‘1917,’ ‘Succession’ Among Top PGA Award Winners
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“1917” continued its string of major awards season wins on Saturday night, earning the Producers Guild of America award for best picture. Coupled with its win for best picture, drama at the Golden Globes, the WWI movie is officially the front runner for Oscar’s top prize.
“It’s a film that is a tribute to all those who stood to protect the values that we all hold dear, and fought in the First World War and many other conflicts,” producer Pippa Harris’s said while accepting the award. “In these times of division and conflict all over the world, it’s just a reminder to never take for granted the peace that we all inherited.”
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In his acceptance speech, director and co-writer Sam Mendes spoke of honoring his grandfather’s experience in WWI, and sang the praises of his crew and cast. Noting it was his first time ever at the PGA Awards, Mendes went on to salute many of the producers he’s worked with and learned from since his feature directing debut, 1999’s “American Beauty,” won the PGA Award for best picture 20 years ago.
“I want to say thank you to the twinkle and wisdom of Richard Zanuck, to the brilliance and bullishness of Scott Rudin, to the zip and enthusiasm of Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, the gentleness and wit of Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher, the warmth of Ed Saxon, the lifelong dedication of Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson, the day-to-day care of my friend here Jayne-Ann Tenggren, the strategic overview of Callum McDougall, and many many others,” he said. “But finally and best of all, the friendship and love of my favorite producer of all, who I’ve known since I was 14 years old, Pippa Harris.”
The PGA Awards has been one of the most reliable bellwethers for the Oscar for best picture, matching award in 21 of its past 30 years, including “Green Book” last year. They diverged most recently for the 2018 and 2017 PGA Awards, when the top film prize went to “La La Land” and “The Big Short,” and the Oscar went to “Moonlight” and “Spotlight,” respectively.
HBO’s “Succession” won the PGA Award for best TV drama for its second season, winning over the final season of “Game of Thrones,” season 3 of “The Crown,” season 2 of “Big Little Lies,” and the first (and, perhaps, only) season of “Watchmen.”
Amazon’s “Fleabag” continued its sweep of awards with the prize for best TV comedy, over season 2 of “Barry,” season 5 of “Schitt’s Creek,” the final season of “Veep,” and two-time previous winner “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
Pixar’s “Toy Story 4″ won the animated theatrical motion picture award over nominees “Abominable,” “Frozen II,” “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” and “Missing Link.” The last four winners of this award — “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “Coco,” “Zootopia,” and “Inside Out” — have also won the Oscar for best animated feature.
HBO’s Emmy-winning “Chernobyl” won the award for limited TV series, over “Fosse/Verdon,” “True Detective,” “Unbelievable,” and “When They See Us.”
“Apollo 11,” which detailed the historic 1969 moon landing with stunning archival footage, was something of a surprise winner for best documentary motion picture, since it was overlooked for an Oscar nomination for best feature documentary.
Perhaps the PGA members had the moon on their mind, because the documentary film “Apollo: Missions to the Moon” was another surprise winner in the category of televised or streamed motion picture, which was just created last year. It won over scripted films “American Son,” “Black Mirror: Striking Vipers,” “Deadwood: The Movie,” and “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.”
“Leaving Neverland,” the HBO documentary detailing sexual abuse allegations against Michael Jackson, won the award for non-fiction television. Season 11 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” on VH1 won for game and competition television. Season 6 of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” won for live entertainment & talk television.
The evening began with a rousing performance by Idina Menzel of the “Frozen II” Oscar-nominated song “Into the Unknown,” and the competitive awards were broken up with a series of honorary presentations.
Jimmy Kimmel, filling in at the last minute for a sick Ellen DeGeneres, presented the Milestone Award to Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos by pointing out all the Netflix stars who could have honored Sarandos instead: “Ted gave Dave Chappelle $50 million, you think he couldn’t swing by here for two minutes on his way to the weed shop?”
Sarandos used his speech to pay tribute to his late mother’s support of his love of pop-culture, and to laud Netflix’s impact in the industry, noting, “The future of cinema will be written by the people who make it.”
