PGA Awards: ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ Wins Top Prize

Everything Everywhere All at Once won the top prize at the 2023 PGA Awards.

Other winners at the Producers Guild of America awards ceremony Saturday night include Navalny, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, The Bear and The White Lotus.

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Daveed Diggs kicked off the show with opening comments. Pinocchio was the first winner of the night, presented by Hacks‘ Hannah Einbinder, as del Toro noted it was “a fantastic year for animation, every artist in this category is trying to push it,” once again emphasizing that animation is an art form for audiences beyond children.

B.J. Novak presented the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television to Mindy Kaling, recalling their early days together at The Office and their careers since. “She knows a lot about producing now but she was great at it even before she did, because she’s a great producer for the same reason that many people, including her, are great parents right away. She cares so much that she either knows what to do or finds out fast,” he said, adding, “She cares so much about everything, and I care so much about her.”

In her acceptance speech, Kaling dedicated the award to her late mother and thanked The Office producers Greg Daniels and Howard Klein for giving her her start. She also shouted out Lear for “paving the way for all kinds of people to be centered on TV — nuanced, three-dimensional people who are sometimes awkward or selfish but they’re always hilarious.” Kaling also thanked her studio exec partners, “powerful people who have all believed in me, believed in the good business that is inclusive content, and encouraged me to fill my productions with tons of new talent, particularly women of color.”

Eugenio Derbez presented best episodic TV, drama to The White Lotus, to producer David Bernad, who jokingly apologized to those people in the crowd who voted for the show and hoped to see Mike White or Jennifer Coolidge give a speech, and Dave Burd presented outstanding live entertainment, variety, sketch, standup and talk television to Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

Ron Howard took the stage to present the Milestone Award to Warner Bros.’ Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, who in their speech reflected on their long careers and partnership. “Pam and I would be nowhere without the artists we work with, thank you so much to them and all the filmmakers who trust us to advocate for them and be there to bring their work into the world,” De Luca said, with a thanks to Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zazlov, teasing that they would do the job for free but he shouldn’t get any ideas.

Mo Amer presented to Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, which won for outstanding producer of game and competition television, and Diego Luna presented outstanding documentary motion picture to Navalny. Anjelah Johnson-Reyes presented outstanding producer of non-fiction television to Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, and Patricia Arquette led an In Memoriam tribute segment.

Billy Eichner presented outstanding televised or streamed motion pictures to Weird: The Al Yankovic Story and star Danielle Deadwyler was on hand to present Till with the Stanley Kramer Award. “The team that created the film Till fought for years, decades, to tell this important story — that too is a form of activism, using art to raise consciousness and awareness to help create change through action,” Deadwyler said. “It is so important that we collectively continue to create and nurture important subject matter, even if it means we must fight with a special vigor and passion. We need more stories that showcase diversity across skin color, religion, gender, sexuality and ability. This is no room for hate or any type of exclusion in this guild, or in the work we produce. We all can be activists and the team behind Till is a great example.” Keith Beauchamp accepted on behalf of the producing team, thanking a long list of collaborators and commending the work of the award’s namesake Kramer.

Bob Odenkirk presented best limited or anthology series to The Dropout, accepted by producer Elizabeth Meriwether, followed by the presentation of the David O. Selznick Achievement Award to Tom Cruise. Sherry Lansing introduced Cruise, remembering their longtime relationship at Paramount, starting when he was 18, noting his extreme commitment to the craft.

“Tom has maintained those very high standards on every single movie that he has produced, culminating today in Top Gun: Maverick,” Lansing continued. “That movie would not exist without Tom’s passion and his persistence, and we all know how Tom held the movie back so it would have a proper theatrical experience. And in doing that, Tom Cruise showed all of us that moviegoing was back,” adding, “Tom Cruise is simply one of the most brilliant producers I’ve ever worked with.”

After a long video montage covering his career, Cruise took the stage, reflecting on his mentors throughout his career.

“I want to thank the studios, all of them, each one of you, for teaching me what it is that you do, and distribution, the same, and everyone,” Cruise said. “You’ve all enabled me the adventurous life that I wanted, and I’ve been able to travel the world and work and watch films in so many countries to share cultures and realize how much we all have in common and to admire our differences.”

He continued, “I want to say congratulations to everyone in this room, not just for winning or being nominated but for creating. I like to see people do well and I’ve been around a while, I know what it takes to do what you do and things don’t just happen, it’s not just luck. You have to create that luck and you have to will it into existence, and I want you to know that I’m always rooting for you. I’m rooting for all of you. The better you do in life and in your work, the better every studio does, the better every film does, the better we all do, the better it is for everyone, so I look forward to seeing what you create in the future and I’ll continue to do all I can to contribute and help this industry and this art form that I love.”

To wrap up the evening, Sandra Oh presented episodic TV, comedy to The Bear, and for the big award of the night, Sacha Baron Cohen presented the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures to Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Producer Jonathan Wang accepted as director The Daniels and several of the film’s stars, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu, joined him on stage.

Wang noted how being half white and half Chinese he often felt like he didn’t fit in with either side growing up, “but in this room, with all of you other nominees, you guys shouldn’t have accepted me, shouldn’t have welcomed me in, but I feel like family in this room with you producers so thank you.”

Avatar: The Way of Water, The Banshees of Inisherin, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Elvis, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Fabelmans, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Tár, Top Gun: Maverick and The Whale are were up for the prize of outstanding film producer.

In the TV categories, Andor, Better Call Saul, Ozark, Severance and The White Lotus were nominated for drama while Abbott Elementary, Barry, The Bear, Hacks and Only Murders in the Building were up for comedy. Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, The Dropout, Inventing Anna, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Pam & Tommy round out the limited series or anthology nominees.

The non-televised show, now in its 34th year, took place at the Beverly Hilton.

A full list of this year’s winners follows.

Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures

Avatar: The Way of Water
The Banshees of Inisherin
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once (WINNER)
The Fabelmans
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Tár
Top Gun: Maverick
The Whale

Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (WINNER)
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Minions: The Rise of Gru
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Turning Red

Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Drama

Andor
Better Call Saul
Ozark
Severance
The White Lotus (WINNER)

Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Comedy

Abbott Elementary
Barry
The Bear (WINNER)
Hacks
Only Murders in the Building

David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Limited or Anthology Series Television

Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
The Dropout (WINNER)
Inventing Anna
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Pam & Tommy  

Award for Outstanding Producer of Televised or Streamed Motion Pictures

Fire Island
Hocus Pocus 2
Pinocchio
Prey
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (WINNER)

Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television

30 for 30
60 Minutes
George Carlin’s American Dream
Lucy and Desi
Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy (WINNER)

Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment, Variety, Sketch, Standup & Talk Television

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (WINNER)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Saturday Night Live  

Award for Outstanding Producer of Game & Competition Television

The Amazing Race
Lizzo’s Watch Out For The Big Grrrls (WINNER)
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars
Top Chef
The Voice

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Picture

All That Breathes
Descendant
Fire of Love
Navalny (WINNER)
Nothing Compares
Retrograde
The Territory

This story was originally published at 7:45 p.m.

Hilary Lewis contributed to this story.

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