Here Are The Producers Guild Nominations!

Posted on January 10, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Producer’s Guild of America, who are traditionally one of the most reliable of the Oscar precursors, announced their ten nominees for the best film of 2016 earlier today!

Not on the list: Martin Scorsese’s Silence. Last year, at this time, Silence was the most anticipated of the potential Oscar nominees. Now, 12 months later, whatever momentum that Silence had seems to have fizzled.

You know what film was on the list?

Deadpool!

Somehow, Deadpool has emerged as a legitimate Oscar contender. That doesn’t mean that it’s going to be nominated, of course. Last year, a lot of people made the mistake of getting excited when both Carol and Straight Outta Compton showed up among the Producers Guild’s nominations.

Here’s what we have to remember — every years, the PGA nominates 10 films. However, the Academy never nominates a full slate of 10 films. While the best picture nominees probably will all have received a PGA nomination, that doesn’t mean that every PGA nominee is going to be nominated for best picture.

Still, Deadpool is coming on strong with the guilds. It has some support among the industry.

A best picture nomination for Deadpool? Normally, I’d laugh that off. Then again, at one time, I also laughed off the idea that Mad Max: Fury Road would get a nomination, despite the fact that I thought Mad Max was one of the best films of 2015.

In the end, anything can happen. That’s one reason why Oscar watchers like me are always a little disappointed when the Oscar nominations are announced and the precursor season ends. During the precursor season, anything is possible.

Anyway, here are the PGA nominations:

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures:

Arrival

Producers: Dan Levine, Shawn Levy, Aaron Ryder, David Linde

Deadpool

Producers: Simon Kinberg, Ryan Reynolds, Lauren Shuler Donner

Fences

Producers: Scott Rudin, Denzel Washington, Todd Black

Hacksaw Ridge

Producers: Bill Mechanic, David Permut

Hell or High Water

Producers: Carla Hacken, Julie Yorn

Hidden Figures

Producers: Donna Gigliotti, Peter Chernin & Jenno Topping, Pharrell Williams, Theodore Melfi

La La Land

Producers: Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz, Marc Platt

Lion

Producers: Emile Sherman & Iain Canning, Angie Fielder

Manchester By the Sea

Producers: Matt Damon, Kimberly Steward, Chris Moore, Lauren Beck, Kevin Walsh

Moonlight

Producers: Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner & Jeremy Kleiner

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures:

Finding Dory

Producer: Lindsey Collins

Kubo and the Two Strings

Producers: Arianne Sutner, Travis Knight

Moana

Producer: Osnat Shurer

The Secret Life of Pets

Producers: Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy

Zootopia

Producer: Clark Spencer

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures:

* The PGA previously announced the nominations in this category on November 22, 2016. The list below has been updated to include eligible producers.

Dancer

Producer: Gabrielle Tana

The Eagle Huntress

Producers: Stacey Reiss, Otto Bell

Life, Animated

Producers: Julie Goldman, Roger Ross Williams

O.J.: Made in America

Producers: Ezra Edelman, Caroline Waterlow

Tower

Producers: Keith Maitland, Susan Thomson, Megan Gilbride

What If Awards Season Began And Lisa Totally Missed It? Here Are The Gotham Nominations!

Posted on October 23, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As proof of how busy I’ve been over the past few days, just consider this: On October 20th, awards season kicked off and I totally missed it!

That’s right. On October 20th, the nominations for the 2016 Gotham Awards were announced. The Gothams honor independent films and they actually have some pretty strict guidelines regarding what they consider to be independent. So, a lot of this year’s potential Oscar nominees are not eligible for the Gotham Awards.

That said, over the past few years, the Gothams have slowly emerged as a somewhat helpful precursor. While getting a Gotham nomination does not guarantee any film an Oscar nomination, it certainly doesn’t hurt. That may especially be true this year as 2016 has, for the most part, not been the great cinematic year that 2015 was. With no real favorites having yet to emerge, every precursor counts.

So, with that in mind and just a few days late, here are the Gotham nominations!

Best Feature

Certain Women
Kelly Reichardt, director; Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani, producers (IFC Films)

Everybody Wants Some!!
Richard Linklater, director; Megan Ellison, Ginger Sledge, Richard Linklater, producers (Paramount Pictures)

Manchester by the Sea
Kenneth Lonergan, director; Kimberly Steward, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Lauren Beck, Kevin J. Walsh, producers (Amazon Studios)

Moonlight
Barry Jenkins, director; Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, producers (A24)

Paterson
Jim Jarmusch, director; Joshua Astrachan, Carter Logan, producers (Amazon Studios)

Best Documentary

Cameraperson
Kirsten Johnson, director; Marilyn Ness, producer (Janus Films)

I Am Not Your Negro
Raoul Peck, director; Rémi Grellety, Raoul Peck, Hébert Peck, producers (Magnolia Pictures)

O.J.: Made in America
Ezra Edelman, director; Caroline Waterlow, Ezra Edelman, Tamara Rosenberg, Nina Krstic, Deirdre Fenton, Erin Leyden, producers (ESPN Films)

Tower
Keith Maitland, director; Keith Maitland, Megan Gilbride, Susan Thomson, producers (Kino Lorber, Independent Lens)

Weiner
Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg, directors and producers (Sundance Selects and Showtime Documentary Films)

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award

Robert Eggers for The Witch (A24)

Anna Rose Holmer for The Fits (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert for Swiss Army Man (A24)

Trey Edward Shults for Krisha (A24)

Richard Tanne for Southside with You (Roadside Attractions and Miramax)

Best Screenplay

Hell or High Water, Taylor Sheridan (CBS Films)

Love & Friendship, Whit Stillman (Amazon Studios)

Manchester by the Sea, Kenneth Lonergan (Amazon Studios)

Moonlight, Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney; Screenplay by Barry Jenkins (A24)

Paterson, Jim Jarmusch (Amazon Studios)

Best Actor*

Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea (Amazon Studios)

Jeff Bridges in Hell or High Water (CBS Films)

Adam Driver in Paterson (Amazon Studios)

Joel Edgerton in Loving (Focus Features)

Craig Robinson in Morris from America (A24)

Best Actress*

Kate Beckinsale in Love & Friendship (Amazon Studios)

Annette Bening in 20th Century Women (A24)

Isabelle Huppert in Elle (Sony Pictures Classics)

Ruth Negga in Loving (Focus Features)

Natalie Portman in Jackie (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Breakthrough Actor*

Lily Gladstone in Certain Women (IFC Films)

Lucas Hedges in Manchester by the Sea (Amazon Studios)

Royalty Hightower in The Fits (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

Sasha Lane in American Honey (A24)

Anya Taylor-Joy in The Witch (A24)

* The 2016 Best Actor/Best Actress and Breakthrough Actor nominating panels also voted to award a special Gotham Jury Award for ensemble performance to Moonlight, “in which actors at all levels of experience give outstanding performances that speak eloquently to one another both within and across each chapter of the story.” The awards will go to actors Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Alex Hibbert, André Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monáe, Jaden Piner, Trevante Rhodes, and Ashton Sanders.

(AWARDS SEASON HAS BEGUN!!!)

Guilty Pleasure No. 26: Project Greenlight

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Project Greenlight may be the most guiltiest pleasure to be found on television right now.

The show, which is currently airing its fourth season on HBO, was one of the earliest reality shows. The concept behind the show is deceptively simple. Every season, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have held an online competition for aspiring filmmakers. The winner of the contest gets to direct a feature film, with the understanding that there will be TV cameras present to record every decision, argument, and screw up. At the end of the season, the film is released and hopefully, a major new filmmaker is discovered.

The pleasure part is obvious. If you’re like me and you love movies, there’s no way you can’t be fascinated by the chance to go behind-the-scenes of an actual production. It’s always fun to watch as the director struggles to maintain his (so far, all of the directors have been male) vision against the whims of studio execs who, often time, seem to be annoyed by the director’s very existence.

As for me, I’ve always been fascinated by the casting process. (Don’t believe me? Check out this post that I wrote about The Godfather. And then check out this one too!) My favorite part of Project Greenlight is always the episode that deals with the casting. I love seeing who auditions, who gets turned down, and who decides that they want nothing to do with the film. It’s a lot of fun!

