the animated films are Darla K. Anderson for “Cars,” Celil Kramer and Peter Lord for “Flushed Away,” Doug Mitchell, George Miller and Bill Miller for “Happy Feet,” Lori Forte for “Ice Age: The Meltdown” and Steve Starkey and Jack Papke for “Monster House.”
The PGA had announced its TV nominations except in long-form, which it unveiled Wednesday. Nods went to Nigel Stafford-Clark for PBS/BBC’s “Bleak House;” Susan Harrions, George Faber, Charles Pattinson and Barney Reisz for HBO’s “Elizabeth I;” David Gerber and Clara George for A&E’s “Flight 93,” Bill Borden and Barry Rosenthal for Disney Channel’s “High School Musical” and Elizabeth Karlsen, Pamela Koffler and Christine Vachon for HBO’s Mrs. Harris.”
The PGA Nominees
FILM
“Babel,” (Paramount Vantage) Alejandro Gonzlez Irritu, Steve Golin, Jon Kilik
“The Departed,” (Warner Bros.) Graham King
“Dreamgirls,” (Dreamworks SKG/Paramount Pictures) Laurence Mark
“Little Miss Sunshine,” (Fox Searchlight) Marc Turtletaub, David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf, Albert Berger & Ron Yerxa
“The Queen,” (Miramax Films) Andy Harries, Christine Langan, Tracey Seaward
ANIMATED FILM
“Cars,” (Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation) Darla K. Anderson
“Flushed Away,” (Dreamworks Animation) Cecil Kramer, Peter Lord
“Happy Feet,” (Warner Bros.) Doug Mitchell, George Miller, Bill Miller
“Ice Age: The Meltdown,” (20th Century Fox Animation) Lori Forte
“Monster House,” (Sony Pictures Animation) Steve Starkey, Jack Rapke
LONG-FORM TELEVISION
“Bleak House,” (PBS/BBC), Nigel Stafford-Clark
“Elizabeth I,” (HBO) Suzan Harrison, George Faber, Charles Pattinson, Barney Riesz
“Flight 93,” (A&E Television) David Gerber, Clara George
“High School Musical,” (The Disney Channel) Bill Borden, Barry Rosenbush
“Mrs. Harris,” (HBO) Elizabeth Karlsen, Elizabeth Karlsen, Christine Vachon
EPISODIC TELEVISION DRAMA
“Grey’s Anatomy,” Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers, Mark Gordon, James Parriott, Peter Horton, Rob Corn
“House,” David Shore, Katie Jacobs
“Lost,” J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender, Jean Higgins, Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz, Elizabeth Sarnoff
“The Sopranos,” David Chase, Brad Grey, Ilene S. Landress, Terence Winter, Matthew Weiner, Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider, Henry Bronchtein, Martin Bruestle, Gianna Smart
“24,” Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran, Howard Gordon, Evan Katz, Jon Cassar, Michael Loceff, Michael Klick
EPISODIC TELEVISION COMEDY
“Arrested Development,” Ron Howard & Brian Grazer, David Nevins, Mitchell Hurwitz, John Amodeo, Dean Lorey,Jim Vallely,Richard Day,Tom Saunders
“Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Larry David, Jeff Garlin, Robert B. Weide, Larry Charles, Tim Gibbons, Erin OMalley
“My Name is Earl,” Greg Garcia, Marc Buckland, Henry Lange, Jr.
“The Office,” Greg Daniels, Kent Zbornak,
“Weeds,” Jenji Kohan, Roberto Benabib, Mark A. Burley
VARIETY TELEVISION
“The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” Ellen DeGeneres, Mary Connelly, Ed Glavin, Andy Lassner, Karen Kilgariff
“Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” Lorne Michaels, Jeff Ross, Tracy King, Frank Smiley, Daniel Ferguson
“The Late Show with David Letterman,” Maria Pope, Barbara Gaines, Rob Burnett, Jude Brennan
“Real Time with Bill Maher,” Bill Maher, Scott Carter, Sheila Griffiths, Dean Johnsen
“The XX Olympic Winter Games: Opening Ceremony,” Dick Ebersol, David Neal, Molly Solomon
NON-FICTION TELEVISION:
“The Amazing Race 9,”Jerry Bruckheimer, Betram van Munster, Jonathan Littman, Amy Chacon, Hayma “Screech” Washington, Evan Weinstein, Elise Doganieri, Mark Vertullo
“American Idol,”Nigel Lythgoe, Ken Warwick, Simon Fuller, Charles Boyd, Simon Lythgoe, Megan Michaels
“Dancing With the Stars,” Conrad Green, Richard Hopkins, Izzie Pick
“Project Runway,” Award Eligibility Under Appeal
“60 Minutes,” Jeff Fager
