“Oppenheimer”, from left: Benny Safdie as Edward Teller, Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer
Melinda Sue Gordon / © Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
Oppenheimer won the top prize at the 2024 Producers Guild of America Awards on Sunday night.
The film won the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Motion Picture Producer, a day after it won the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Other big winners included Beef, which also won at the SAG Awards and Film Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday, and Succession and The Bear, both of which also won SAG Awards on Saturday.
Accepting the motion picture award, Oppenheimer producer Emma Thomas noted that in a room full of producers, “This means so much coming from you, this room is full of people whose work we admire,” adding, “You know, “How hard the job is,” you also know how great the job can be; It's the best job on set.” She also called director Christopher Nolan (who is also her husband) “the best producer you could hope for.” Nolan took the microphone briefly and noted that she was previously nominated for the PGA Awards but never won, and “every time we were invited into that room we felt such support,” thanking the film’s cast for their work.
Sarah Silverman opened the ceremony and introduced The Bear to the first category of the evening: Producer of Episodic Television – Comedy. Danielle Brooks later introduced documentary film producer American Symphony; Drew Tarver presented producer of live entertainment, variety, sketch, stand-up and talk television on Last Week Tonight With John Oliver; and Tony Hale was the game and competition television producer on RuPaul's Drag Race.
X Mayo was the animated feature film producer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, while Maitreyi Ramakrishnan was the non-fiction television film producer for Welcome to Wrexham.
Brie Larson was a producer on televised or streamed films for Black Mirror: Beyond the Sea; Roy Wood Jr. introduced Beef to producers of a limited television series or anthology series; and Michael Cimino toasted the four previously announced winners. At the end of the evening, Alex Borstein presented Succession to the producers of the episodic television drama, and Colman Domingo presented Oppenheimer with the evening's greatest honor.
Spouses Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone also took the stage to jokingly introduce the “best unproduced” projects by going through a fake list of canned films, and Kenneth Branagh led a reminiscence segment.
Each of the outstanding motion picture producer nominees had a special presentation as Natasha Lyonne introduced “The Zone of Interest”; Jeremy Kleiner presented Anatomy of a Fall; Margot Robbie and America Ferrera introduced Barbie; Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Dominic Sessa introduced The Holdovers; Lily Gladstone introduced Killers of the Flower Moon; Carey Mulligan and Silverman introduced Maestro; Erika Alexander, Sterling K. Brown, Tracee Ellis Ross and Jeffrey Wright presented American Fiction; John Magaro introduced Past Lives; Robert Downey Jr., Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt introduced Oppenheimer; and Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe introduced “Poor Things.”
During the ceremony, Sarah Michelle Gellar also presented the Norman Lear Achievement Award to Gail Berman, as the producer behind her iconic show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In her acceptance speech, Berman recalled working on the series, saying, “Not a single person in the world was interested in buying this television show, but I just couldn't ignore my gut feeling that there was something unique there,” she added , said that despite her success in the industry, rejection was not uncommon, and after watching a film about the projects she was involved in, she was “amazed at how many hurdles there were to overcome.” I mean Elvis, 10 Years?”
Ryan Coogler presented Charles D. King with the Milestone Award, making him the first Black man to receive the award. “I stand on the shoulders of all the incredible producers, executives, my parents, our ancestors who have kicked down doors, sacrificed and paved the way for me to do what I am blessed to do,” he said.
Guillermo del Toro was on hand to present Martin Scorsese with the David O. Selznick Achievement Award. Del Toro recalled a 1995 meeting with the director that changed his life, noting how important it is, in an industry fascinated by young talent, to honor masters like Scorsese. The “Killers of the Flower Moon” filmmaker paid tribute to his collaborators, including the Osage Nation, in his speech and recalled his early days in the industry and how he had “come full circle” after speaking at a Producers event in 1965 Guild was honored on 22.
The winners of some categories were announced last week.
Additionally, the guild announced Sunday evening an initiative aimed at securing health insurance benefits for every qualified producer working full-time in the film and television industry.
The 35th Annual Producers Guild Awards ceremony was held at the Ray Dolby Ballroom, Ovation Hollywood at Hollywood and Highland.
A full list of winners follows.
Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Motion Picture Producer
American fiction
Anatomy of a fall
Barbie
The leftovers
Flower Moon Killer
maestro
Oppenheimer (WINNER)
Past lives
Poor things
The zone of interest
Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Feature Films
The Boy and the Heron
Elementary
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (WINNER)
The Super Mario Bros. movie
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Award for Outstanding Documentary Film Producer
20 days in Mariupol
American Symphony (WINNER)
Beyond utopia
The disappearance of Shere Hite
The mother of all lies
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
Squaring the Circle (The History of Hipgnosis)
Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Drama
The crown
The diplomat
The last of us
The Morning Show
Succession (WINNER)
Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Comedy
Barry
The Bear (WINNER)
Jury duty
Just murders in the building
Ted Lasso
David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Limited Edition or Anthology Television Series
All the light we can't see
Beef (WINNER)
Daisy Jones and the Six
Fargo
Chemistry lessons
Award for the outstanding producer of televised or streamed feature films
Black Mirror: Beyond the Sea (WINNER)
Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Film
Quiz Lady
reality
Red, white and royal blue
Award for outstanding producer of non-fiction television programs
60 minutes
The 1619 Project
Albert Brooks: Defending My Life
I'm Mary Tyler Moore
Welcome to Wrexham (WINNER)
Award for outstanding producer of live entertainment, variety, sketch, stand-up and talk television
Carol Burnett: 90 years of laughter + love
Chris Rock: Selective outrage
Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (WINNER)
Saturday Night Live
Award for Outstanding Producer of Game and Competition Television
The Amazing Race
RuPaul's Drag Race (WINNER)
Squid Game: The Challenge
Top chef
The voice
Award for Outstanding Sports Program
100-foot wave (S2)
Beckham (W1) (WINNER)
Formula 1: Drive to Survive (S5)
Hard hits: training camp with the New York Jets (S18)
Shaun White: The Final Run (S1)
Award for Outstanding Children's Program
Goosebumps (S1)
Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai (S1)
Sesame Street (S53) (WINNER)
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (S2)
The Velveteen Rabbit
Award for Outstanding Short Program
Carpool Karaoke (S5C)
I think you should go with Tim Robinson (S3)
The Last of Us: Inside the Episode (S1)
Only Murders in the Building: A Killer Question (S3)
Succession: Controlling the Narrative (S4) (WINNER)
PGA Innovation Award
My body (WINNER)
The eye and me
JFK souvenirs
Letters from Drancy
MLK: Now is the time
Ocean of Light: Dolphins VR
Our ocean, our future
Out of Scale, a short story adventure
Rethought
Space Explorers: Blue Marble Trilogy
Wallace & Gromit in The Grand Getaway
The largest tailgate in the world