Producers Guild Nominees Range From ‘Belfast’ and ‘CODA’ to ‘Dune’
The busiest single day of film nominations in many years kicked off on Thursday with the Producers Guild of America announcing its nominees for the best-produced films of 2021, a slate of films that ranged from indies like “Belfast” and “CODA” to the bigger budget extravaganzas “Dune” and “West Side Story.”
Also on the list: “Being the Ricardos,” “Don’t Look Up,” “King Richard,” “Licorice Pizza,” “The Power of the Dog” and “tick, tick…BOOM!”
Conspicuously missing from the PGA’s list were the COVID-wracked year’s biggest blockbuster, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and the James Bond film “No Time to Die,” as well as “Nightmare Alley,” “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and “House of Gucci.”
Netflix landed three nominations with “Don’t Look Up,” “The Power of the Dog” and “tick, tick…BOOM!” while Warner Bros. took two with “Dune” and “King Richard.” Other companies represented were Focus (“Belfast”), Apple (“CODA”), MGM (“Licorice Pizza”), 20th Century (“West Side Story”) and Amazon (“Being the Ricardos,” the biggest surprise among the nominations).
The Producers Guild nominations, one of the clearest indications of the shape of any awards season, were announced at 7 a.m. PT, and will be followed by nominations by two more major guilds, the Directors Guild and the Writers Guild, as well as the American Cinema Editors, whose ACE Eddie Awards are also crucial in looking at the race.
With the Screen Actors Guild already announcing its nominations, four films have been nominated for both the SAG Ensemble award and the PGA Award: “Belfast,” “CODA,” “Don’t Look Up” and “King Richard.” (“The Power of the Dog” landed individual SAG nods for Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Kodi Smit-McPhee, but did not receive an ensemble nomination.)
In the animated-feature category, the Producers chose the same five films that have been receiving the lion’s share of nominations: “Encanto,” “Luca,” “The Mitchells vs. the Machines,” “Raya and the Last Dragon” and “Sing 2.”
TV nominations went to “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Morning Show,” “Squid Game,” “Succession” and “Yellowstone” in the drama category, and “Cobra Kai,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Hacks,” “Only Murders in the Building” and “Ted Lasso” in comedy.
In general, Producers Guild feature-film nominations are a reliable predictor of Oscar success: Since the Academy and the Guild both expanded from five to 10 nominees in 2009, 94 of the 106 Oscar Best Picture nominees — almost 90% — have first been nominated by the Producers Guild.
The two awards have never completely agreed in that time, mostly because the Producers Guild stuck with a flat 10 nominees when the Academy moved to a variable number (which always turned out to be eight or nine) for ten years beginning in 2011. But in three of the last five years, the slate of PGA nominees has included every film that would go on to be nominated for the Oscar.
Only once in the 31 years of the Producers Guild Awards, which began in 1989, has the eventual Oscar Best Picture winner not been first nominated by the guild. The one exception came in 1996, when Oscar winner “Braveheart” was not a PGA nominee.
Here is the complete list of nominees. If individual producers are not listed, eligibility is still being determined by the PGA.
*Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures*
*Being the Ricardos*
Producer: Todd Black, p.g.a.
*Belfast*
Producers: Laura Berwick, Kenneth Branagh, Becca Kovacik, Tamar Thomas
*CODA*
Producers: Philippe Rousselet, p.g.a., Fabrice Gianfermi, p.g.a., Patrick Wachsberger, p.g.a.
*Don’t Look Up*
Producers: Adam McKay, p.g.a., Kevin Messick, p.g.a.
*Dune*
Producers: Mary Parent, p.g.a., Cale Boyter, p.g.a., Denis Villeneuve, p.g.a.
*King Richard*
Producers: Tim White, p.g.a., Trevor White, p.g.a., Will Smith, p.g.a.
