32nd PGA Awards Name ‘Nomadland’ the Season’s Best Picture

Each year the Producers Guild of America’s announcement of film and television winners sharpens the focus on awards season results; eight of the last 11 winners of the guild’s top feature prize have gone on to also take the Oscar for best picture. Could this year’s big winner, Searchlight Pictures’ “Nomadland,” follow suit? 

Earning the PGA’s Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures, “Nomadland” has made a strong case for frontrunner status since premiering and winning honors at the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals. Multihyphenate Chloé Zhao’s documentary-like portrait of van-dwelling nomads has also netted two Golden Globes, seven BAFTA film nods, five Film Independent Spirit Award nods, and six Oscar nods including for best picture. Frances McDormand is in the lead actress race at the upcoming Screen Actors Guild Awards, and became the first woman in the Academy Awards’ history to earn nominations for both producing and acting in a film.

Last year’s PGA Awards crowned “1917,” while the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences ultimately opted instead for “Parasite” in top Oscar categories. Seven of this year’s 10 contenders for the PGA’s top award are also in the running for the best picture Oscar: Along with “Nomadland,” Warner Bros.’ “Judas and the Black Messiah,” A24’s “Minari,” Focus Features’ “Promising Young Woman,” Amazon Studios’ “Sound of Metal,” and Netflix’s “Mank” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” are in contention. The eighth 2021 best picture nominee, Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Father,” did not catch the PGA’s attention. 

The producers of Disney’s computer-animated hit “Soul” earned the PGA’s animated film prize, beating out fellow Oscar nominees “Wolfwalkers,” “Onward,” and “Over the Moon.” Among the TV category winners were the teams behind Netflix’s “The Crown” and “The Queen’s Gambit,” Pop TV’s “Schitt’s Creek,” and TV movie “Hamilton” from Disney+. For a full list of 2021 PGA Award winners and more, visit the guild’s official website.