Thank you again for the news!
PGA announces nominees Top film contenders include 'Dreamgirls,' 'Departed,' 'Queen' By DAVE MCNARY -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Opting for a mix of studio and indie films, the Producers Guild of America has tapped Paramount Vantage's "Babel," Warner Bros.' "The Departed," Paramount/DreamWorks' "Dreamgirls," Fox Searchlight's "Little Miss Sunshine" and Miramax's "The Queen" as its best picture nominees. The PGA, with over 3,000 members, will announce the winner of its Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year kudo in ceremonies Jan. 20 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. The nominated producers, announced Wednesday, are Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Steve Golin and Jon Kilik for "Babel;" Graham King for "The Departed;" Laurence Mark for "Dreamgirls;" Marc Turtletaub, David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf and Albert Berger & Ron Yerxa for "Little Miss Sunshine" and Andy Harries, Christine Langan and Tracey Seaward for "The Queen." The PGA's determination of producer credits has no limit on the number of producers on its nominated films but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences limits that number to three for its Best Picture nominees. So if "Little Miss Sunshine" receives an Oscar nom, the producers branch of AMPAS will have to decide which three of the five producers are credited. The five "Sunshine" producers are the only ones eligible for an Oscar, based on the Academy's decision in 2005 to follow the PGA's determination in producer credits. "The Departed" is by far the biggest domestic grosser of the PGA's nominated pics with $120.5 million, followed by "Little Miss Sunshine with $59 million, the recently released "Dreamgirls" with $41.4 million, "The Queen" with $28.5 million and "Babel" with $20 million. Notable omissions from the PGA's list of nominees include Paramount's "Flags of Our Fathers," Warner's "Letters From Iwo Jima," New Line's "Little Children," Universal's "United 93" and Sony Classics' "Volver." The PGA voting has been a good indicator of Academy sentiment with a match about two-thirds of the time between the PGA's top feature award and the Best Picture Oscar - even though the orgs have differed for the past two years. The PGA selected "Brokeback Mountain" last year while the Academy Award went to "Crash," and in 2005, the PGA opted for "The Aviator" while "Million Dollar Baby" won the Best Picture Oscar. However, 11 of the previous 15 PGA winners went on to win the Best Picture Oscar. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" was a double PGA-Oscar winner in 2004, joining "Driving Miss Daisy," "Dances With Wolves," "The Silence of the Lambs," "Schindler's List," "Forrest Gump," "The English Patient," "Titanic," "American Beauty," "Gladiator" and "Chicago." The PGA also announced Wednesday the noms for its feature animation award are Disney/Pixar's "Cars," DreamWorks' "Flushed Away," Warner's "Happy Feet," Fox's "Ice Age: The Meltdown" and Sony's "Monster House." DreamWorks' "Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit" won the initial awrad last year. Nominated producers for the animated films are Darla K. Anderson for "Cars," Celil Kramer and Peter Lord for "Flushed Away," Doug Mitchell, George Miller and Bill Miller for "Happy Feet," Lori Forte for "Ice Age: The Meltdown" and Steve Starkey and Jack Papke for "Monster House." The PGA had announced its TV nominations except in long-form, which it unveiled Wednesday. Nods went to Nigel Stafford-Clark for PBS/BBC's "Bleak House;" Susan Harrions, George Faber, Charles Pattinson and Barney Reisz for HBO's "Elizabeth I;" David Gerber and Clara George for A&E's "Flight 93," Bill Borden and Barry Rosenthal for Disney Channel's "High School Musical" and Elizabeth Karlsen, Pamela Koffler and Christine Vachon for HBO's Mrs. Harris." And the nominees are... FILM "Babel," (Paramount Vantage) Alejandro González Iñárritu, Steve Golin, Jon Kilik "The Departed," (Warner Bros.) Graham King "Dreamgirls," (Dreamworks SKG/Paramount Pictures) Laurence Mark "Little Miss Sunshine," (Fox Searchlight) Marc Turtletaub, David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf, Albert Berger & Ron Yerxa "The Queen," (Miramax Films) Andy Harries, Christine Langan, Tracey Seaward
In SAG-related news, Kris Tapley says that unfortunately when they were submitting the forms for the nominations, they placed Leo in the supporting category. I'm hoping for the best for him tomorrow, but I don't know what that is. Maybe he'd benefit more if he was missing from either category, in order to avoid confusion altogether. This is the week most members will fill in ballots and any news they hear tomorrow is going to affect their decisions...I knew Leo was going to get screwed. :evil:
But there's no way that Leo will be nominated at the Oscars for "Blood Diamond" and if its existence pushes Leo into supporting for "Departed," he risks getting clobbered there by "Dreamgirls'" Eddie Murphy.actually, I think Leo's chances are better in Supporting rather than Best Actor. I don't think he'll beat Forrest for an Oscar, nor a SAG. But then again, anything can happen. I'm often mystified at the Oscars :roll: :roll:
