The 2007 Awards Season Has Started!

[MacGuffin]

Indie Spirit nominees announced
'Sunshine,' 'Nelson' lead with five noms each
By VARIETY

HOLLYWOOD -- Fox Searchlight's offbeat family comedy "Little Miss Sunshine" and ThinkFilm's drug-addiction drama "Half Nelson" have each picked up five nominations to lead all contenders for the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards, announced Tuesday.

The duo both received Best Feature nods, joining IFC's "American Gun," First Look's "The Dead Girl" and Picturehouse's "Pan's Labyrinth."

"Little Miss Sunshine," which has grossed $59 million in four months, also received nominations in the supporting male actor category for Alan Arkin and Paul Dano, in directing for Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and for best first screenplay for Michael Arndt.

"Half Nelson," with $2.7 million in domestic box office, took its other nods in the best male and female lead categories with Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps, in directing for Ryan Fleck and in best first screenplay for Fleck and Anna Boden.

Besides Gosling, nominees for male lead are Aaron Eckhart in Searchlight's "Thank You for Smoking," Edward Norton in Warner Independent's "The Painted Veil," Ahmad Razvi in Films Philos' "Man Push Cart" and Forest Whitaker in "American Gun."

Joining Epps for female lead are Catherine O'Hara in Warner Independent's "For Your Consideration," Elizabeth Reaser in "Sweet Land," Michelle Williams in "Land of Plenty" and Robin Wright Penn in IFC's "Sorry, Haters."

A quartet of pics received three nominations each - "American Gun," "The Dead Girl," First Look's "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" and "Man Push Cart."

Eight films pulled in two nods - "Four Eyed Monsters," Sony Classics' "Friends With Money," "The Painted Veil," "Pan's Labyrinth," "Sorry, Haters," "Sweet Land," "Thank You For Smoking" and "Wristcutters: A Love Story."

IFC received the most nominations among distributors with nine, followed by Searchlight with seven.

Don Cheadle and Felicity Huffman announced nominations in 13 categories at the Sofitel Hotel. Winners will be announced Feb. 24, the day before the Academy Awards, following voting by the 6,000 members of Film Independent.

And the 2007 Independent Spirit nominees are...

FEATURE (Award given to the Producer)
"American Gun," Ted Kroeber, producer
"The Dead Girl," Tom Rosenberg, Henry Winterstern, Gary Lucchesi, Richard Wright, Eric Karten, Kevin Turen, producers
"Half Nelson," Jamie Patricof, Alex Orlovsky, Lynette Howell, Anna Boden, Rosanne Korenberg, producers
"Little Miss Sunshine," Marc Turtletaub, David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf, Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa, producers
"Pan's Labyrinth," Bertha Navarro, Alfonso Cuaron, Frida Torresblanco, Alvaro Augustin, Guillermo Del Toro, producers

FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)
"Day Night Day Night," Julia Loktev, director; Julia Loktev, Melanie Judd, Jessica Levin, producers
"Man Push Cart," Ramin Bahrani, director; Ramin Bahrani, Pradip Ghosh, Bedford T. Bentley III, producers
"The Motel," Michael Kang, director; Matthew Greenfield, Miguel Arteta, Gina Kwon, Karin Chien, producers
"Sweet Land," Ali Selim, director; Alan Cumming, James Bigham, Ali Selim, producers
"Wristcutters: A Love Story," Goran Dukic, director; Adam Sherman, Chris Coen, Tatiana Kelly, Mikal P. Lazarev, producers

DIRECTOR
Robert Altman, "A Prairie Home Companion"
Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Ryan Fleck, "Half Nelson"
Karen Moncrieff, "The Dead Girl"
Steven Soderbergh, "Bubble"

MALE LEAD
Aaron Eckhart, "Thank You For Smoking"
Ryan Gosling, "Half Nelson"
Edward Norton, "The Painted Veil"
Ahmad Razvi, "Man Push Cart"
Forest Whitaker, "American Gun"

FEMALE LEAD
Shareeka Epps, "Half Nelson"
Catherine O'Hara, "For Your Consideration"
Elizabeth Reaser, "Sweet Land"
Michelle Williams, "Land of Plenty"
Robin Wright Penn, "Sorry, Haters"

SUPPORTING MALE
Alan Arkin, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Raymond J. Barry, "Steel City"
Daniel Craig, "Infamous"
Paul Dano, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Channing Tatum, "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints"

SUPPORTING FEMALE
Melonie Diaz, "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints"
Marcia Gay Harden, "American Gun"
Mary Beth Hurt, "The Dead Girl"
Frances McDormand, "Friends with Money"
Amber Tamblyn, "Stephanie Daley"

SCREENPLAY
Neil Burger, "The Illusionist"
Nicole Holofcener, "Friends with Money"
Ron Nyswaner, "The Painted Veil"
Jason Reitman, "Thank You For Smoking"
Jeff Stanzler, "Sorry, Haters"

FIRST SCREENPLAY
Michael Arndt, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck, "Half Nelson"
Goran Dukic, "Wristcutters: A Love Story"
Dito Montiel, "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints"
Gabrielle Zevin, "Conversations with Other Women"

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Arin Crumley, "Four Eyed Monsters"
Anthony Dod Mantle, "Brothers of the Head"
Guillermo Navarro, "Pan's Labyrinth"
Aaron Platt, "Wild Tigers I Have Known"
Michael Simmonds, "Man Push Cart"

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer)
"Chalk," Mike Akel, director; Mike Akel, Angela Alvarez, Graham Davidson, Chris Mass, producers; Chris Mass & Mike Akel, writers
"Four Eyed Monsters," Arin Crumley & Susan Buice, writer/director/producers
"Old Joy," Kelly Reichardt, director; Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy, Anish Savjani, Neil Kopp, producers; Jon Raymond & Kelly Reichardt, writers
"Quinceanera," Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland, writer/directors; Anne Clements, producer
"Twelve and Holding," Michael Cuesta, director; Leslie Urdang, Michael Cuesta, Brian Bell, Jenny Schweitzer, producers; Anthony S. Cipriano, writer

DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director)
"A Lion in the House," Steven Bognar & Julia Reichert, directors
"My Country, My Country," Laura Poitras, director
"The Road to Guantanamo," Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross, directors
"The Trials of Darryl Hunt," Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern, directors
"You're Gonna Miss Me," Keven McAlester, director

FOREIGN FILM (Award given to the director)
"12:08 East of Bucharest," (Romania); Corneliu Porumboiu, director
"The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros," (Philippines); Auraeus Solito, director
"Chronicle of an Escape," (Argentina); Israel Adrian Caetano, director
"Days of Glory," (France/Morocco/Algeria/Belgium); Rachid Bouchareb, director
"The Lives of Others," (Germany); Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director

SPECIAL DISTINCTION AWARD
David Lynch, Laura Dern

[Derek237]

Let the posthumous Altman nods begin!

[Kal]

Eastwood's 'Letters' named 2006's best

NEW YORK (AP) -- "Letters From Iwo Jima," the second of Clint Eastwood's two-part look at World War II, is the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures' pick as the best film of 2006.

Also on the list, announced Wednesday: "Flags of Our Fathers," in which Eastwood shows the aftermath of war through the eyes of the military men who raised the American flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

"Letters," which depicts the war from the Japanese perspective with a mostly Japanese cast, originally was scheduled to hit theaters in February 2007, but Warner Bros. recently bumped up the release date to December 20.

The rest of the group's top 10, in alphabetical order: "Babel," "Blood Diamond," "The Departed," "The Devil Wears Prada," "The History Boys," "Little Miss Sunshine," "Notes on a Scandal" and "The Painted Veil." (Read the complete list of winners.)

The group is the first out of the gate each awards season but their picks aren't necessarily predictors of the eventual Academy Award winners. In 2004 they chose "Finding Neverland," while the best-picture Oscar went to "Million Dollar Baby." Last year they picked "Good Night, and Good Luck"; the surprise Oscar winner was "Crash." The National Board and the Academy did line up, however, for 1999's "American Beauty."

The National Board of Motion Pictures, formed 97 years ago, is composed of film historians, students and educators.

[MacGuffin]

Eastwood Film Tops L.A. Critics List

Clint Eastwood's "Letters From Iwo Jima," the second of his two World War II sagas this year, was picked as the top movie of 2006 Sunday by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

Set for release Dec. 20, "Letters From Iwo Jima" stars Ken Watanabe and chronicles the battle from the perspective of Japanese soldiers defending the island against U.S. troops. The film comes just two months after Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers," which centers on the U.S. troops depicted in the legendary photo of the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima.

The runner-up for best picture was "The Queen," a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family in crisis after the death of Princess Diana in 1997. "The Queen" earned the group's honors for best actress for Helen Mirren, supporting actor for Michael Sheen and screenplay for Peter Morgan.

The New York Film Critics Online Awards on Sunday also were dominated by "The Queen," which earned five honors: best picture, best actress for Mirren, supporting actor for Sheen, director for Stephen Frears and screenplay for Morgan.

Also Sunday, the American Film Institute released its picks for the year's top-10 movies, including "Letters From Iwo Jima," the musical "Dreamgirls," the Sept. 11 drama "United 93" and the outrageous comedy "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."

The Los Angeles critics group split its best-actor prize between Sacha Baron Cohen, who reprised his television character as a Kazakh journalist observing America in "Borat," and Forest Whitaker, who plays Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland."

The supporting-actress honor went to Luminita Gheorghiu for "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu," a Romanian film about an elderly man quietly fading away as he's shuffled from hospital to hospital over the course of one night.

Paul Greengrass was named best director for "United 93," with Eastwood the runner-up.

Among other honors from the Los Angeles critics: animated film, "Happy Feet," documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth" and foreign-language film, "The Lives of Others."

The flurry of film honors come at the start of Hollywood's long season leading up to the Academy Awards on Feb. 25. Critics picks often differ substantially from the films that ultimately triumph at the Oscars, though they do give a boost to the prospects of some films.

The New York Film Critics Circle releases its 2006 honors Monday, while nominations for the Golden Globes, the biggest Hollywood prizes before the Oscars, are announced Thursday.

The AFI's top-10 list also included the ensemble story "Babel," the fashion-world satire "The Devil Wears Prada," the gritty classroom drama "Half Nelson," the animated penguin romp "Happy Feet," the bank-heist thriller "Inside Man," and the road-trip tale "Little Miss Sunshine."

The AFI does not rank its picks for best films of the year. The list was chosen by a panel of 13 filmmakers, critics, scholars and AFI trustees.

A separate AFI panel picked the group's top-10 television shows of the year: "Battlestar Galactica," "Dexter," "Elizabeth I," "Friday Night Lights," "Heroes," "The Office," "South Park," "24," "The West Wing" and "The Wire."

The films and shows will be honored at an AFI luncheon in Los Angeles on Jan. 12. The Los Angeles critics awards will be presented Jan. 14.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Departed' given top honors by Boston critics
Mob drama also wins trophies for director, supporting actor, screenplay
   
The Boston Society of Film Critics mobbed up for "The Departed," naming the Boston-set gangster pic the best film of 2006. The movie (shot in Boston and New York) also won for director (Martin Scorsese), screenplay (William Monahan) and supporting actor (Mark Wahlberg).

The critics reached consensus quickly, picking most winners on no more than two or three ballots.

"The Departed" edged out runner-up "United 93" in both picture and director (Paul Greengrass) categories. A third contender was "The Queen," which was runner-up for screenplay (Peter Morgan), and supporting actor, where Michael Sheen (who plays British PM Tony Blair) tied with "The Departed's" Alec Baldwin (also noted for "Running With Scissors" and "The Good Shepherd") for honorable mention.

Actor and actress nods went to two performers playing real-life rulers: Forest Whitaker as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland" and Helen Mirren as Elizabeth II in "The Queen." Two thesps playing teachers were runners-up: "Half Nelson's" Ryan Gosling and Judi Dench in "Notes on a Scandal."

Shareeka Epps of "Half Nelson" drew the supporting actress nod. Meryl Streep's boss from hell in "The Devil Wears Prada" was runner-up in the category.

Closest vote among the Boston critics came as "Half Nelson" director Ryan Fleck edged out Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, co-directors of "Little Miss Sunshine," by a single vote to land the David Brudnoy New Filmmaker Award, given to a first-time director in honor of one the founding members of the BSFC who died in 2004. Most categories found quick consensus. "United 93" took ensemble cast (over "The Departed"), while Guillermo del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" was tapped the top foreign-language film and honored for cinematography (Guillermo Navarro). Pedro Almodovar's "Volver" was runner-up in the foreign pic race.

The documentary category saw votes divided among a wide range of films, ending in a tie for "Shut Up and Sing," Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck's film about the Dixie Chicks, and "Deliver Us From Evil," Amy Berg's portrait of a priest who molested children in several California parishes. Doug Block's "51 Birch Street," a voyage of discovery into the private lives of his parents, was the runner-up.

[modage]

'Departed' given top honors by Boston critics
Mob drama also wins trophies for director, supporting actor, screenplay

haha, big surprise there. 

2006 New York Film Critics Awards

Best Picture
    United 93
Best Actor
    Forest Whitaker The Last King of Scotland
Best Actress
    Helen Mirren The Queen
Best Director
    Martin Scorsese The Departed
Best Foreign Film
    Army of Shadows
Best Screenplay
    Peter Morgan The Queen
Best Supporting Actor
    Jackie Earle Haley Little Children
Best Supporting Actress
    Jennifer Hudson Dreamgirls
Best Cinematographer
    Guillermo Navarro
    Pan's Labyrinth
Best Non-Fiction Film
    Deliver Us From Evil
Best First Film
    Ryan Fleck Half Nelson
Best Animated Film
    Happy Feet

[Sunrise]

The AV Club's Year in Film is up for anyone interested:

http://www.avclub.com/content/node/56789

They are one of the few critical groups giving a lot of attention to Children of Men. I know some on the board are a little lukewarm about Children of Men, but I am very eager to see it.

[MacGuffin]

PGA announces nominees
Top film contenders include 'Dreamgirls,' 'Departed,' 'Queen'

Opting for a mix of studio and indie films, the Producers Guild of America has tapped Paramount Vantage's "Babel," Warner Bros.' "The Departed," Paramount/DreamWorks' "Dreamgirls," Fox Searchlight's "Little Miss Sunshine" and Miramax's "The Queen" as its best picture nominees.

The PGA, with over 3,000 members, will announce the winner of its Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year kudo in ceremonies Jan. 20 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

The nominated producers, announced Wednesday, are Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Steve Golin and Jon Kilik for "Babel;" Graham King for "The Departed;" Laurence Mark for "Dreamgirls;" Marc Turtletaub, David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf and Albert Berger & Ron Yerxa for "Little Miss Sunshine" and Andy Harries, Christine Langan and Tracey Seaward for "The Queen."

The PGA's determination of producer credits has no limit on the number of producers on its nominated films but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences limits that number to three for its Best Picture nominees. So if "Little Miss Sunshine" receives an Oscar nom, the producers branch of AMPAS will have to decide which three of the five producers are credited.

The five "Sunshine" producers are the only ones eligible for an Oscar, based on the Academy's decision in 2005 to follow the PGA's determination in producer credits.

"The Departed" is by far the biggest domestic grosser of the PGA's nominated pics with $120.5 million, followed by "Little Miss Sunshine with $59 million, the recently released "Dreamgirls" with $41.4 million, "The Queen" with $28.5 million and "Babel" with $20 million.

Notable omissions from the PGA's list of nominees include Paramount's "Flags of Our Fathers," Warner's "Letters From Iwo Jima," New Line's "Little Children," Universal's "United 93" and Sony Classics' "Volver."

The PGA voting has been a good indicator of Academy sentiment with a match about two-thirds of the time between the PGA's top feature award and the Best Picture Oscar - even though the orgs have differed for the past two years. The PGA selected "Brokeback Mountain" last year while the Academy Award went to "Crash," and in 2005, the PGA opted for "The Aviator" while "Million Dollar Baby" won the Best Picture Oscar.

However, 11 of the previous 15 PGA winners went on to win the Best Picture Oscar. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" was a double PGA-Oscar winner in 2004, joining "Driving Miss Daisy," "Dances With Wolves," "The Silence of the Lambs," "Schindler's List," "Forrest Gump," "The English Patient," "Titanic," "American Beauty," "Gladiator" and "Chicago."

The PGA also announced Wednesday the noms for its feature animation award are Disney/Pixar's "Cars," DreamWorks' "Flushed Away," Warner's "Happy Feet," Fox's "Ice Age: The Meltdown" and Sony's "Monster House." DreamWorks' "Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit" won the initial award last year.

Nominated producers for the animated films are Darla K. Anderson for "Cars," Cecil Kramer and Peter Lord for "Flushed Away," Doug Mitchell, George Miller and Bill Miller for "Happy Feet," Lori Forte for "Ice Age: The Meltdown" and Steve Starkey and Jack Papke for "Monster House."

The PGA had announced its TV nominations except in long-form, which it unveiled Wednesday. Nods went to Nigel Stafford-Clark for PBS/BBC's "Bleak House;" Susan Harrison, George Faber, Charles Pattinson and Barney Reisz for HBO's "Elizabeth I;" David Gerber and Clara George for A&E's "Flight 93," Bill Borden and Barry Rosenthal for Disney Channel's "High School Musical" and Elizabeth Karlsen, Pamela Koffler and Christine Vachon for HBO's Mrs. Harris."

