‘Argo’ wins Producers Guild Awards
As goes the Producers Guild, so goes the Oscar for Best Picture …
At least, that’s how the past five years have worked out. So Argo‘s win on Saturday night is the strongest indicator yet that the rescue thriller is the frontrunner in the most fiercely competitive Academy Awards race in recent memory.
The 10 nominees in the producers race were Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Moonrise Kingdom, Silver Linings Playbook, Skyfall, Zero Dark Thirty. Only nine nominees are in the Academy’s top race, with Skyfall and Moonrise Kingdom out, and the French drama Amour ranking instead.
High profile snubs in the Oscars’ directing category of Argo‘s Ben Affleck, Zero Dark Thirty‘s Kathryn Bigelow, and Les Miserables’ Tom Hooper upended the race earlier this month, since those movies were regarded as some of the strongest contenders. Then Argo had repeat wins at the Broadcast Film Critics Awards and the Golden Globes, and many Academy voters who felt the directing branch got it wrong began rallying behind the film’s Best Picture chances.
In a rare twist, being the frontrunner with a leading 12 Oscar nominations turned into a liability for Lincoln and director Steven Spielberg.
With the producers guild throwing its weight behind Argo, it seems that passion for it isn’t fading, and the path to the Oscar seems more likely than ever.
Here is the full list of winners from the Producers Guild of America:
Picture:
Argo
Producers: Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Grant Heslov
Animated Feature:
Wreck-It Ralph
Producer: Clark Spencer
Documentary:
Searching For Sugar Man
Producers: Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn
TELEVISION
TV movie or mini-series:
Game Change (HBO)
Producers: Gary Goetzman, Tom Hanks, Jay Roach, Amy Sayres, Steven Shareshian, Danny Strong
TV Drama:
Homeland (Showtime)
Producers: Henry Bromell, Alexander Cary, Michael Cuesta, Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, Chip Johannessen, Michael Klick, Meredith Stiehm
TV Comedy:
Modern Family (ABC)
Producers: Cindy Chupack, Paul Corrigan, Abraham Higginbotham, Ben Karlin, Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Morton, Dan O’Shannon, Jeffrey Richman, Chris Smirnoff, Brad Walsh, Bill Wrubel, Danny Zuker
Non-Fiction TV:
American Masters (PBS)
Producers: Prudence Glass, Susan Lacy, Julie Sacks
Live Entertainment & Talk:
The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)
Producers: Meredith Bennett, Stephen Colbert, Richard Dahm, Paul Dinello, Barry Julien, Matt Lappin, Emily Lazar, Tanya Michnevich Bracco, Tom Purcell, Jon Stewart
Competition TV:
The Amazing Race (CBS)
Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Elise Doganieri, Jonathan Littman, Bertram van Munster, Mark Vertullo
Sports:
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (HBO)
Children’s TV:
Sesame Street (PBS)
Web Series:
30 Rock: The Webisodes (www.nbc.com)