Coming to a consensus can be difficult business. This was especially evident this past weekend at the 25th Annual Producers Guild of America (PGA) awards ceremony in Beverly Hills. For the first time in the awards’ history, a tie occurred in the evening’s final category.
With 10 nominees to choose from, The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures wound up going to two films: Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave and Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity. While both selections lead this year’s Academy Award nominations (Gravity with ten, 12 Years with nine) and were considered strong frontrunners, a tie was not expected. Directors McQueen and Cuarón, both producers on their films as well, were on hand to accept the awards.
This was not the first tie of the awards season for Gravity, however. In December, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association awarded the film Best Picture alongside Spike Jonze's Her, which had its World Premiere as the New York Film Festival's Closing Night entry.
In other notable categories, Disney’s Frozen, currently the fourth highest grossing film of 2013, won Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures. Director Alex Gibney’s We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks (which had a run at the Film Society last spring) won Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures.
The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures: (tie)
“Gravity” (Warner Bros. Pictures) Producers: Alfonso Cuaron, David Heyman
“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight Pictures); Producers: Anthony Katagas, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen, Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner
The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures:
“We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks” (Focus Features); Producers: Alexis Bloom, Alex Gibney, Marc Shmuger
The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures:
“Frozen” (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures); Producer: Peter Del Vecho