And the nominees are...

FILM
"Babel," (Paramount Vantage) Alejandro González Iñárritu, Steve Golin, Jon Kilik
"The Departed," (Warner Bros.) Graham King
"Dreamgirls," (Dreamworks SKG/Paramount Pictures) Laurence Mark
"Little Miss Sunshine," (Fox Searchlight) Marc Turtletaub, David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf, Albert Berger & Ron Yerxa
"The Queen," (Miramax Films) Andy Harries, Christine Langan, Tracey Seaward

ANIMATED FILM
"Cars," (Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation) Darla K. Anderson
"Flushed Away," (Dreamworks Animation) Cecil Kramer, Peter Lord
"Happy Feet," (Warner Bros.) Doug Mitchell, George Miller, Bill Miller
"Ice Age: The Meltdown," (20th Century Fox Animation) Lori Forte
"Monster House," (Sony Pictures Animation) Steve Starkey, Jack Rapke

LONG-FORM TELEVISION
"Bleak House," (PBS/BBC), Nigel Stafford-Clark
"Elizabeth I," (HBO) Suzan Harrison, George Faber, Charles Pattinson, Barney Riesz
"Flight 93," (A&E Television) David Gerber, Clara George
"High School Musical," (The Disney Channel) Bill Borden, Barry Rosenbush
"Mrs. Harris," (HBO) Elizabeth Karlsen, Elizabeth Karlsen, Christine Vachon

EPISODIC TELEVISION DRAMA
"Grey's Anatomy," Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers, Mark Gordon, James Parriott, Peter Horton, Rob Corn
"House," David Shore, Katie Jacobs
"Lost," J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender, Jean Higgins, Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz, Elizabeth Sarnoff
"The Sopranos," David Chase, Brad Grey, Ilene S. Landress, Terence Winter, Matthew Weiner, Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider, Henry Bronchtein, Martin Bruestle, Gianna Smart
"24," Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran, Howard Gordon, Evan Katz, Jon Cassar, Michael Loceff, Michael Klick

EPISODIC TELEVISION COMEDY
"Arrested Development," Ron Howard & Brian Grazer, David Nevins, Mitchell Hurwitz, John Amodeo, Dean Lorey,Jim Vallely,Richard Day,Tom Saunders
"Curb Your Enthusiasm," Larry David, Jeff Garlin, Robert B. Weide, Larry Charles, Tim Gibbons, Erin O'Malley
"My Name is Earl," Greg Garcia, Marc Buckland, Henry Lange, Jr.
"The Office," Greg Daniels, Kent Zbornak,
"Weeds," Jenji Kohan, Roberto Benabib, Mark A. Burley

VARIETY TELEVISION
"The Ellen DeGeneres Show," Ellen DeGeneres, Mary Connelly, Ed Glavin, Andy Lassner, Karen Kilgariff
"Late Night with Conan O'Brien," Lorne Michaels, Jeff Ross, Tracy King, Frank Smiley, Daniel Ferguson
"The Late Show with David Letterman," Maria Pope, Barbara Gaines, Rob Burnett, Jude Brennan
"Real Time with Bill Maher," Bill Maher, Scott Carter, Sheila Griffiths, Dean Johnsen
"The XX Olympic Winter Games: Opening Ceremony," Dick Ebersol, David Neal, Molly Solomon

NON-FICTION TELEVISION:
"The Amazing Race 9,"Jerry Bruckheimer, Betram van Munster, Jonathan Littman, Amy Chacon, Hayma "Screech" Washington, Evan Weinstein, Elise Doganieri, Mark Vertullo
"American Idol,"Nigel Lythgoe, Ken Warwick, Simon Fuller, Charles Boyd, Simon Lythgoe, Megan Michaels
"Dancing With the Stars," Conrad Green, Richard Hopkins, Izzie Pick
"Project Runway," Award Eligibility Under Appeal
"60 Minutes," Jeff Fager

[MacGuffin]

Actors honor their own
Screen Actors Guild announces nominees

Favoring studio specialty pics, the Screen Actors Guild has tapped Paramount Vantage's "Babel," Weinstein Co.'s "Bobby," Warner Bros.' "The Departed," Paramount's "Dreamgirls" and Fox Searchlight's "Little Miss Sunshine" as nominees for its top feature ensemble award.

No single film dominated the nominations, announced Thursday morning by Sandra Oh and Elijah Wood at the Pacific Design Center in Hollywood. But studio specialty divisions scored especially well with 14 of the 25 nods for features, led by six for Fox Searchlight.

"Babel," "Dreamgirls" and "Little Miss Sunshine" took three nominations each while Warner's "Blood Diamond," "The Departed," New Line's "Little Children" and Fox Searchlight's "Notes on a Scandal" garnered two apiece.

Leonardo DiCaprio repeated his Golden Globes feat of scoring two feature nominations with a best lead actor nod for "Blood Diamond" and a supporting actor nom for "The Departed." And Helen Mirren received nominations for both her roles as British royalty as lead film actress for "The Queen" and lead actress in a TV movie or miniseries for "Elizabeth I."

Besides DiCaprio, other lead actor nominations in film went to Ryan Gosling in Thinkfilm's "Half Nelson," Peter O'Toole in Miramax's "Venus," Will Smith in Sony's "the Pursuit of Happyness" and Forest Whitaker in Searchlight's "The Last King of Scotland."

Mirren, who won a SAG supporting actress award for "Gosford Park," will compete in the lead actress category with Penelope Cruz in Sony Classics' "Volver," Judi Dench in Searchlight's "Notes on a Scandal," Meryl Streep for Fox's "The Devil Wears Prada" and Kate Winslet for "Little Children." Cruz is the only nominee among the quintet who hasn't previously won a SAG trophy.

