Green Book, the dramedy about a friendship that developed between Italian-American Tony Lip and black pianist Dr. Don Shirley during a road trip through the Jim Crow-era South, won over the members of the Producers Guild of America, which handed the film its top prize, the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures at the 30th annual Producers Guild of America Awards, which was held Saturday night (Jan. 19) at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Green Book, directed by Peter Farrelly, prevailed over a widely diverse array of nominees that included Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, Crazy Rich Asians, The Favourite, A Quiet Place, Roma, A Star Is Born and Vice. The Universal release, produced with the backing of Participant Media and DreamWorks, began its awards season run when it debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it was the surprise winner of the audience award, and while it's since become the subject of much debate, it now appears to be charting a winning trajectory, having been hailed as best film of the year by the National Board of Review and picked up a Golden Globe as best motion picture comedy. Farrelly -- who also produced the film and shared the PGA Award with his fellow producers Jim Burke, Charles B. Wessler, Brian Hayes Currie and Nick Vallelonga -- was elated as he accepted the honor. Having built a career on envelope-pushing comedies before moving into more serious territory like Green Book, he admitted, "You know, when you make Dumb & Dumber, you don't ever expect to get an award." He went on to say that filming Green Book had been such a satisfying experience for him, "I don't need awards. This award to me is like Warren Buffett winning the lottery."<doc-sep>“Green Book” has won the Producers Guild’s Darryl F. Zanuck Award as the top feature film of 2018. The 1960s drama-comedy topped “BlacKkKlansman,” “Black Panther” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Crazy Rich Asians,” “The Favourite,” “A Quiet Place,” “Roma,” “A Star Is Born” and “Vice. “When you make ‘Dumb and Dumber’ you never expect to get an award,” said a deeply moved “Green Book” director Peter Farrelly. “I don’t need awards. This is like Warren Buffett winning the lottery. I’m damn thankful.” The winning producers are Jim Burke, Charles B. Wessler, Brian Currie, Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga. “Green Book,” starring Mahershala Ali as pianist Don Shirley and Viggo Mortensen as his bodyguard, also won the Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the 76th Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 6. “Green Book” has overcome a trio of controversies — Mortensen’s use of the N-word, for which he apologized; Vallelonga apologized for posting a tweet espousing a debunked conservative narrative that American Muslims could be seen cheering after 9/11; and Shirley’s family spoke out against the film, disputing its depiction of the events of the tour and stating they had not been contacted during production or conception. Vallelonga’s script is based on the experiences of his father, Tony Lip (Mortensen), driving concert pianist Dr. Don Shirley (Ali) through the Deep South for a tour in the early 1960s. The PGA, which has about 8,200 members, has matched the Oscar for best picture in 20 of its 29 years, including “The Shape of Water” last year. It diverged in the two previous years when the Zanuck award went to “La La Land” and “The Big Short,” and the Oscar went to “Moonlight” and “Spotlight,” but matched in the previous eight years with “Birdman,” “12 Years a Slave,” “Argo,” “The Artist,” “The King’s Speech,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” and “No Country for Old Men.” FX’s final season of “The Americans” won the Producers Guild’s Norman Felton Award for episodic television drama. It topped “Better Call Saul,” “Ozark,” “This Is Us” and last year’s winner “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Fred Rogers documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” won the documentary award and Sony’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” won the animated movie award. “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” topped “The Grinch,” “Incredibles 2,” “Isle of Dogs,” and “Ralph Breaks the Internet.” The last three PGA winners in animation – “Coco,” “Zootopia,” “Inside Out” – have also won the Oscar. The fifth season of “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” repeated as the winner of the Live Entertainment and Talk category. The second season of “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” took the David L. Wolper Award for limited series television. “Fahrenheit 451” won the award for top streamed or televised motion picture. The 10th season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” took the award for game and competition television. “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” won the award for non-fiction television. “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” won the first award at the awards show