On Saturday evening, the Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced this year’s winning motion picture, television, and new media productions at the 26th Annual Producers Guild Awards ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.
The Jerry Seinfeld-created web series, “Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee” won the Producers Guild Award for Outstanding Digital Series.
The television program “Breaking Bad” and its producers Melissa Bernstein, Sam Catlin, Bryan Cranston, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Mark Johnson, Stewart Lyons, Michelle MacLaren, George Mastras, Diane Mercer, Thomas Schnauz, and Moira Walley-Beckett won the Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama.
Closing the evening, the film BIRDMAN and its producers Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, and James W. Skotchdopole won the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures. This category is one of the most eagerly-anticipated of season, as it is widely considered a strong prognosticator for the Best Picture Oscar®.
In addition to its competitive awards, the PGA presented special honors to Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer with the Milestone Award; producer Mark Gordon (“Ray Donovan,” “Grey’s Anatomy”) with the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television; producer Gale Anne Hurd (THE INCREDIBLE HULK, the TERMINATOR trilogy) with the David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures; the HBO television motion picture THE NORMAL HEART with the Stanley Kramer Award; and the production company Plan B Entertainment (SELMA, 12 YEARS A SLAVE), represented by its principal executives Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner, with the Visionary Award.
Tim Wen and Chidi Onyejuruwa and their film SYMPHONY OF SENSES were also named the winners of the Make Your Mark short film competition, which is presented by the PGA and Cadillac through the Producers Guild of America Foundation. A portion of the winning short film and the producers’ names will be featured in a Cadillac 30-second spot that will air on ABC during the Oscars ceremony on Sunday, February 22.
The 2015 Producers Guild Awards Co-Chairs are Todd Black (THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS, THE EQUALIZER) and Ryan Murphy (“American Horror Story,” “Glee”). Sponsors of the 2015 Producers Guild Awards include Cadillac, the Official Automotive Partner of the PGA; PRG, Production Resource Group, a PGA annual sponsor; Delta Air Lines, sponsor of the Visionary Award; Univision Communications, Inc. sponsor of the evening’s cocktail reception; Pacific Mercantile Bank; Bulgari; and PassionRoses.
The Producers Guild of America presents the 2015 Producers Guild Awards honoring excellence in motion picture, television and new media productions, as well as some of the living legends who shape the profession. Considered one of the marquee events of the entertainment industry’s awards season, the PGA held its first ceremony in 1990 when Richard Zanuck and Lili Fini Zanuck took home the motion picture prize for DRIVING MISS DAISY, establishing the Guild’s awards as a bellwether for the Oscars. In 2014, for the first time in history, the PGA membership honored both 12 YEARS A SLAVE and GRAVITY with the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures. 12 YEARS A SLAVE went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture, marking the seventh consecutive year the Producers Guild Awards predicted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ choice.
Photo: John Shearer/Invision for Producers Guild of America/AP Images
