Although we all know that the only awards that count are those that are voted on by celebrities, Hollywood still allows the humble tradesfolk in the Producer’s Guild of America, Writer’s Guild of America, and American Society of Cinematographers to have their own awards ceremonies, presumably because it’s adorable when the walkie-talkie people get all dressed up and try to act fancy.
First to release its nominations was the Producer’s Guild Of America, because they’re the ones who sign the paychecks. That finance-minded group nominated 10 live-action feature films and five animated features for this year’s Outstanding Producer award, a fairly wide range of films that includes surprise hits like Straight Outta Compton, prestige pics like Bridge Of Spies, and blockbusters like Mad Max: Fury Road, which has been cleaning up so far this awards season.
Next came the cinematographers, who could make the famous people look terrible if they felt like it. That group payed tribute to five films, including Edward Lachman’s 16mm work on Carol, Emmanuel Lubezki’s insane dedication to natural light on The Revenant, and John Seale’s color-coded digital work on Mad Max: Fury Road. Notably absent from the list was The Hateful Eight, which would seem to be a shoo-in for a cinematography award due to DP Robert Richardson and director Quentin Tarantino’s fetishistic devotion to the 70mm format. (Too many locked rooms, not enough snowy mountain vistas, perhaps?)
Finally, there’s the writers, who are used to coming in last. 14 films in total were nominated across the WGA’s Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay, and Documentary Screenplay categories, including outlier Trainwreck, which did not appear on any of the other guilds’ lists. In fact—as implied by the headline—the only two films to be nominated for all three awards were Sicario and Bridge Of Spies. Take note of that last bit, because Oscar pools are coming sooner than you think.
A list of the films nominated for all three awards is below.
PGA Awards: Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures
The Big Short
Bridge Of Spies
Brooklyn
Ex Machina
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Sicario
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
PGA Awards: Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures
Anomalisa
The Good Dinosaur
Inside Out
Minions
The Peanuts Movie
ASC Awards: Outstanding Cinematography
Bridge Of Spies
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
Sicario
WGA Awards: Original Screenplay
Bridge Of Spies
Sicario
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
Trainwreck
WGA Awards: Adapted Screenplay
The Big Short
Carol
The Martian
Steve Jobs
Trumbo
WGA Awards: Documentary Screenplay
Being Canadian
Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief
Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck
Prophet’s Prey