at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. “Mrs. Maisel,” which airs on Amazon, topped “Atlanta,” “Barry,” “GLOW,” and “The Good Place” in winning the Danny Thomas award for comedy series. “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” won the award last year. The PGA drama series nominees included the final season of “The Americans,” “Better Call Saul,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Ozark,” and “This Is Us.” Marvel’s Kevin Feige was presented the David O. Selznick honorary award by Robert Downey Jr., who said, “Kevin Feige medivac’d me from the top of the uninsurable list to the top of the Forbes list.” Lauren Graham presented Amy Sherman-Palladino with the Norman Lear Award for Achievement in Television. Sherman-Palladino received a standing ovation and said, “I hope that I took away from Mr. Lear the ability to take care of my troupe, make the women feel empowered, and not make the men feel like schmucks, to make sure that whatever we do, we do it in great love.” Norman Lear, 96, presented Kenya Barris with the Visionary Award and promised, “You’re going to see me for a couple more years.” Bradley Cooper presented Warner Bros. Pictures Group Chairman Toby Emmerich with the Milestone Award and noted, “The thing that most impresses me is that you stay at your mom’s apartment when you travel to New York.” Emmerich responded by thanking Cooper for his directorial debut on “A Star Is Born.” “I’m so proud to have been your wingman on your maiden voyage. Please count me in on many more journeys.” Jane Fonda evoked laughs on receiving the Stanley Kramer Award for for her activism and philanthropic work: “The food is unusually good; I think it’s because women organized this.” Fonda noted that nearly half of the PGA members are women. “And that’s really important,” she added. “We don’t have our masculinity to prove” Here are the nominees. The winners are in boldface: The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures: “Black Panther” Producer: Kevin Feige “BlacKkKlansman” Producers: Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Raymond Mansfield, Jordan Peele, Spike Lee “Bohemian Rhapsody” Producer: Graham King “Crazy Rich Asians” Producers: Nina Jacobson & Brad Simpson, John Penotti “The Favourite” Producers: Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday, Yorgos Lanthimos “Green Book” (WINNER) Producers: Jim Burke, Charles B. Wessler, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga “A Quiet Place” Producers: Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller “Roma” Producers: Gabriela Rodríguez, Alfonso Cuarón “A Star Is Born” Producers: Bill Gerber, Bradley Cooper, Lynette Howell Taylor “Vice” Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Kevin Messick, Adam McKay The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures: “The Dawn Wall” Producers: Josh Lowell, Peter Mortimer, Philipp Manderla “Free Solo” Producers: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes, Shannon Dill “Hal” Producers: Christine Beebe, Jonathan Lynch, Brian Morrow “Into the Okavango” Producer: Neil Gelinas “RBG” Producers: Betsy West, Julie Cohen “Three Identical Strangers” Producers: Becky Read, Grace Hughes-Hallett “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” (WINNER) Producers: Morgan Neville, Nicholas Ma, Caryn Capotosto The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures: “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch” Producers: Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy “Incredibles 2” Producers: John Walker, Nicole Grindle “Isle of Dogs” Producers: *Eligibility Determination Pending* “Ralph Breaks the Internet” Producer: Clark Spencer “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (WINNER) Producers: Avi Arad, Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, Amy Pascal, Christina Steinberg The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Drama: “The Americans” (Season 6) (WINNER) Producers: Joe Weisberg, Joel Fields, Chris Long, Graham Yost, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, Stephen Schiff, Mary Rae Thewlis, Tracey Scott Wilson, Peter Ackerman, Joshua Brand “Better Call Saul” (Season 4) Producers: Peter Gould, Vince Gilligan, Mark Johnson, Melissa Bernstein, Thomas Schnauz, Gennifer Hutchison, Nina Jack, Diane Mercer, Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock, Ann Cherkis, Bob Odenkirk, Robin Sweet “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Season 2) Producers: Bruce Miller, Warren Littlefield, Elisabeth Moss, Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears, Mike Barker, Sheila Hockin, Eric Tuchman, Kira Snyder, Yahlin Chang, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Joseph Boccia, Dorothy Fortenberry, Margaret Atwood, Ron Milbauer “Ozark” (Season 2) Producers: Jason Bateman, Chris Mundy, Bill Dubuque, Mark Williams, David Manson, Alyson Feltes, Ryan Farley, Patrick Markey, Matthew Spiegel, Erin Mitchell “This Is Us” (Season 3) Producers: Dan Fogelman, Isaac Aptaker, Elizabeth Berger, John Requa, Glenn Ficarra, Ken Olin, Charles Gogolak, Jess Rosenthal, Steve Beers, KJ Steinberg, Kevin Falls, Julia Brownell, Vera Herbert, Bekah Brunstetter, Shukree Hassan Tilghman, Cathy Mickel Gibson, Nick Pavonetti The Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Comedy: “Atlanta” (Season 2) Producers: *Eligibility Determination Pending* “Barry” (Season 1) Producers: Alec Berg, Bill Hader, Aida Rodgers, Emily Heller, Liz Sarnoff “GLOW” (Season 2) Producers: Jenji Kohan, Liz Flahive, Carly Mensch, Tara Herrmann, Mark A. Burley, Nick Jones, Kim Rosenstock, Sascha Rothchild, Leanne Moore “The Good Place” (Season 3) Producers: Michael Schur, David Miner, Morgan Sackett, Drew Goddard, Josh Siegal, Dylan Morgan, Joe Mande, Megan Amram, David Hyman, Jen Statsky “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Season 2) (WINNER) Producers: Amy Sherman‐Palladino, Daniel Palladino, Dhana Rivera Gilbert, Sheila Lawrence The David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Limited Series Television: “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” (Season 2) (WINNER) Producers: Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Alexis Martin Woodall, Tom Rob Smith, Daniel Minahan, Brad Falchuk, Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski, Chip Vucelich, Maggie Cohn, Eric Kovtun, Lou Eyrich, Eryn Krueger Mekash “Escape at Dannemora” Producers: Ben Stiller, Nicholas Weinstock, Michael De Luca, Bryan Zuriff, Brett Johnson, Michael Tolkin, Bill Carraro, Adam Brightman, Lisa M. Rowe “Maniac” Producers: Patrick Somerville, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Michael Sugar, Doug Wald, Jonah Hill, Emma Stone, Pal Kristiansen, Anne Kolbjørnsen, Espen Huseby, Carol Cuddy, Mauricio Katz, Caroline Williams, Ashley Zalta, Jessica Levin, Jon Mallard “The Romanoffs” Producers: *Eligibility Determination Pending* “Sharp Objects” Producers: *Eligibility Determination Pending* The Award for Outstanding Producer of Streamed or Televised Motion Pictures: “Fahrenheit 451” (WINNER) Producers: Sarah Green, Ramin Bahrani, Michael B. Jordan, Alan Gasmer, Peter Jaysen, David Coatsworth “King Lear” Producers: *Eligibility Determination Pending* “My Dinner with Hervé” Producers: *Eligibility Determination Pending* “Paterno” Producers: Barry Levinson, Jason Sosnoff, Tom Fontana, Edward R. Pressman, Rick Nicita, Lindsay Sloane, Amy Herman “Sense8: Together Until the End” Producers: *Eligibility Determination Pending* The Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television: “30 for 30” (Season 9) Producers: Connor Schell, John Dahl, Libby Geist, Erin Leyden, Adam Neuhaus, Jenna Anthony, Gentry Kirby, Marquis Daisy, Deirdre Fenton “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” (Season 11, Season 12) (WINNER) Producers: Anthony Bourdain, Christopher Collins, Lydia Tenaglia, Sandra Zweig “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath” (Season 3) Producers: *Eligibility Determination Pending* “Queer Eye” (Season 1, Season 2) Producers: David Collins, Michael Williams, Rob Eric, Jennifer Lane, Jordana Hochman, Mark Bracero, Rachelle Mendez “Wild Wild Country” (Season 1) Producers: Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Josh Braun, Dan Braun, Juliana Lembi The Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television: “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” (Season 24) Producers: Trevor Noah, Steve Bodow, Jennifer Flanz, Jill Katz, Justin Melkmann, David Kibuuka, Zhubin Parang, Max Browning, Eric Davies, Pamela DePace, Ramin Hedayati, Elise Terrell, Dave Blog, Adam Chodikoff, Jimmy Donn, Jeff Gussow, Kira Klang Hopf, Allison MacDonald, Ryan Middleton “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (Season 5) (WINNER) Producers: John Oliver, Tim Carvell, Liz Stanton, Jeremy Tchaban “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (Season 4) Producers: Stephen Colbert, Chris Licht, Tom Purcell, Jon Stewart, Barry Julien, Denise Rehrig, Tanya Michnevich Bracco, Paul Dinello, Matt Lappin, Opus Moreschi, Emily Gertler, Aaron Cohen, Michael Brumm, Paige Kendig, Jake Plunkett “Real Time with Bill Maher” (Season 16) Producers: Bill Maher, Scott Carter, Sheila Griffiths, Marc Gurvitz, Billy Martin, Dean E. Johnsen, Chris Kelly, Matt Wood “Saturday Night Live” (Season 44) Producers: *Eligibility Determination Pending* The Award for Outstanding Producer of Game & Competition Television: “The Amazing Race” (Season 30) Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Bertram van Munster, Jonathan Littman, Elise Doganieri, Mark Vertullo “America’s Got Talent” (Season 13) Producers: *Eligibility Determination Pending* “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (Season 10) (WINNER) Producers: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, Tom Campbell, RuPaul Charles, Mandy Salangsang, Steven Corfe, Bruce McCoy, Michele Mills, Jacqueline Wilson, Thairin Smothers, Jen Passovoy, Lisa Steele “Top Chef” (Season 15) Producers: Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz, Casey Kriley, Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi, Doneen Arquines, Tara Siener, Justin Rae Barnes, Blake Davis, Wade Sheeler, Brian Fowler, Elida Carbajal