DiCaprio's competion in the supporting category will include "Blood Diamond" castmate Djimon Honsou along with Alan Arkin in "Little Miss Sunshine," Jackie Earle Haley in "Little Children" and Eddie Murphy in "Dreamgirls."

Two supporting actresses from "Babel," Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi, will compete in that category along with Cate Blanchett in "Notes on a Scandal," Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine" and Jennifier Hudson in "Dreamgirls." Two years ago, Blanchett won the category and then took home an Oscar for "The Aviator."

SAG will announce the winners, voted by the 120,000 guild members, on Jan. 28 in ceremonies at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

SAG's ensemble award has matched the Best Picture Oscar in six of the 12 years, including last year's wins for "Crash." SAG's lead actor winner has also won the Best Actor Oscar in eight of 12 years, including Philip Seymour Hoffman last year for "Capote"; SAG's lead actress winner has also won the Oscar in nine of 12 years, including Reese Witherspoon for "Walk the Line" in 2006.

The SAG nominations, chosen by a panel of 2,100 SAG members, excluded Clint Eastwood's companion films -- Paramount's "Flags of Our Fathers" and Warner's "Letters From Iwo Jima" -- along with Universal's "United 93" although that trio's considered as strong possibilities in Oscar voting. The three films were also snubbed in Producers Guild nominations, announced Wednesday.

Other acting contenders not making the SAG cut included U's "The Good Shepherd" and "Children of Men," Sony's "Stranger Than Fiction," Picturehouse's "Pan's Labyrinth," Weinstein's "Factory Girl," Paramount's "World Trade Center," Warner Independent's "For Your Consideration," IFC's "Sherrybaby" and Searchlight's "Catch a Fire" and "The History Boys."

In the TV categories, HBO series "The Sopranos" and AMC mini-series "Broken Trail" led with three nominations each. "The Sopranos" took noms in drama series ensemble and for drama series acting with James Gandolfini and Edie Falco while "Broken Trail" received nods for cast members Thomas Haden Church, Robert Duvall and Greta Scacchi.

Gandolfini and Falco both won SAG acting awards in 2000 and 2003 and "The Sopranos" took the series trophy in 2000. "The Sopranos" is up against Fox's "24," ABC's "Boston Legal," HBO's "Deadwood" and ABC's "Grey's Anatomy."

"Boston Legal," which scored a nomination last year in the comedy series category, was submitted this year as a drama.

HBO led in TV noms with 10, followed by ABC and NBC with eight each while AMC, Fox, Showtime and TNT all took in three each.

Besides his two acting nominations, DiCaprio also received a third nod a cast member of "The Departed." Steve Carrell also received three noms -- a TV nomination for actor in a comedy series for "The Office" along with ensemble nods for "The Office" and for "Little Miss Sunshine." Martin Sheen received two nominations in the ensemble category as a cast member of "Bobby" and "The Departed.

The contest for female actress in a comedy series features a trio of thesps who have won the category six times - Felicity Huffman, who won last year for "Desperate Housewives;" Julia-Louis Dreyfus, nommed for "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and a two-time winner for "Seinfeld;" and Megan Mullaly, who's won the category three times for "Will & Grace." The other nominees are Mary-Louise Parker for "Weeds" and Jamie Pressly for "My Name Is Earl."

And in the ensemble comedy series category, ABC's two-time winner "Desperate Housewives" goes up against a quartet of first-timers - HBO's "Entourage," NBC's "The Office," ABC's "Ugly Betty" and Showtime's "Weeds."

And the nominees are...

MOTION PICTURES

Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio - "Blood Diamond"
Ryan Gosling - "Half Nelson"
Peter O'Toole - "Venus"
Will Smith - "The Pursuit of Happyness"
Forest Whitaker - "The Last King of Scotland"

Actress
Penelope Cruz - "Volver"
Judi Dench - "Notes on a Scandal"
Helen Mirren - "The Queen"
Meryl Streep - "The Devil Wears Prada"
Kate Winslet - "Little Children"

Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin - "Little Miss Sunshine"
Leonardo DiCaprio - "The Departed"
Jackie Earle Haley - "Little Children"
Djimon Hounsou - "Blood Diamond"
Eddie Murphy - "Dreamgirls"

Supporting Actress
Adriana Barraza - "Babel"
Cate Blanchett - "Notes on a Scandal"
Abigail Breslin - "Little Miss Sunshine"
Jennifer Hudson - "Dreamgirls"
Rinko Kikuchi - "Babel"

Ensemble Cast
"Babel" - (Paramount Vantage) Adriana Barraza, Cate Blanchett, Gael García Bernal, Rinko Kikuchi, Brad Pitt, Kôji Yakusho
"Bobby" - (The Weinstein Company) Harry Belafonte, Joy Bryant, Nick Cannon, Emilio Estevez, Laurence Fishburne, Brian Geraghty, Heather Graham, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Hunt, Joshua Jackson, David Krumholtz, Ashton Kutcher, Shia LaBoeuf, Lindsay Lohan, William H. Macy, Svetlana Metkina, Demi Moore, Freddy Rodriguez, Martin Sheen, Christian Slater, Sharon Stone, Jacob Vargas, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Elijah Wood
"The Departed" - (Warner Bros. Pictures) Anthony Anderson, Alec Baldwin, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Vera Farmiga, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, Ray Winstone
"Dreamgirls" - (Paramount Pictures) Jamie Foxx, Danny Glover, Jennifer Hudson, Beyoncé Knowles, Eddie Murphy, Keith Robinson, Anika Noni Rose
"Little Miss Sunshine" - (Fox Searchlight Pictures) Alan Arkin, Abigail Breslin, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Greg Kinnear


TELEVISION

Actor in a Telefilm or Miniseries
Thomas Haden Church - "Broken Trail"
Robert Duvall - "Broken Trail"
Jeremy Irons - "Elizabeth I"
William H. Macy - "Nightmares & Dreamscapes"
Matthew Perry - "The Ron Clark Story"

Actress in a Telefilm or Miniseries
Annette Bening - "Mrs. Harris"
Shirley Jones - "Hidden Places"
Cloris Leachman - "Mrs. Harris"
Helen Mirren - "Elizabeth I"
Greta Scacchi - "Broken Trail"

Actress in a Drama Series
Patricia Arquette - "Medium"
Edie Falco - "The Sopranos"
Mariska Hargitay - "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"
Kyra Sedgwick - "The Closer"
Chandra Wilson - "Grey's Anatomy"

Actor in a Drama Series
James Gandolfini - "The Sopranos"
Michael C. Hall - "Dexter"
Hugh Laurie - "House"
James Spader - "Boston Legal"
Kiefer Sutherland - "24"

Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin - "30 Rock"
Steve Carell - "The Office"
Jason Lee - "My Name is Earl"
Jeremy Piven - "Entourage"
Tony Shalhoub - "Monk"

Actress in a Comedy Series
America Ferrera - "Ugly Betty"
Felicity Huffman - "Desperate Housewives"
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - "The New Adventures of Old Christine"
Megan Mullally - "Will & Grace"
Mary-Louise Parker - "Weeds"
Jaime Pressly - "My Name is Earl"

Drama Ensemble
"24" - (FOX) Jayne Atkinson, Jude Ciccolella, Roger Cross, Gregory Itzin, Louis Lombardi, James Morrison, Glenn Morshower, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Kim Raver, Jean Smart, Kiefer Sutherland
"Boston Legal" - (ABC) Rene Auberjonois, Rene Auberjonois, Craig Bierko, Craig Bierko, William Shatner, James Spader, Mark Valley
"Deadwood" - (HBO) Jim Beaver, Powers Boothe, Sean Bridgers, W. Earl Brown, Dayton Callie, Brian Cox, Kim Dickens, Brad Dourif, Anna Gunn, John Hawkes, Jeffrey Jones, Paula Malcomson, Gerald McRaney, Ian McShane, Timothy Olyphant, Molly Parker, Leon Rippy, William Sanderson, Brent Sexton, Bree Seanna Wall, Robin Weigert, Titus Welliver
"Grey's Anatomy" - (ABC) Justin Chambers, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Katherine Heigl, T.R. Knight, Sandra Oh, James Pickens, Jr., Ellen Pompeo, Sara Ramirez, Kate Walsh, Isaiah Washington, Chandra Wilson
"The Sopranos" - (HBO) Sharon Angela, Lorraine Bracco, Max Casella, Dominic Chianese, Edie Falco, James Gandolfini, Joseph R. Gannascoli, Dan Grimaldi, Robert Iler, Michael Imperioli, Steven R. Schirripa, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Tony Sirico, Aida Turturro, Steven Van Zandt, Frank Vincent

Comedy Ensemble
"Desperate Housewives" - (ABC) Andrea Bowen, Mehcad Brooks, Ricardo Antonio Chavira, Marcia Cross, James Denton, Teri Hatcher, Josh Henderson, Zane Huett, Felicity Huffman, Kathryn Joosten, Nashawn Kearse, Brent Kinsman, Shane Kinsman, Joy Lauren, Eva Longoria, Kyle MacLachlan, Laurie Metcalf, Shawn Pyfrom, Doug Savant, Dougray Scott, Nicollette Sheridan, Brenda Strong, Kiersten Warren, Alfre Woodard
"Entourage" - (HBO) Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, Adrian Grenier, Rex Lee, Debi Mazar, Jeremy Piven, Perrey Reeves
"The Office" - (NBC) Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Steve Carell, David Denman, Jenna Fischer, Kate Flannery, Melora Hardin, Mindy Kaling, Angela Kinsey, John Krasinski, Paul Lieberstein, B.J. Novak, Oscar Nunez, Phyllis Smith, Rainn Wilson
"Ugly Betty" - (ABC) Alan Dale, America Ferrera, Mark Indelicato, Ashley Jensen, Eric Mabius, Becki Newton, Ana Ortiz, Tony Plana, Kevin Sussman, Michael Urie, Vanessa Williams
"Weeds" - (SHOWTIME) Martin Donovan, Alexander Gould, Justin Kirk, Romany Malco, Kevin Nealon, Mary-Louise Parker, Hunter Parrish, Tonye Patano, Elizabeth Perkins

Life Achievement Award
Julie Andrews

[MacGuffin]

National Society picks 'Pan' as best picture
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Guillermo Del Toro's imaginative fable "Pan's Labyrinth" was voted best picture of 2006 by the National Society of Film Critics at the group's annual meeting at Sardi's Restaurant in New York City on Saturday.

The Spanish-language film, a Picturehouse release, prevailed in the voting over Christi Puiu's "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu," which came in second, and Clint Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima," which placed third.

Del Toro did not receive best director honors, however. That distinction went to Paul Greengrass, for helming the docudrama "United 93." Del Toro and "The Departed's" Martin Scorsese tied for second place. The society of 58 critics from around the country, who dedicated this year's awards to the memory of the late Robert Altman, named Forest Whitaker best actor for "The Last King of Scotland." But Whitaker eked out that victory only after an extra tie-breaking vote, which left Peter O'Toole in second place for "Venus," followed by Ryan Gosling for "Half Nelson."

Echoing many other critics' groups, the National Society decided that Helen Mirren was its choice as best actress for "The Queen." Laura Dern ranked second for "Inland Empire," followed by Judi Dench for "Notes on a Scandal."

Mark Wahlberg earned best supporting actor honors for his cop in "The Departed," with Jackie Earle Haley ("Little Children") and Alan Arkin ("Little Miss Sunshine") as the runners-up.

Meryl Streep was hailed as best supporting actress for her performances in both "A Prairie Home Companion" and "The Devil Wears Prada." Runners-up were Jennifer Hudson ("Dreamgirls") and Shareeka Epps ("Half Nelson").

Peter Morgan was voted best screenplay for his work on "The Queen." Runners-up were William Monahan for "The Departed" and Eric Roth for "The Good Shepherd."

For best cinematography, the voters singled out Emmanuel Lubezki for "Children of Men." Runners-up were Guillermo Navarro for "Pan's Labyrinth" and Zhao Xiaoding for "Curse of the Golden Flower."

David Guggenheim's "An Inconvenient Truth" was chosen best nonfiction film, with "Deliver Us from Evil" and "Shut Up & Sing" as the runners-up. David Lynch's "Inland Empire" earned a citation as best experimental film.

The group presented its Film Heritage Award to Jean-Pierre Melville's 1969 film "Army of Shadows," which was released for the first time in the United States last year.

It also cited the Museum of the Moving Image -- for presenting the first complete U.S. retrospective of French filmmaker Jacques Rivette.

David Sterritt was reelected chairman of the group for 2007.

[MacGuffin]

Directors nominate five
Guild announces top choices for feature directing award
Source: Variety

The Directors Guild has selected Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for "Babel," Bill Condon for "Dreamgirls," Martin Scorsese for "The Departed," Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris for "Litte Miss Sunshine" and Steven Frears for "The Queen" as nominees for its top feature directing award.

With the exception of Scorsese, all directors are first-time nominees. Frears did receive a nomination seven years ago for the telepic "Fail Safe."

DGA president Michael Apted made the announcement Tuesday morning at guild headquarters in Hollywood. The winner, to be decided by voting among the 13,000 DGA members, will be announced Feb. 3 in ceremonies at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

The winner of the DGA award will be a front-runner for the directing Oscar. The DGA winner and the Oscar winner have matched in 52 of the last 58 years, including last year when Ang Lee won both trophies for "Brokeback Mountain."

The nominees were chosen by DGA members from over 400 eligible films with a theatrical release in 2006.

And the nominees are...

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, "Babel" (Paramount)
Unit Production Manager: Ann Ruark
First Assistant Director: Sebastián Silva

Bill Condon, "Dreamgirls" (Paramount Vantage)
Unit Production Manager: Patricia Whitcher
First Assistant Director: Richard Graves
Second Assistant Director: Eric Sherman
Second Second Assistant Director: Renee Hill-Sweet

Martin Scorsese, "The Departed" (Warner Bros.)
Unit Production Manager: Carol Cuddy
First Assistant Director: Joseph Reidy
Second Assistant Director: Amy Lauritsen
Second Second Assistant Director: John Silvestri

Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris, "Little Miss Sunshine" (Fox Searchlight)
Unit Production Manager: Michael Beugg
First Assistant Director: Thomas Patrick Smith
Second Assistant Director: Gregory Smith
Second Second Assistant Director: Kate Greenberg

Steven Frears, "The Queen" (Miramax)
Production Manager: Sue Claverly
First Assistant Director: Stuart Renfrew
Second Assistant Director: Rickay Graysmark
Third Assistant Director: Lucy Egerton

[MacGuffin]

CHILDREN OF MEN, ILLUSIONIST, GOOD SHEPHERD, APOCALYPTO and BLACK DAHLIA Earn Outstanding Feature Noms From Cinematography Society

PRNewswire -- Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC, (CHILDREN OF MEN), Dick Pope, BSC (THE ILLUSIONIST), Robert Richardson, ASC (THE GOOD SHEPHERD), Dean Semler, ASC, ACS (APOCALYPTO), and Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC (THE BLACK DAHLIA) are vying for top honors in the feature film category at the 21st Annual American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement Awards competition. The winner will be announced during the awards gala on February 18 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel.

"There is no textbook formula for artful cinematography," says Russ Alsobrook, ASC who chairs the organization's Awards Committee. "It takes talent and skill to master a complex craft, as well as a collaborative spirit. These five, amazingly talented individuals were selected by their peers who believe they have set the standard for artful visual story-telling in a sharply competitive field from 2006."

This is the eighth ASC nomination for Richardson, the third for Zsigmond, the second for Lubezki and Semler, and the first for Pope. They were nominated for movies that occur in different places and eras, with themes varying from pure fantasy to stark reality.

Okada also points out that all five nominees trace their origins to different countries. Semler was born and launched his career in Australia, Zsigmond in Hungary, Lubezki in Mexico, Richardson in the United States, and Pope in England where he still resides.

[MacGuffin]

WGA names its nominees
Writers announce picks for original, adapted screenplay
Source: Variety

Opting solely for first-time nominees, the Writers Guild of America has tapped the screenplays for "Babel," "Little Miss Sunshine," "The Queen," "Stranger Than Fiction" and "United 93" for its original screenplay award and "Borat," "The Departed," "The Devil Wears Prada," "Little Children" and "Thank You for Smoking" for the adapted award.

Winners will be announced Feb. 11 in simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York. The WGA nominations, announced Thursday morning, were based on voting by the guild's 13,000 members from films released in 2006 and produced under WGA jurisdiction 147 eligible in original screenplay and 105 in adapted.

The WGA voters passed on a several well-known contenders including Eric Roth for "The Good Shepherd" in the original cateogy and Bill Condon for "Dreamgirls" and Paul Haggis for "Flags of Our Fathers" in the adapted category. Other notable omissions included "World Trade Center" in the original category while omissions in the adapted category included "Children of Men," "Letters from Iwo Jima" and "Notes on a Scandal."

Todd Field, who was nommed with Tom Perrotta for "Little Children," is the only WGA nominee who's also received Oscar nominations previously. He received two Academy nods for co-writing and producing 2001's "In the Bedroom," which wasn't eligible for WGA consideration.

Field told Daily Variety that writing the script had been relatively easy compared with other screenplays. "Most of the time it's like Sysiphus pushing the rock up the mountain but New Line was always completely behind what we did," he added.