“Grace & Frankie” stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin presented the Norman Lear achievement award to their show’s creator and executive producer, Marta Kauffman, who called working with Fonda and Tomlin “one of the great joys of my life.” Kauffman used the bulk of her speech to implore those in the audience to push for sustainable production, including reviewing the PGA’s green production guide. “Doing something about climate change isn’t an option, it’s a necessity,” she said.
Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone paid tribute to their old friend Octavia Spencer in presenting her the Visionary Award, explaining that they met her in the late 1990s when they were performing at the Groundlings in Los Angeles and she was laughing as an audience member.
A tearful Spencer thanked McCarthy and Falcone for “being there at the start of my career.”
“What many of you don’t know is that I’ve always wanted to be a producer,” she said. “It was my plan A.”
Margot Robbie presented the producers of “Bombshell” with the Stanley Kramer award, discussing the iconic scene between her character in the film and those played by Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman in which all three women are in close quarters but far apart.
Jay Roach accepted the award on behalf of fellow producers, Theron and screenwriter Charles Randolph, playing tribute to the award’s namesake: “He was a heroic figure and we’re happy just standing in his shadow.”
The final special award of the night was presented by Frances McDormand, who began by saying, “As some of you know, I hate these things.” But she was there to honor Plan B producers Brad Pitt, Jeremy Kleiner, and DeDe Gardner with the David O. Selznick Award because, she said, she had “the utmost respect and admiration” for the “real risk taking cinema” made by Plan B.
Accepting the award, Pitt had maybe the best line of the night. “I have no regrets other than sharing our name with an emergency contraceptive pill,” he said to sustained laughter. “Didn’t see that one coming.”
Winners are in bold below.
The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures
WINNER: “1917”
Producers: Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, Jayne‐Ann Tenggren, Callum McDougall
“Ford v Ferrari”
Producers: Peter Chernin & Jenno Topping, James Mangold
“The Irishman”
Producers: Jane Rosenthal & Robert De Niro, Emma Tillinger Koskoff & Martin Scorsese
“Jojo Rabbit”
Producers: Carthew Neal, Taika Waititi
“Joker”
Producers: Todd Phillips & Bradley Cooper, Emma Tillinger Koskoff
“Knives Out”
Producers: Rian Johnson, Ram Bergman
“Little Women”
Producer: Amy Pascal
“Marriage Story”
Producers: Noah Baumbach, David Heyman
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Producers: David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh, Quentin Tarantino
“Parasite”
Producers: Kwak Sin Ae, Bong Joon Ho
The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures
“Abominable”
Producer: Suzanne Buirgy
“Frozen II”
Producer: Peter Del Vecho
“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”
Producers: Bradford Lewis, Bonnie Arnold
“Missing Link”
Producers: Arianne Sutner, Travis Knight
WINNER: “Toy Story 4”
Producers: Mark Nielsen, Jonas Rivera
The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Picture
“Advocate”
Producers: Philippe Bellaiche, Rachel Leah Jones
“American Factory”
Producers: Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert, Jeff Reichert
WINNER: “Apollo 11”
Producers: Todd Douglas Miller, Thomas Petersen
“The Cave”
Producers: Kirstine Barfod, Sigrid Dyekjaer
“For Sama”
Producers: Waas al-Kateab
“Honeyland”
Producers: Atanas Georgiev, Ljubomir Stefanov
“One Child Nation”
