“The Hurt Locker” scored the top film award from the Producers Guild of America, building new momentum for the Iraq war drama in the expanded Oscar race for best picture. The film about a risk-taking bomb disposal technician beat out such celebrated nominees as “Avatar,” ”Inglourious Basterds” and “Up in the Air.”
“The Hurt Locker,” starring Jeremy Renner and directed by Kathryn Bigelow, also bested the films “Star Trek,” ”District 9,” ”An Education,” ”Invictus,” ”Up” and “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire” at Sunday’s Producers Guild Awards at the Hollywood Palladium, the latest kudofest in the run-up to the Academy Awards in March.
Assuming “The Hurt Locker” earns an Oscar best-picture nomination Feb. 2, it will have just as much competition as it did at the PGAs, which followed Oscar organizers lead and doubled the best-picture category to 10 nominees, aiming to bring a broader range of movies into the fold, which means a blockbuster could take the top category.
In other PGA film categories, “Up” won for animated feature and “The Cove” was lauded for documentary. The Harlem drama “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire” was honored with the Stanley Kramer Award, a prize named after the late director that recognizes work which explores and addresses provocative social issues.
Four television shows were repeat winners from last year: AMC’s “Madmen” for drama TV; NBC’s “30 Rock” for comedy TV; Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” for live entertainment and competition TV; and CBS’ “60 Minutes” for nonfiction TV. The HBO TV film “Grey Gardens” snagged the prize in the long-form TV category.
Career achievement awards were bestowed on Sony Pictures chairman Michael Lynton and co-chairman Amy Pascal; Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios chief creative officer John Lasseter; and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Dollhouse” mastermind Joss Whedon.
Nikki Baker Becomes CEO At Fallon
Fallon has appointed Nikki Baker as its new CEO. Baker, who joined the creative agency in 2018 and has served as co-chief creative officer with Leslie Shaffer since 2021, succeeds Rocky Novak, who has been in the role since 2019.
Baker’s promotion to CEO comes at a time of significant momentum for the agency, including six consecutive years of growth and award-winning work.
Baker’s recent career highlights include creatively leading the Walmart partnership with the Publicis Groupe team and spearheading innovative campaigns such as the award-winning “RomCommerce” 23-episodic series and the internet-breaking Mean Girls campaign, among hundreds of other campaigns together with the brand over the past few years. Together with Shaffer, Baker has also been instrumental in elevating Fallon’s creative output for longstanding clients like Arby’s, Mattress Firm, and Front Door/American Home Shield.
“I’ve always been an admirer of Fallon, even before I joined. The chance to lead the agency is an absolute honor. Fallon is a place like no other with amazing talent and a legacy of building big, innovative, creative ideas,” said Baker. “Rocky has represented the best of Fallon. He’s been a great leader, and I couldn’t be more excited to take the reins and lead the agency through to the next chapter. With creativity at our core, we’re going to be as ambitious as ever, push boundaries, and continue embracing emerging platforms to deliver work that truly resonates in culture.”
Prior to joining Fallon six years ago, Baker held positions as creative director and art director at agencies including DDB and GSD&M, working with major brands such as McDonald’s, Southwest Airlines, and Wrigley. Her work has been recognized by... Read More