2021 PGA Awards: ‘Nomadland’ Takes Home the Top Prize
“Nomadland” look home the top film prize at the 2021 Producers Guild Awards Wednesday, bringing it closer to a Best Picture win. The winner of the PGA Awards’ top prize has historically been a strong indicator of which film will will go on to win the Best Picture Oscar. Since 1989, the PGA winner has matched up with the top Oscar 21 out of 31 times. It happened in 2018 with “Green Book,” but not last year: “1917” won at the 2020 PGAs, but the Academy Award for Best Picture went to “Parasite.”
This year, 10 movies competed for the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures (see the full list of nominees and winners below). Seven 2021 PGA nominees for the top prize are also 2021 Oscar Best Picture nominees: “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Mank,” “Minari,” “Nomadland,” “Promising Young Woman,” “Sound Of Metal,” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7.”
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One film, “The Father,” earned a Best Picture nod without a PGA nomination, while the PGA nominated three films for its top prize that did not receive nominations for the Academy Award: “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” and “One Night in Miami.”
TV winners included “The Crown” and “The Queen’s Gambit,” all noted for their frequent appearances in guild awards this season. Critical favorite “I May Destroy You” earned a PGA nomination despite being snubbed by or ineligible for other awards.
The majority of the awards were handed out Wednesday, but the PGA gave out awards in several categories during an event over the weekend. The award for Outstanding Sports Program want to “Defying Gravity: The Untold Story of Women’s Gymnastics,” Season 1; Outstanding Children’s Program went to “The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special;” “Carpool Karaoke: The Series,” Season 3 won Outstanding Short-Form Program; and “BRCvr” won the PGA Innovation Award.
See the list of nominees for the 2021 PGA Awards below. Winners are bolded.
Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (producers: Sacha Baron Cohen, Monica Levinson, Anthony Hines)
“Judas and the Black Messiah” (producers: Charles D. King, Ryan Coogler, Shaka King)
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (producers: Denzel Washington, Todd Black)
“Mank” (producers: Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth, Douglas Urbanski)
“Minari” (producer: Christina Oh)
“Nomadland” (producers: Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Chloé Zhao) (winner)
“One Night In Miami” (producers: Jess Wu Calder & Keith Calder, Jody Klein)
“Promising Young Woman” (producers: Josey McNamara, Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell)
“Sound Of Metal” (producers: Bert Hamelinck, Sacha Ben Harroche)
“The Trial of the Chicago 7” (producers: Marc Platt, Stuart Besser)
Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures
“The Croods: A New Age” (producer: Mark Swift)
“Onward” (producer: Kori Rae)
“Over the Moon” (producers: Gennie Rim, Peilin Chou)
“Soul” (producer: Dana Murray) (winner)
“Wolfwalkers” (producers: Paul Young, Nora Twomey, Tomm Moore, Stéphan Roelants)
Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Drama
“Better Call Saul,” Season 5 (producers: Peter Gould, Vince Gilligan, Mark Johnson, Melissa Bernstein, Thomas Schnauz, Diane Mercer, Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock, Ann Cherkis, Bob Odenkirk, Princess Nash)
“Bridgerton,” Season 1 (producers: Chris Van Dusen, Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers, Scott Collins, Alison Eakle, Sara Fischer, Sarada McDermott, Holden Chang, Tom Verica)
“The Crown,” Season 4 (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) (winner)
“The Mandalorian,” Season 2 (producers: Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy, Colin Wilson, Karen Gilchrist, John Bartnicki, Carrie Beck)
“Ozark,” Season 3 (producers: Jason Bateman, Chris Mundy, Bill Dubuque, Mark Williams, Patrick Markey, John Shiban, Miki Johnson, Matthew Spiegel, Erin Mitchell, Martin Zimmerman, Peter Thorell)
Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Comedy
“Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Season 10 (producers: Larry David, Jeff Garlin, Jeff Schaffer, Laura Streicher, Mychelle Deschamps)
“The Flight Attendant,” Season 1 (producers: Greg Berlanti, Kaley Cuoco, Steve Yockey, Meredith Lavender, Marcie Ulin, Sarah Schechter, Suzanne McCormack, Jess Meyer, Raymond Quinlan, Jennifer Lence, Erika Kennair)
“Schitt’s Creek,” Season 6 (producers: Eugene Levy, Daniel Levy, Andrew Barnsley, Fred Levy, David West Read, Ben Feigin, Michael Short, Kurt Smeaton, Kosta Orfanidis) (winner)
“Ted Lasso,” Season 1 (producers: Bill Lawrence, Jason Sudeikis, Jeff Ingold, Bill Wrubel, Liza Katzer, Jane Becker, Jamie Lee, Kip Kroeger, Brendan Hunt, Tina Pawlik, Joe Kelly)
“What We Do in the Shadows,” Season 2 (producers: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Paul Simms, Scott Rudin, Garrett Basch, Eli Bush, Stefani Robinson, Sam Johnson, Marika Sawyer, Derek S. Rappaport)
David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Limited Series Television
