"Birdman" received a welcome lift on its flight to the Oscars after winning the Producers Guild of America's highest film award Saturday night at a ceremony in Los Angeles.
The win delivers needed momentum to Alejandro Inarritu's showbiz romp following its upset loss to "The Grand Budapest Hotel" in the Golden Globes' comedy category earlier this month. It's now neck and neck in the Oscar race with Richard Linklater's "Boyhood," which won in the Globes drama category.
Many of the PGA's 6,700 members are also Oscar voters and for the past seven years, the guild's choices for its top trophy went on to win the best-picture prize at the Academy Awards.
Other films that were up for the PGA's top honor this year included "American Sniper," ''Boyhood," ''Foxcatcher," ''Gone Girl," ''The Grand Budapest Hotel," ''The Imitation Game," ''Nightcrawler," ''The Theory of Everything" and "Whiplash."
Notably absent from the nominees was "Selma," which had been named among the year's best films by various industry groups, including an Oscar nomination.
Other trophies presented Saturday night included "The Lego Movie" for animated feature, "Life Itself" for documentary film, "Fargo" for television movie or miniseries, "Breaking Bad" for TV drama series, "Orange is the New Black" for TV comedy series and "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee for digital series.
Next up on the pre-Oscar awards circuit are Sunday night's Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Feb. 7 Directors Guild honors and the Writer Guild ceremony on Feb.14. The 87th annual Academy Awards will be presented Feb. 22.
Apple, WWF, CeraVe, Sydney Opera House Among Those Having A Grand Time At CICLOPE
An awards ceremony last night (10/10) capped three days of CICLOPE in Berlin, marked by talks by notable speakers, collaborative Craft Sessions, and attendees making global connections.
Drawing nearly 1,700 entries, culled down to 370 finalists across 18 different countries, the competition saw judges award seven Grand Prix winners, 45 Gold, 51 Silver and 61 Bronze trophies.
Grand Prix winners were:
--Apple’s “Flock” directed by Ivan Zacharias of SMUGGLER for TBWAMedia Arts Lab, Los Angeles.
--WWF’s “Up In Smoke” directed by Yannis Konstantinidi via production company NOMINT.
--A$AP Rocky’s “Tailor Swif” from directors Vania & Muggia of production company Iconoclast.
--Spotify’s “Spreadbeats” directed by Maldita via production house The Youth for FCB NY.
--CeraVe’s “Michael CeraVe” from directorial duo Tim & Eric via production company PRETTYBIRD for WPP Onefluence team, led by Ogilvy PR North America.
--Sydney Opera House’s “Playit Safe” directed by Kim Gehrig via Revolver x Somesuch for agency The Monkeys.
--Gucci’s “Who is Sabato De Sarno? A Gucci Story” directed by Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman via Moxie Pictures.
Special Awards--Year’s Best
CICLOPE Special Awards went to:
Production Company of the Year: SMUGGLER
Director of the Year: Ivan Zacharias
Editing Company of the Year: Work Editorial
VFX Company of the Year: Electric Theatre Collective
Animation Company of the Year: Untold Studios
Sound Company of the Year: Barking Owl
Music Company of the Year: String & Tins
Agency of the Year: TBWAMedia Arts Lab
Brand of the Year:... Read More