Producers Guild Nominates ‘The Artist,’ ‘War Horse’

The producers of "The Artist," "War Horse," "The Descendants" and "Hugo" are among the nominees for the Producers Guild of America's top feature-film prize, the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award for Theatrical Motion Pictures, the PGA announced on Tuesday.

Also nominated: "The Help," "Midnight in Paris," "Moneyball," "The Ides of March," "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and "Bridesmaids" (below).

Among the films that did not receive nominations are Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life," a critics' favorite; Stephen Daldry's 9/11 drama "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"; Nicolas Winding Refn's "Drive"; and Tomas Alfredson's spy drama "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy."

"War Horse" producers Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy were double nominees, also receiving nods for producing the animated feature nominee "The Adventures of Tintin."

Other nominations went to the animated films "Cars 2," "Kung Fu Panda 2," "Puss in Boots" and "Rango."

While "For Your Consideration" screeners of "Hugo" list four producers — Graham King, Tim Headington, Martin Scorsese and Johnny Depp — the PGA only includes King and Scorsese in its list of nominees. The guild has strict guidelines about the duties that a producer must carry out to earn the title, and the Academy abides by the PGA's decisions when determining credits for its Best Picture nominees.

On the TV side, nominees in the longform television category included three HBO movies or miniseries, "Cinema Verite," "Mildred Pierce" and "Too Big to Fail," going up against "Downton Abbey" and "The Kennedys."

Nominees in the previously announced television series categories include "Boardwalk Empire," "Game of Thrones," "Mad Men," "Modern Family" and "Glee."

The Producers Guild Awards are typically one of the most reliable predictors of the Oscars, though recent changes in the Academy's Best Picture rules could affect that reliability this year.

In the last decade, the PGA winner has gone on to win the Oscar for Best Picture six times, including the last four in a row. Over its 21-year existence, the award has coincided with the top Oscar 14 times. 

The PGA followed the Academy in 2009 when AMPAS decided to increase the Best Picture field from five to 10; it nominated eight of that year's 10 Oscar nominees, and nine of 10 the following year.

This year, though, the PGA stuck with a slate of 10 rather than adopting the new Academy system that could result in anywhere from five to 10 nominees.  

Crucially, the PGA is the one awards body that uses the same preferential system to count final ballots as the Academy, making its awards for "The Hurt Locker" and "The King's Speech" particularly strong indicators that those films would triumph with the Academy as well.

Assuming that the Oscar slate is similar to the Producers Guild's nominees, the use of the preferential count should make this year's winner a clear Oscar favorite as well.

The Producers Guild Awards will take place on Saturday, January 21 in the Grand Ballroom at the Hollywood & Highland Center.

The nominations:

Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures:
THE ARTIST
Producer: Thomas Langmann
BRIDESMAIDS
Producers: Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, Clayton Townsend
THE DESCENDANTS
Producers: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Producers: Ceán Chaffin, Scott Rudin
THE HELP
Producers: Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Brunson Green
HUGO
Producers: Graham King, Martin Scorsese
THE IDES OF MARCH
Producers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Brian Oliver
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Producers: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum
MONEYBALL
Producers: Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt
WAR HORSE
Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg
 
The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures:
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
Producers: Peter Jackson, Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg
CARS 2
Producer: Denise Ream
KUNG FU PANDA 2
Producer: Melissa Cobb
PUSS IN BOOTS
Producers: Joe M. Aguilar, Latifa Ouaou
RANGO
Producers: John B. Carls, Gore Verbinski
 
The David L. Wolper Producer of the Year Award in Long-Form Television:
“Cinema Verite” (HBO)
Producers: Zanne Devine, Karyn McCarthy
“Downton Abbey” (Masterpiece) (PBS)
Producers: Julian Fellowes, Nigel Marchant, Gareth Neame
“The Kennedys” (ReelzChannel)
Producers: Jon Cassar, Jonathan Koch, Stephen Kronish, Steve Michaels, Michael Prupas, Jamie Paul Rock, Joel Surnow
“Mildred Pierce” (HBO)
Producers: Todd Haynes, Pamela Koffler, Ilene S. Landress, Christine Vachon
“Too Big To Fail” (HBO)
Producers: Carol Fenelon, Jeffrey Levine, Paula Weinstein
 
*The Long-Form Television category encompasses both movies of the week and mini-series.
 
In December 2011, the Producers Guild of America announced the Documentary Theatrical Motion Picture, Television Series and Non-Fiction Television Nominations; the following list includes complete producer credits.
 