Producers: Christoph Jörg, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn, Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang
The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Drama
“Big Little Lies” (Season 2)
Producers: David E. Kelley, Jean‐Marc Vallée, Andrea Arnold, Reese Witherspoon, Bruna Papandrea, Nicole Kidman, Per Saari, Gregg Fienberg, Nathan Ross, David Auge, Lauren Neustadter, Liane Moriarty
“The Crown” (Season 3)
Producers: Peter Morgan, Suzanne Mackie, Stephen Daldry, Andy Harries, Benjamin Caron, Matthew Byam Shaw, Robert Fox, Michael Casey, Andy Stebbing, Martin Harrison, Oona O Beirn
“Game of Thrones” (Season 8)
Producers: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Bernadette Caulfield, Frank Doelger, David Nutter, Miguel Sapochnik, Bryan Cogman, Chris Newman, Greg Spence, Lisa McAtackney, Duncan Muggoch
WINNER: “Succession” (Season 2)
Producers: Jesse Armstrong, Adam McKay, Frank Rich, Kevin Messick, Mark Mylod, Jane Tranter, Tony Roche, Scott Ferguson, Jon Brown, Georgia Pritchett, Will Tracy, Jonathan Glatzer, Dara Schnapper, Gabrielle Mahon
“Watchmen” (Season 1)
Producers: Damon Lindelof, Tom Spezialy, Nicole Kassell, Stephen Williams, Joseph E. Iberti, Ron Schmidt, Lila Byock, Nick Cuse, Christal Henry, Karen Wacker, John Blair, Carly Wray
The Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Comedy
“Barry” (Season 2)
Producers: Alec Berg, Bill Hader, Aida Rodgers, Liz Sarnoff, Emily Heller, Julie Camino, Jason Kim
WINNER: “Fleabag” (Season 2)
Producers: Phoebe Waller‐Bridge, Harry Bradbeer, Lydia Hampson, Harry Williams, Jack Williams, Joe Lewis, Sarah Hammond
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Season 3)
Producers: Amy Sherman‐Palladino, Daniel Palladino, Dhana Gilbert, Daniel Goldfarb, Kate Fodor, Sono Patel, Matthew Shapiro
“Schitt’s Creek” (Season 5)
Producers: Eugene Levy, Daniel Levy, Andrew Barnsley, Fred Levy, David West Read, Ben Feigin, Michael Short, Rupinder Gill, Colin Brunton
“Veep” (Season 7)
Producers: David Mandel, Frank Rich, Julia Louis‐Dreyfus, Lew Morton, Morgan Sackett, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory, Jennifer Crittenden, Gabrielle Allan, Billy Kimball, Rachel Axler, Ted Cohen, Ian Maxtone‐Graham, Dan O’Keefe, Steve Hely, David Hyman, Georgia Pritchett, Erik Kenward, Dan Mintz, Doug Smith
The David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Limited Series Television
WINNER: “Chernobyl”
Producers: Craig Mazin, Carolyn Strauss, Jane Featherstone, Johan Renck, Chris Fry, Sanne Wohlenberg
“Fosse/Verdon”
Producers: Thomas Kail, Steven Levenson, Lin‐Manuel Miranda, Joel Fields, George Stelzner, Sam Rockwell, Michelle Williams, Tracey Scott Wilson, Charlotte Stoudt, Nicole Fosse, Erica Kay, Kate Sullivan, Brad Carpenter
“True Detective”
Producers: Nic Pizzolatto, Scott Stephens, Daniel Sackheim, Peter Feldman, Steve Golin, Bard Dorros
“Unbelievable”
Producers: Susannah Grant, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, Lisa Cholodenko, Ayelet Waldman, Michael Chabon, Katie Couric, Jennifer Schuur, Becky Mode, John Vohlers, Kate DiMento, Chris Leanza
“When They See Us”
Producers: Jeff Skoll, Jonathan King, Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro, Berry Welsh, Oprah Winfrey, Ava DuVernay, Amy Kaufman, Robin Swicord
The Award for Outstanding Producer of Televised or Streamed Motion Pictures
“American Son”
Producers: Kenny Leon, Kerry Washington, Pilar Savone, Kristin Bernstein
WINNER: “Apollo: Missions to the Moon”
Producers: Tom Jennings, David Tillman, Abe Scheuermann, Chris Morcom, Rob Kirk
“Black Mirror: Striking Vipers”
Producers: Annabel Jones, Charlie Brooker, Kate Glover
“Deadwood: The Movie”