Grey loses push for credit on 'Departed' Paramount's chief had a key role in getting the film made but may miss out on Oscar glory. By Claudia Eller, Times Staff Writer And the Oscar may not go to ... Paramount Pictures Chairman Brad Grey. Grey on Wednesday lost an aggressive bid to be recognized by the Producers Guild of America as one of the producers of Martin Scorsese's hit crime drama "The Departed." That means the producer-turned-studio chief has zero chance of walking away with an Oscar for best picture should the Warner Bros. film win unless he takes his case to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Even then, the academy, which will award the gold statuettes on Feb. 25, would have to overrule the guild's decision. But any such move to appeal carries big risks for Grey. Not only could it come off as an unseemly grab for personal glory to Hollywood insiders and his bosses at Viacom Inc., it would put him in direct competition with his own studio. Paramount's "Dreamgirls" and "Babel," which also received guild nominations, are strong contenders for the best picture Oscar. In unveiling its annual nominations Wednesday, the guild deemed Graham King the film's only eligible producer. The guild decided just before Christmas to reject's Grey appeal to be named as a producer should "The Departed" be honored. Grey was instrumental in getting "The Departed" made at Warner Bros. when he was a top Hollywood talent manager and producer, acquiring in 2003 the remake rights to the Hong Kong hit drama "Infernal Affairs." Grey helped Warner hire screenwriter William Monahan and sent the script to Scorsese. He also played a key role in helping negotiate the deals for such key cast members as Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg. Last week, Scorsese and King wrote a joint letter to the guild, asking it to reconsider. "Brad absolutely got it to be a go-movie and, in my opinion, for that he deserves credit," King said in an interview. "However, I don't make the rules and I do respect the guild's decision making." Others who lobbied on Grey's behalf included Warner Bros. production chief Jeff Robinov, who gave the studio's endorsement to crediting Grey. Steven Spielberg, whose company DreamWorks SKG is now owned by Paramount, purportedly encouraged Scorsese to speak up because the guild's decision seemed arbitrary to him. Vance Van Petten, executive director of the Producers Guild, declined to comment on the decision, citing confidentiality rules. The guild will hand out its awards Jan. 20, three days before Oscar nominations are announced. Grey's position as head of Paramount probably cost him the credit. He started work more than a month before the movie began production in April 2005. He recused himself from the hands-on producing duties and spent no time on the set. According to guild rules, executives who work for a studio or financier of a film can't earn a "Produced by" credit unless they "demonstrate a commitment of time and resources to the production of such significance that such commitment is tantamount to taking a leave of absence from his/her executive duties." Grey wasn't working for Warner Bros., but guild officials were concerned his Paramount job kept his focus elsewhere. On the screen, Grey and Brad Pitt, his former producing partner, are listed as producers along with King. But under an agreement aimed at reining in the number of producers trying to grab Oscar glory, the academy accepts the Producers Guild recommendations as a stamp of approval. Producers can appeal that decision to the Academy after it unveils its upcoming nominations Jan. 23. Producer Bob Yari last year made an unsuccessful attempt to retain credit on eventual Oscar winner "Crash." Grey declined to comment. People who have talked to the studio chief said he was angered by the guild's decision but had not made up his mind whether to appeal to the academy. Scorsese reportedly advised Grey on Wednesday to appeal to the guild's executive committee should "The Departed" be nominated. If Grey does nothing, the Producers Guild's decision stands, according to Academy Executive Director Bruce Davis. Grey made a strong push to get the credit on "The Departed" before Christmas, after the guild decided during an arbitration procedure weeks earlier that King was sole producer. The guild arbitrates an average of 10 to 15 cases a year where a film has more than three producers or, in a case like Grey's, when a producer holds another full-time job. Each producer is asked to submit a three-page eligibility form specifying what functions he or she performed on the movie. About four dozen tasks, including selection of the director, securing financing and being present on the set, are divided into four categories. Of those groupings, the guild weighs development and post-production at 30% each; and pre-production and actual production at 20% each. Essentially, a producer must be responsible for 50% of the tasks. Grey's proponents claim that under the guild's own rules, the studio chief should have qualified for credit because of the heavy lifting he did on the front end. At the same time, King, who was hired by Grey and Warner Bros. shortly before "The Departed" began production, had no hand in the film's development or pre-production but was on the set every day once cameras rolled. Indeed, it was Grey who, with Warner, first approached King about producing the movie. King, who had made two previous films with Scorsese, "The Aviator" and "Gangs of New York," was in the midst of signing an overall production deal with the studio. Although he may not get an Oscar, Grey can still take comfort in receiving a piece of the profit for "The Departed," which has grossed nearly $120 million domestically to date. Grey did receive a nomination Wednesday from the guild, but in TV for "The Sopranos." He has long been a producer of HBO's hit mafia series, which he helped launch in his former role as head of the Brillstein-Grey management and production company. A spokesman for the guild said that the eligibility rules for TV series and movies differ since television shows run for extended periods, whereas films are a one-shot deal.If this decision stands, Brad Pitt won't get an oscar nomination for Picture, either.