‘Birdman’ Wins Top Producers Guild Award

Oscar-snubbed “Life Itself” and “The Lego Movie” win documentary and animation awards

Michael Keaton in Birdman
Fox Searchlight

“Birdman” was named the best-produced feature of 2014 at the Producers Guild Awards on Saturday night, giving the daring Alejandro Iñárritu film new life in the Oscar race for Best Picture.

“Boyhood” was considered the most likely PGA winner and the Oscar leader, but the critical favorite now finds itself in the same spot “The Social Network” was in four years ago. That film swept the critics’ awards and the Golden Globes, but then lost the PGA to “The King’s Speech,” which rode a string of guild wins to victory at the Oscars.

The Producer Guild Awards is the only other film award that counts its best-picture ballots using the Academy’s preferential system, which rewards a film that can craft a consensus among all voters.

Also read: Oscar Nominations: The Complete List

Since the PGA and the Academy instituted the system in 2009 as they both expanded from five to 10 nominees, no film has won the Best Picture Oscar without first winning the Producers Guild Award.

(Last year’s winner, “12 Years a Slave,” tied with “Gravity” at the PGA.)

“Birdman” would be as unconventional an Oscar winner as “Boyhood,” but its ability to come out on top at the PGA is a significant victory that throws the Oscar race into disarray.

The other two feature-film awards both went to movies that Academy voters had shockingly deemed unworthy of nominations. In the animated-feature category, the prize went to “The Lego Movie,” while the documentary-feature award was given to “Life Itself.”

“Breaking Bad” and “Orange is the New Black” won in the television drama and comedy categories, respectively, while the long-form TV award went to “Fargo.”

See photos: 19 Biggest Snubs and Surprises: Oscars 2015 (Photos)

Other TV winners included “Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey” (Non-Fiction Television), “The Voice” (Competition Television) and “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon” (Live Entertainment & Talk Television).

The awards:

Theatrical Motion Picture:
“Birdman”
Producers: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, James W. Skotchdopole

Animated Theatrical Motion Picture:
“The Lego Movie”
Producer: Dan Lin, p.g.a.

Documentary Theatrical Motion Picture:
“Life Itself”
Producers: Zak PiperSteve James, Garrett Basch

Long-Form Television:
“Fargo”
Producers: Noah Hawley, Warren Littlefield, John Cameron, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Michael Frislev, Chad Oakes, Kim Todd, Adam Bernstein

Episodic Television, Drama:
“Breaking Bad”
Producers: Vince Gilligan, Mark Johnson, Michelle MacLaren, Melissa Bernstein, Sam Catlin, Peter Gould, George Mastras, Thomas Schnauz, Moira Walley-Beckett, Stewart A. Lyons, Diane Mercer, Bryan Cranston

Episodic Television, Comedy:
“Orange Is The New Black”
Producers: Jenji Kohan, Gary Lennon, Lisa I. Vinnecour, Mark A. Burley, Michael Trim, Neri Kyle Tannenbaum, Sara Hess

Non-Fiction Television:
“Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey”
Producers: Ann Druyan, Seth MacFarlane, Mitchell Cannold, Brannon Braga, Jason Clark, Livia Hanich, Steve Holtzman

Competition Television:
“The Voice”
Producers: John De Mol, Mark Burnett, Audrey Morrissey, Stijn Bakkers, Lee Metzger, Chad Hines, Kyra Thompson, Mike Yurchuk, Amanda Zucker, Jim Roush

Live Entertainment & Talk Television:
“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”
Producers: Lorne Michaels, Josh Lieb, Gavin Purcell, Jamie Granet Bederman, Rob Grabbe, Katie Hockmeyer, Jim Juvonen, Brian McDonald

Outstanding Sports Program: “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel”
Outstanding Children’s Program: “Sesame Street”
Outstanding Digital Series: “Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee”

Milestone Award: Jon Feltheimer
Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television: Mark Gordon
David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures: Gale Anne Hurd
Stanley Kramer Award: “The Normal Heart”
Visionary Award: Plan B Entertainment

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