“I May Destroy You” (producers: Michaela Coel, Phil Clarke, Roberto Troni, Simon Meyers, Simon Maloney)
“Normal People” (producers: Lenny Abrahamson, Sally Rooney, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Emma Norton, Anna Ferguson, Catherine Magee)
“The Queen’s Gambit” (producers: William Horberg, Allan Scott, Scott Frank, Marcus Loges, Mick Aniceto) (winner)
“The Undoing” (producers: Susanne Bier, David E. Kelley, Per Saari, Nicole Kidman, Bruna Papandrea, Stephen Garrett, Celia Costas, Deb Dyer)
“Unorthodox” (producers: Anna Winger, Henning Kamm, Alexa Karolinksi)
Award for Outstanding Producer of Televised or Streamed Motion Pictures
“Bad Education” (producers: Fred Berger, Eddie Vaisman)
“Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square” (producers: Dolly Parton, Sam Haskell)
“Hamilton” (producers: Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeffrey Seller) (winner)
“Jane Goodall: The Hope” (producers TBD)
“What the Constitution Means To Me” (producers: Heidi Schreck, Marielle Heller, Robin Schwartz, Kyle Laursen, Peter Saraf)
Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television
“60 Minutes,” Season 53 (producer: Bill Owens)
“The Last Dance,” Season 1 (producers: Mike Tollin, Curtis Polk, Estee Portnoy, Andrew Thompson, Gregg Winik, John Dahl, Libby Geist, Connor Schell, Peter Guber, Jason Hehir) (winner)
“Laurel Canyon,” (producers: Craig Kallman, Mark Pinkus, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, Stacey Offman, Richard Perello, Jeff Pollack, Alex Gibney, Frank Marshall, Erin Edeiken, Ryan Suffern)
“McMillion$,” Season 1 (producers: Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Archie Gips, James Lee Hernandez, Brian Lazarte)
“Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” (producers: Chris Smith, Fisher Stevens, Eric Goode, Rebecca Chaiklin)
Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television
“8:46 – Dave Chappelle” (producers: Dave Chappelle, Julia Reichert, Sina Sadighi, Steven Bognar)
“The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” Season 26 (producers: Trevor Noah, Jennifer Flanz, Jill Katz, Justin Melkmann, Max Browning, Eric Davies, Pamela DePace, Ramin Hedayati, David Kibuuka, David Paul Meyer, Zhubin Parang, Elise Terrell, Jocelyn Conn, Jeff Gussow, Shawna Shepherd, Beth Shorr, Dan Amira, David Blog, Adam Chodikoff, Jimmy Donn, Scott Hercman, Kira Klang Hopf, Allison MacDonald, Ryan Middleton, Matt Negrin, Juliet Werner)
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” Season 7 (producers: John Oliver, Tim Carvell, Liz Stanton, Jeremy Tchaban, Christopher Werner, Laura L. Griffin, Kate Mullaney, Matt Passet, Marian Wang, Charles Wilson) (winner)
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Season 6 (producers: Stephen T. Colbert, Chris Licht, Tom Purcell, Jon Stewart, Tanya Michnevich Bracco, Barry Julien, Opus Moreschi, Denise Rehrig, Aaron Cohen, Paul Dinello, Emily Gertler, Jay Katsir, Matt Lappin, Bjoern Stejskal, Sara Vilkomerson, Ballard C. Boyd, Michael Brumm, Gabe Gronli, Paige Kendig, Jake Plunkett, Adam Wager)
“Saturday Night Live,” Season 46 (producers: Lorne Michaels, Steve Higgins, Erik Kenward, Lindsay Shookus, Erin Doyle, Tom Broecker, Caroline Maroney, Ken Aymong)
Award for Outstanding Producer of Game & Competition Television
“The Amazing Race,” Season 32 (producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Bertram van Munster, Jonathan Littman, Elise Doganieri, Mark Vertullo, Phil Keoghan)
“The Masked Singer,” Seasons 3-4 (producers: Craig Plestis, Izzie Pick-Ibarra, Rosie Seitchik, Nick Cannon, James Breen, Deena Katz, Lindsay Tuggle, Chris Wagner, Patrizia DiMaria, Brian Updyke, Jeff Kmiotek, Lauren Taylor Harding, Nick Campagna, Erin Brady, Tiana Gandelman, Kristin Campbell-Taylor, Lindsay John, Dom Worden, Peter Hebri, Zoë Ritchken, Lexi Shoemaker, Mike Riccio, Emily Smith, Chelsea Candelaria, Joseph Warwick)
“Nailed It!,” Season 4 (producers: Patrick J. Doody, Gaylen Gawlowski, Casey Kriley, Jo Sharon, Sandra Birdsong, Anika Guldstrand, Cat Sullivan, Melissa Johnson)
“RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Season 12 (producers: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, Tom Campbell, Mandy Salangsang, RuPaul Charles, Steven Corfe, Michele Mills, Jacqueline Wilson, Thairin Smothers, Adam Bronstein, Lisa Steele, John Polly, Michelle Visage, Jen Passovoy, Alicia Gargaro-Magana) (winner)
“The Voice,” Seasons 18-19 (producers: John de Mol, Mark Burnett, Audrey Morrissey, Adam Sher, Amanda Zucker, Kyra Thompson, Teddy Valenti, Kyley Tucker, Carson Daly)
Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures
“David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet” (producer: Jonnie Hughes)
“Dick Johnson Is Dead” (producer: Kirsten Johnson, Katy Chevigny, Marilyn Ness)
“My Octopus Teacher” (producer: Craig Foster) (winner)
“Softie” (producers: Toni Kamau, Sam Soko)
“A Thousand Cuts” (producers: Ramona S. Diaz, Leah Marino, Julie Goldman & Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn)
“Time” (producers: Lauren Domino, Kellen Quinn, Garrett Bradley)
“The Truffle Hunters” (producers: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw)
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