Producers: David Milch, Carolyn Strauss, Gregg Fienberg, Scott Stephens, Daniel Minahan, Ian McShane, Timothy Olyphant, Regina Corrado, Nichole Beattie, Mark Tobey
“El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie”
Producers: Mark Johnson, Melissa Bernstein, Charles Newirth, Vince Gilligan, Aaron Paul, Diane Mercer
The Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television
“30 for 30” (Season 10)
Producers: Libby Geist, Connor Schell, John Dahl, Rob King, Erin Leyden, Gentry Kirby, Deidre Fenton, Marquis Daisy, Jenna Anthony, Adam Neuhaus
“60 Minutes” (Season 51, Season 52)
Producer: Bill Owens
WINNER: “Leaving Neverland”
Producer: Dan Reed
“Queer Eye” (Season 3, Season 4)
Producers: David Collins, Michael Williams, Rob Eric, Jennifer Lane, Jordana Hochman, Rachelle Mendez, Mark Bracero
“Surviving R. Kelly” (Season 1)
Producers: Joel Karsberg, dream hampton, Jesse Daniels, Tamra Simmons, Brie Miranda Bryant, Jessica Everleth, Mary Bissell, Maria Pepin, Charlotte Glover, Allison Brandin, Laura Hoeppner
The Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television
“The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” (Season 25)
Producers: Trevor Noah, Jennifer Flanz, Jill Katz, Justin Melkmann, Zhubin Parang, Jocelyn Conn, Max Browning, Eric Davies, Pamela DePace, Ramin Hedayati, David Kibuuka, Elise Terrell, Dave Blog, Adam Chodikoff, Jimmy Donn, Jeff Gussow, Kira Klang Hopf, Allison MacDonald, Ryan Middleton
“Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones”
Producers: Dave Chappelle, Stan Lathan, Rikki Hughes, Sina Sadighi
WINNER: “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (Season 6)
Producers: John Oliver, Tim Carvell, Liz Stanton, Jeremy Tchaban, Christopher Werner, Laura L. Griffin, Kate Mullaney, Matt Passet, Marian Wang, Charles Wilson
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (Season 5)
Producers: Stephen Colbert, Chris Licht, Tom Purcell, Jon Stewart, Barry Julien, Denise Rehrig, Tanya Michnevich Bracco, Paul Dinello, Matt Lappin, Opus Moreschi, Emily Gertler, Michael Brumm, Bjoern Stejskal, Paige Kendig, Jake Plunkett, Aaron Cohen, Sara Vilkomerson, Adam Wager
“Saturday Night Live” (Season 45)
Producers: Lorne Michaels, Steve Higgins, Erik Kenward, Lindsay Shookus, Erin Doyle, Tom Broecker, Ken Aymong
The Award for Outstanding Producer of Game & Competition Television
“The Amazing Race” (Season 31)
Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Bertram van Munster, Jonathan Littman, Elise Doganieri, Mark Vertullo, Phil Keoghan
“The Masked Singer” (Season 1)
Producers: Craig Plestis, Izzie Pick Ibarra, Nikki Varhely-Gillingham, Rosie Seitchik, Stacey Thomas-Muir, Nick Cannon, Ashley Sylvester, Lindsay Tuggle, Pete Cooksley, Chelsea Candelaria, Anne Chanthavong, Zoë Ritchken, Deena Katz, Erin Brady, Jeff Kmiotek, Lexi Shoemaker
WINNER: “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (Season 11)
Producers: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, Tom Campbell, Mandy Salangsang, RuPaul Charles, Steven Corfe, Bruce McCoy, Michele Mills, Jacqueline Wilson, Thairin Smothers, John Polly, Michelle Visage, Jen Passovoy
“Top Chef” (Season 16)
Producers: Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz, Doneen Arquines, Casey Kriley, Tara Siener, Justin Rae Barnes, Blake Davis, Patrick Schmedeman, Wade Sheeler, Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi, Elida Carbajal Araiza, Brian Fowler, Caitlin Rademaekers, Steve Lichtenstein, Emily Van Bergen
“The Voice” (Season 16, Season 17)
Producers: John de Mol, Mark Burnett, Audrey Morrissey, Stijn Bakkers, Amanda Zucker, Kyra Thompson, Teddy Valenti, Kyley Tucker, Carson Daly
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