The Producers Guild of America (PGA) has unveiled the nominees for The PGA Innovation Award ahead of the 34th Annual Producers Guild Awards. The PGA Innovation Award recognizes the production of a noteworthy, impactful new media program that significantly elevates the audience’s viewing experience.
The recipient of the 2023 PGA Innovation Award, as well as the PGA Award-winners of the Short Form category, will be announced at the Nominee Celebration Event on the evening of February 23 in Los Angeles, and highlighted at the PGA Awards ceremony on the evening of Saturday, February 25, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Nominees for the 2023 PGA Innovation Award are listed below in alphabetical order. The PGA will honor the program as a whole, rather than the individual producers. As such, the producers of these programs are not required to go through the awards eligibility determination process.
2023 PGA Innovation Award Nominees
- Dance Monsters (Lime Pictures)
- Experience Yosemite (CityLights)
- Ghostbusters VR Academy (HOLOGATE)
- LeMusk – A Cinematic Sensory Experience (Intel Corporation)
- Lustration (New Canvas)
- On The Morning You Wake (To the End of the World) (ASTREA)
- OXYMORE by Jean-Michel Jarre (VRROOM)
- PerfectoVerse (Watch and Play)
- Stay Alive, My Son (UME Studios)
- Stranger Things Immersive Watch Party (Sawhorse Productions)
- Verizon Pepsi Halftime Ultra Pass (R/GA)
The award honors exceptional distinctiveness, inventiveness, and the impact of the submitted work in expanding the conventions of program format, content, audience interaction, production technique and delivery. This year’s nominees highlight access to historic moments, seamless application of AR/VR, and emotionally immersive experiences. The jury noted industry-wide emphasis on gaming, virtual togetherness, and mass adoption of innovative technology.
Programs released between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022 were eligible for the honor. Entries were vetted by a nominating committee, co-chaired this year by Eric Shamlin and John Canning, and reviewed and voted-on by a blue-ribbon jury of experts.
The Innovation Award was first introduced in 2019, when the PGA awarded the inaugural prize to the team behind “Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series – Episode 1.” In 2022, the team behind “For All Mankind: Time Capsule,” an AR app created by Apple to promote the second season of “For All Mankind,” was honored with the award. In 2023, this award continues to highlight progress in the industry and the Guild’s commitment to recognizing innovation in storytelling.
The 2023 Producers Guild Awards event chairs are Mike Farah, CEO at Funny Or Die, and Joe Farrell, chief creative officer at Funny Or Die. The 2023 Producers Guild of America Awards are produced by Anchor Street Collective for the Producers Guild of America. Branden Chapman is executive producer, Carleen Cappelletti is co-executive producer, Matt Ullian and Jane Sarkin of Boldface Partners are talent executives, and Jim Piccirillo is director.