*Licorice Pizza*
Producers: Sara Murphy, Paul Thomas Anderson, Adam Somner
*The Power of the Dog*
Producers: Jane Campion, p.g.a., Tanya Seghatchian, p.g.a., Emile Sherman, p.g.a. & Iain Canning, p.g.a., Roger Frappier, p.g.a.
*tick, tick…BOOM!*
Producers: Julie Oh, p.g.a., Lin-Manuel Miranda, p.g.a.
*West Side Story*
Producers: Steven Spielberg, p.g.a., Kristie Macosko Krieger, p.g.a.
*Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures*
*Encanto*
Producers: Yvett Merino, p.g.a., Clark Spencer, p.g.a.
*Luca*
Producers: Andrea Warren, p.g.a.
*The Mitchells vs. The Machines*
Producers: Phil Lord, p.g.a. & Christopher Miller, p.g.a., Kurt Albrecht, p.g.a.
*Raya and the Last Dragon*
Producers: Osnat Shurer, p.g.a., Peter Del Vecho, p.g.a.
*Sing 2*
Producers: Chris Meledandri, p.g.a., Janet Healy, p.g.a.
*Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Drama*
*The Handmaid’s Tale (Season 4)*
*The Morning Show (Season 2)*
*Squid Game (Season 1)*
*Succession (Season 3)*
*Yellowstone (Season 4)*
*Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Comedy*
*Cobra Kai (Seasons 3 & 4)*
*Eligibility Determination Pending*
*Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 11)*
*Eligibility Determination Pending*
*Hacks (Season 1)*
Producers: Jen Statsky, Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, Michael Schur, David Miner, Morgan Sackett, Joanna Calo, Andrew Law, David Hyman, Joe Mande, Jessica Chaffin
*Only Murders in the Building (Season 1)*
*Eligibility Determination Pending*
*Ted Lasso (Season 2)*
*Eligibility Determination Pending*
*David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Limited or Anthology Series Television*
*Dopesick*
*Mare of Easttown*
*The Underground Railroad*
*WandaVision*
*The White Lotus*
*Award for Outstanding Producer of Televised or Streamed Motion Pictures*
*8-Bit Christmas*
Producers: Tim White, p.g.a. & Trevor White, p.g.a., Allan Mandelbaum, p.g.a.
*Come From Away*
*Eligibility Determination Pending*
*Oslo*
*Eligibility Determination Pending*
*Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia*
*Eligibility Determination Pending*
*Single All The Way*
Producer: Joel S. Rice, p.g.a.
*Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free: The Making of Wildflowers*
*Eligibility Determination Pending*
*Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television*
*60 Minutes (Season 54)*
*Allen v. Farrow (Season 1)*
*The Beatles: Get Back (Season 1)*
*Queer Eye (Season 6)*
*Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy (Season 1)*
*Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment, Variety, Sketch, Standup & Talk Television*
*The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Season 27)*
*Dave Chappelle: The Closer*
*Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (Season 8)*
*The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (Season 7)*
*Saturday Night Live (Season 47)*
*Award for Outstanding Producer of Game & Competition Television*
*America’s Got Talent (Season 16)*
*Nailed It! (Seasons 5 & 6)*
*RuPaul’s Drag Race (Season 13)*
*Top Chef (Season 18)*
*The Voice (Season 20)*
*Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures*
The PGA previously announced the nominations in this category on December 10, 2021.
*Ascension*
Producers: Jessica Kingdon, Kira Simon-Kennedy, Nathan Truesdell
*The First Wave*
*Eligibility Determination Pending*
*Flee*
*Eligibility Determination Pending*
*In The Same Breath*
Producers: Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang, Julie Goldman & Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn
*The Rescue*
*Eligibility Determination Pending*
*Simple As Water*
Producers: Robin Hessman, Megan Mylan
*Summer Of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)*
Producers: Joseph Patel, p.g.a., David Dinerstein, p.g.a., Robert Fyvolent, p.g.a.
*Writing With Fire*
Producers: Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh