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Birdman Scores a Surprise Win at the Producers Guild Awards

Photo: Fox Searchlight

In a surprise turn, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman topped the Producers Guild Awards, beating out front-runner Boyhood. For a while there, it looked as though Richard Linklater’s Boyhood had the Best Picture Oscar locked down, having swept the major precursors, but the PGA might be a better indicator of where the Academy is headed: For the last seven years, the PGA winner has gone on to win Best Picture at the Oscars. (To be fair, though, the PGA gave Gravity and eventual Oscar winner 12 Years a Slave a tie last year.) The Lego Movie won Best Animated Movie and the Roger Ebert documentary Life Itself won Best Documentary, but sadly both were snubbed at the Oscars, so those results won’t have much predictive value. At least we can say the race for Best Picture suddenly got a lot more interesting.

Here’s a full list of the nominees and winners:

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures
American Sniper
 (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Birdman (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Boyhood (IFC Films)
Foxcatcher (Sony Pictures Classics)
Gone Girl (20th Century Fox)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
The Imitation Game (The Weinstein Company)
Nightcrawler (Open Road Films)
The Theory of Everything (Focus Features)
Whiplash (Sony Pictures Classics)

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures
Big Hero 6
 (Walt Disney Animation Studios)
The Book of Life (20th Century Fox)
The Boxtrolls (Focus Features)
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (20th Century Fox)
The Lego Movie (Warner Bros. Pictures)

The David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television
American Horror Story: Freak Show
 (FX)
Fargo (FX)
The Normal Heart (HBO)
The Roosevelts: An Intimate History (PBS)
Sherlock (PBS)

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures
The Green Prince
 (Music Box Films)
Life Itself (Magnolia Pictures) – WINNER
Merchants of Doubt (Sony Pictures Classics)
Particle Fever (Abramorama/BOND 360)
Virunga (Netflix)

The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama
Breaking Bad 
(AMC)
Downton Abbey (PBS)
Game Of Thrones (HBO)
House Of Cards (Netflix)
True Detective (HBO)

The Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy
The Big Bang Theory
 (CBS)
Louie (FX)
Modern Family (ABC)
Orange Is the New Black (Netflix)
Veep (HBO)

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television
30 for 30 
(ESPN)
American Masters (PBS)
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (CNN)
COSMOS: A SpaceTime Odyssey (FOX/NatGeo)
Shark Tank (ABC)

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Competition Television
The Amazing Race
 (CBS)
Dancing With the Stars (ABC)
Project Runway (Lifetime)
Top Chef (Bravo)
The Voice (NBC)

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television
The Colbert Report 
(Comedy Central)
Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC)
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (HBO)
Real Time With Bill Maher (HBO)
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC)

The Award for Outstanding Sports Program
24/7
 (HBO)
Hard Knocks: Training Camp With The Atlanta Falcons (HBO)
Hard Knocks: Training Camp With The Cincinnati Bengals (HBO)
Inside: U.S. Soccer’s March To Brazil (ESPN)
Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel (HBO)

The Award for Outstanding Children’s Program
Dora The Explorer
 (Nickelodeon)
Sesame Street (PBS)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Nickelodeon)
Toy Story OF TERROR! (ABC)
Wynton Marsalis: A YoungArts Masterclass (HBO)

The Award for Outstanding Digital Series
30 for 30 Shorts
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
COSMOS: A National Geographic Deeper Dive
Epic Rap Battles of History
Video Game High School Season 3

Birdman Scores Surprise Win at Producers Guild