As for the guilty part of this guilty pleasure, it comes from knowing that a show like this thrives on conflict. As much as Ben and Matt may say that they are only interested in selecting the most talented director, it’s also obvious that the director they pick has to make for good television. If production on the film goes smoothly, that’s good for the film but it’s not necessarily good for the show. That’s just the truth when it comes to reality television.

Hence, watching Project Greenlight always leads to conflicting emotions. On the one hand, you want the movie to turn out to be a good movie. You want the director to be up to the task. On the other hand, you’re specifically watching this show to watch the director screw up and make mistakes and piss people off and get into fights. Gossip lovers that we are, we love the behind the scenes drama but it’s rare that drama actually leads to a good film.

Check out Project Greenlight‘s track record.

Season 1 started way back in 2001! (Both this season and season 2 are available on DVD and I recommend checking out both of them.) The winner was Pete Jones, a friendly nonentity who went on to direct the extremely forgettable Stolen Summer. There was a lot of behind-the-scenes conflict, mostly due to a clash of personality between certain members of the crew. From the minute the season started, it was obvious that Pete was a nice guy but essentially in over his head. And, in many ways, Season 1 taught viewers an important lesson: when it comes to the film industry, nice guys get screwed.

However, as chaotic as season 1 may have been, it was nothing compared to what happened in 2003 when season 2 aired! Whenever anyone wants to make the argument that Ben and Matt purposefully pick directors who are totally wrong for whatever film is being made, they usually point to season 2. Season 2 featured the directing team of Kyle Rankin and Efram Potelle directing The Battle of Shaker Heights. The Battle of Shaker Heights was supposed to be a quirky coming-of-age dramedy and a character study, so, of course, Ben and Matt selected two directors who were apparently incapable of human emotion. And the end result was pure chaos!

Now, I will say a few things in Kyle and Efram’s defense. When you watch season 2, the overriding theme is that these two directors totally ruined a great script. Just in case we missed that, the show even featured screenwriter Erica Beeney complaining that these two directors were totally ruining her great script. Well, sorry — the script for Battle of Shaker Heights was never that good to begin with. (“It’s about this kid — Kelly — who is really pissed off,” Erica would tell us at the beginning of every episode, as if she was the first person to ever write about a kid who was really pissed off.) I doubt anyone could have made a good movie out of that script. Picking two directors who were so totally wrong for the material only served to compound the inherent suckiness of the material.

Season 2 has got a true train wreck appeal to it. It’s one of those things that you watch with horrified fascination. (Incidentally, Shia LaBeouf is heavily featured in season 2 and I have to say that he fits right in.)

The third season of Project Greenlight aired in 2005. It was broadcast on Bravo and it’s unique in that it actually featured a good director (John Gulager) making a reasonably successful film (Feast). As such, it doesn’t quite work as a guilty pleasure because, from the minute Gulager starts directing, you don’t feel any guilt about watching him. Instead, the most interesting part of the third season comes early on when a bitchy casting director continually tries (and succeeds) at sabotaging Gulager’s attempts to get a cast with whom he feels comfortable.

(Season 3 has never been released on DVD but, the last time I checked, it was available on YouTube.)

After that third season, Project Greenlight went away for a while but now, 10 years later, it’s back! It has returned to HBO and, after three episodes, it’s starting to look like this season may be the guiltiest and most pleasurable of all! Ben and Matt were producing a comedy called Not Another Pretty Woman this time around. (Pete Jones even returned to write the script.) Not Another Pretty Woman has been described as being a broad comedy. So, of course, they selected Jason Mann, an extremely intense elitist film snob. One of the first things that Jason Mann did was try to fire Pete Jones and replace him with the screenwriter of that well-known comedy, Boys Don’t Cry. When that didn’t work, Mann abandoned Not Another Pretty Woman and instead requested to make a film called The Leisure Class instead. And, amazingly enough, he got HBO Films to agree, which means that either nobody had any faith in Pete Jones or everyone has total faith in Jason Mann!

Will that faith be rewarded or will The Leisure Class be another Battle of Shaker Heights? Will Jason Mann be another John Gulager or will he fade into the same obscurity in which Efram Potelle and Kyle Rankin currently reside?

As of right now, I don’t know.

But I can’t wait to find out!