'The Artist' Wins Producers Guild Award January 22, 2012, 1:29 am "The Artist" has made its way to pole position in the awards race. The black-and-white largely silent film picked up the top prize, best feature, from the Producers Guild of America, which announced its winners on Saturday night in Los Angeles. The guild, which has followed the Academy's lead in nominating 10 films for best picture in the last two years, has also accurately predicted the eventual best picture Oscar winner, even in the expanded field. When it chose "The Hurt Locker" over the much bigger grossing "Avatar" in 2010, awards-watchers considered it a bellwether prize. Though the Academy may nominate anywhere from 5 to 10 films this year, the PGA stuck with 10. Steven Spielberg's "Adventures of Tintin" won best animated film, and "Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest" earned the PGA documentary feature prize. ABC's hit "Modern Family" took home the first award of the night, for best TV comedy, and "Downton Abbey" for best long-form show, while "Boardwalk Empire" picked up best drama, beating "Mad Men." The Amazing Race" won for television competition, and "The Colbert Report" for talk show.