Araiza, Zoe Jackson, Patrick Schmedeman, Diana Schmedeman “The Voice” (Season 14, Season 15) Producers: John de Mol, Mark Burnett, Audrey Morrissey, Stijn Bakkers, Chad Hines, Amanda Zucker, Kyra Thompson, Teddy Valenti, Carson Daly The Award for Outstanding Short-Form Program: “Biography: History, Herstory” (Season 1) “Carpool Karaoke: The Series” (Season 2) “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” (Season 5) “Her America: 50 Women, 50 States” (Season 1) “Kevin Hart: What The Fit” (Season 1) The Award for Outstanding Sports Program: “Being Serena” (Season 1) “E:60” (2018) “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cleveland Browns” (Season 13) “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” (Season 24) “SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt” (Season 4) The Award for Outstanding Children’s Program: “Fuller House” (Season 4) “PJ Masks” (Season 2) “A Series of Unfortunate Events” (Season 2) “Sesame Street” (Season 48) “Teen Titans Go!” (Season 4)<doc-sep>
On a night that could have profound implications for a tight Oscar race, “Green Book” was named the best-produced film of 2018 at the 30th Annual Producers Guild of America Awards. The award makes director Peter Farrelly’s drama starring Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali the season’s first legitimate favorite to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It has been a fiercely competitive and confusing year, with lots of criticism aimed at competing films and no film able to overcome the question marks that plague most of the top contenders. “Green Book” faces many of those questions in early January, immediately after it won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. The film, about the unlikely friendship between a black concert pianist and his Italian-American driver in the early ’60s, was hit by criticism over past behavior from Farrelly, a tweet from co-writer Nick Vallelonga and questions of accuracy from the family of Dr. Donald Shirley, the character played by Ali. But the Producers Guild Award shows that for at least one important group of voters, the criticisms (or, some thought, the deliberate takedown campaign) didn’t stick. To be sure, the film is an uneasy frontrunner: “Green Book” still faces a tough race against Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma,” Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman” and Bradley Cooper’s “A Star Is Born,” among other films. But it has weathered a tough stretch and come out with a significant prize — and more to the point, it has shown the likability to become the kind of consensus choice that wins under the voting system used by the Producers Guild and the Academy. All of which appeared to come as something of a surprise to Farrelly, best known until now for the broad comedies — “Dumb and Dumber,” “There’s Something About Mary,” “Kingpin” — he made with his brother Bobby. “When you make ‘Dumb and Dumber,'” said Farrelly in accepting the award at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, “you don’t expect to ever get an award.” The result has to be particularly stinging to “A Star Is Born,” which has been considered the Oscar favorite for most of awards season but has now lost the Golden Globe to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the Critics’ Choice Award to “Roma” and the Producers Guild Award to “Green Book.” Considering that both “A Star Is Born” and “Green Book” are mainstream commercial movies but the former has made significantly more money, its inability to win with the producers is troublesome. Still, “A Star Is Born” will likely outdistance “Green Book” in Oscar nominations on Tuesday, and it has a good chance to win the Screen Actors Guild ensemble award next weekend. “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” won the award for animated feature, while “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” was the Producers Guild choice for documentary. Television awards went to “The Americans,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” “Fahrenheit 451,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” and “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.” Although the Producers Guild winner has failed to win the Oscar twice in the last three years, with PGA winners “La La Land” and “The Big Short” beaten at the Oscars by “Moonlight” and “Spotlight,” the guild has a strong record overall in predicting Oscar winners. In the previous 29 years of the PGA, its winner has gone on to receive the Oscar for Best Picture 20 times. When the Academy expanded its number of Best Picture nominees in 2009 and instituted preferential voting to pick the winner, the PGA followed suit and has matched the Academy seven of the nine years since then. Also at the ceremony, Jane Fonda was honored with the Stanley Kramer Award, Toby Emmerich was given the Milestone Award, Amy Sherman-Palladino received the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television, Kenya Barris received the Vision Award and Kevin Feige was given the David O. Selznick Award for Achievement in Film.