The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures:
BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
Producers: Michael Rapaport, Edward Parks (*additional producers eligibility pending arbitration completion)
BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK
Producer: Philip Gefter
PROJECT NIM
Producer: Simon Chinn
SENNA
Producer: James Gay-Rees
THE UNION
Producers: Cameron Crowe, Michelle Panek
 
The Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy:
“30 Rock” (NBC)
Producers: Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Marci Klein, Jerry Kupfer, Lorne Michaels, David Miner, Jeff Richmond, John Riggi, Don Scardino
“The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)
Producers:  Chuck Lorre, Steve Molaro, Faye Oshima, Bill Prady
“Glee” (FOX)
Producers: Ian Brennan, Dante Di Loreto, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy, Kenneth Silverstein
“Modern Family” (ABC)
Producers: Paul Corrigan, Abraham Higginbotham, Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Morton, Jeffrey Richman, Dan O’Shannon, Brad Walsh, Bill Wrubel, Danny Zuker
“Parks and Recreation” (NBC)
Producers: Greg Daniels, Dan Goor, Howard Klein, Amy Poehler, Morgan Sackett, Michael Schur
 
The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama:
“Boardwalk Empire” (HBO)
Producers: Eugene Kelly, Howard Korder, Stephen Levinson, Martin Scorsese, Rudd Simmons, Tim Van Patten, Terence Winter
“Dexter” (Showtime)
Producers: Sara Colleton, John Goldwyn, Chip Johannessen, Robert Lloyd Lewis
“Game of Thrones” (HBO)
Producers: David Benioff, Frank Doelger, Mark Huffam, Carolyn Strauss, D.B. Weiss
“The Good Wife” (CBS)
Producers: Brooke Kennedy, Michelle King, Robert King, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, David W. Zucker
“Mad Men” (AMC)
Producers: Jonathan Abrahams, Scott Hornbacher, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Blake McCormick, Dwayne Shattuck, Dahvi Waller, Matthew Weiner
 
The Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television:
“The Colbert Report” (Comedy Central)
Producers: Meredith Bennett, Stephen T. Colbert, Richard Dahm, Tanya Michnevich Bracco, Tom Purcell, Jon Stewart (*additional producers eligibility pending arbitration completion)
“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (Syndicated)
Producers: Mary Connelly, Ellen DeGeneres, Melissa Geiger Schrift, Ed Glavin, Andy Lassner, Kevin A. Leman II, Jonathan Norman, Derek Westervelt
“Real Time with Bill Maher” (HBO)
Producers: Scott Carter, Sheila Griffiths, Marc Gurvitz, Dean Johnsen, Bill Maher, Billy Martin
“Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
Producers: Ken Aymong, Steve Higgins, Erik Kenward, Lorne Michaels, John Mulaney
“The 64th Annual Tony Awards” (CBS)
Producers: Ricky Kirshner, Glenn Weiss
 
The Award for Outstanding Producer of Competition Television:
“The Amazing Race” (CBS)
Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Elise Doganieri, Jonathan Littman, Bertram van Munster, Mark Vertullo
“American Idol” (FOX)
Producers: Charles Boyd, Cecile Frot-Coutaz, Simon Fuller, Patrick Lynn, Nigel Lythgoe, Megan Michaels, Ken Warwick
“Dancing with the Stars” (ABC)
Producers: Ashley Edens Shaffer, Conrad Green, Joe Sungkur, Rob Wade
“Project Runway” (Lifetime)
Producers: Jane Cha Cutler, Desiree Gruber, Tim Gunn, Heidi Klum, Jonathan Murray, Sara Rea, Colleen Sands
“Top Chef” (Bravo)
Producers: Daniel Cutforth, Casey Kriley, Jane Lipsitz, Dan Murphy, Nan Strait           
 
The Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television:
“30 for 30” (ESPN)
Producers: John Dahl, Connor Schell, Bill Simmons
“American Masters” (PBS)
Producers: Susan Lacy, Julie Sacks
“Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” (Travel Channel)
Producers: Christopher Collins, Julie Lei, Lydia Tenaglia, Tom Vitale
“Deadliest Catch” (Discovery Channel)
Producers: Thom Beers, Jeff Conroy, John Gray, Sheila McCormack, Ethan Prochnik, Bill Pruitt, Matt Renner
“Undercover Boss” (CBS)
Producers: Chris Carlson, Susan Hoenig, Eli Holzman, Sandi Johnson, Stephen Lambert, Allison Schermerhorn
 
**Below are new categories for the 2012 Producers Guild Awards; three television categories and one web category. As such, these programs were not vetted for producer eligibility this year but winners in these categories will be announced at the official ceremony on January 21st:
 
News Programs:
“Anderson Cooper 360” (CNN)
“BBC World News America” (BBC)
“NBC News with Brian Williams” (NBC)
“The Rachel Maddow Show” (MSNBC)
“60 Minutes” (CBS)
 
Sports Programs: (*There was a tie, which is why there are six nominees.)
“Monday Night Football” (ESPN)
“Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” (HBO)
“Sports Center” (ESPN)
“30 for 30” (ESPN)
“2010 FIFA World Cup” (ABC / ESPN / ESPN2)
“U.S. Open Tennis Championship” (CBS / ESPN2 / Tennis Channel)
 
Children’s Programs:
“Dora the Explorer” (Nickelodeon)
“iCarly” (Nickelodeon)
“Phineas and Ferb” (Disney Channel)
“Sesame Street” (PBS)
“SpongeBob Squarepants” (Nickelodeon)
 
Web Series:
“Ask a Ninja” (blip.tv)
“The Guild” (WatchTheGuild.com)
“Parks and Recreation Presents: ‘April & Andy’s Road Trip’” (NBC.com)
“30 Rock Presents Jack Donaghy, Executive Superhero” (NBC.com)
“Web Therapy” (LStudio.com)