Aline Brosh McKenna, tapped for penning "The Devil Wears Prada," also said the comedy's path to the screen was unexpectedly hassle-free. "We all had the same movie in mind and it was a huge help to have such amazing actors in it," she added.

The noms leaned mostly toward smaller and mid-budget films with three pics - "The Devil Wears Prada," "Borat" and "The Departed" - having grossed over $100 millionn domestically. Fox Searchlight's Sundance acquisition "Thank You for Smoking" resonated with WGA voters even though it was released last March.

Jason Reitman, who also directed, said "Smoking" probably resonated with the WGA members due to its message of independence. "I think it connected because it's a politically incorrect movie that tells people to think for themselves," said Reitman, who wrote the script seven years ago. "Most films that say they're open-minded really have an agenda."

The announcement continues the awards season momentum for "Babel," "The Departed," "Little Miss Sunshine" and "The Queen." The quartet, along with "Dreamgirls," all scored nominations from the DGA and Producers Guild; "Babel," "The Departed" and "Little Miss Sunshine" also took SAG nods for best ensemble.

WGA winners have matched the Oscar winner in the original category seven times in the past 12 years, including last year when Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco won for "Crash."

The guild's winner in the adapted category has doubled as the Oscar winner eight times in the past 12 years, including last year when Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana won for "Brokeback Mountain."

Fox and Fox Searchlight emerged as the big winners in the WGA noms with two nods each. The screenplay for Fox's "Borat" qualified in the adapted category since it was based on a character created by Sacha Baron Cohen, who's credited along with Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham and Dan Mazer for the screenplay and story.

Writer-directors took three noms - Reitman for "Thank You for Smoking," Paul Greengrass for Universal's "United 93" and Todd Field for New Line's "Little Children," which he co-wrote with Tom Perrotta.

In the adapted category, three of the nominations were based on novels - Lauren Weisberger's "The Devil Wears Prada," Perrotta's "Little Children" and Christopher Buckley's "Thank You for Smoking."

William Monahan, who received a nod for adapting Hong Kong actioner "Infernal Affiars" into "The Departed," eschewed an interview and issued a simple statement: "The nomination is an honor. Many thanks to WGA members."

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

"Babel"
Guillermo Arriaga, Paramount Vantage
"Little Miss Sunshine
Michael Arndt, Fox Searchlight Pictures
"The Queen"
Peter Morgan, Miramax Films
"Stranger Than Fiction"
Zach Helm, Sony Pictures Entertainment
"United 93"
Paul Greengrass, Universal Pictures

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

"Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,"
Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Peter Baynham & Dan Mazer, Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Peter Baynham & Anthony Hines & Todd Phillips, Based on a Character Created by Sacha Baron Cohen, Twentieth Century Fox
"The Departed"
William Monahan, Based on the Motion Picture Internal Affairs, Written by Alan Mak and Felix Chong, Warner Bros. Pictures
"The Devil Wears Prada"
Aline Brosh McKenna, Based on the Novel by Lauren Weisberger, Twentieth Century Fox
"Little Children"
Todd Field & Tom Perrotta, Based on the Novel by Tom Perrotta, New Line Cinema
"Thank You for Smoking"
Jason Reitman, Based on the Novel by Christopher Buckley, Fox Searchlight Pictures

[MacGuffin]

10 make cut for ACE noms

Members of the American Cinema Editors have cut together an assembly of 10 nominees in two film categories for next month's 2007 Eddie Awards recognizing outstanding editing.

Making the dramatic feature film cut are Stephen Mirrione and Douglas Crise for "Babel," Stuart Baird for "Casino Royale," Thelma Schoonmaker for "The Departed," Lucia Zucchetti for "The Queen" and the triumvirate of Clare Douglas, Christopher Rouse and Richard Pearson for "United 93."

In the comedy feature heat, the nominees are Mark Livolsi for "The Devil Wears Prada," Virginia Katz for "Dreamgirls," Pamela Martin for "Little Miss Sunshine," Craig Wood and Stephen Rivkin for "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," and Dana Glauberman for "Thank You for Smoking."

In the documentary competition, the nominees are Jay Cassidy and Dan Swietlik for "An Inconvenient Truth," Patrick McMahon and Carrie Goldman for "Baghdad ER" and Samuel D. Pollard for Part 1 of Spike Lee's "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts."

The nominees for miniseries or motion picture for noncommercial television are Beverley Mills for HBO's "Elizabeth I, Part 1," Curtiss Clayton and Lee Percy for HBO's "Mrs. Harris," and Trevor Waite for A&E's "Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act, Part 1."

Best-edited miniseries or motion picture for commercial television earned nominations for Sue Blainey, Sarah Boyd and Stephen Semel for ABC's "Lost: Live Together, Die Alone," Geoffrey Rowland, Eric Sears, Bryan Horne, David Handman and Mitchell Danton for ABC's "The Path to 9/11, Part Two," and Heather Persons for TNT's "The Ron Clark Story."

In the half-hour series for television race, the contenders are Jon Corn for HBO's "Entourage: Sorry Ari," Lance Luckey for NBC's "My Name Is Earl: Number One," and Dean Holland and David Rogers for NBC's "The Office: Casino Nights."

The one-hour series nominees for commercial television are Leon Ortiz-Gil for Fox's "24: 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM," Conrad Gonzalez, Keith Henderson and Steve Michael for NBC's "Friday Night Lights: Pilot," and Edward Ornelas for ABC's "Grey's Anatomy: It's the End of the World."

All eight film, television and documentary category winners will be disclosed during the editors' 57th annual awards ceremony Feb. 18 in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton.

[MacGuffin]

WGA nominates documentaries
Winner announced Feb. 11 at the WGA Awards

The Writers Guild of America has selected "Deliver Us From Evil," "The Heart of the Game," "Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos," "Who Killed the Electric Car?" and "Why We Fight" as finalists for its documentary award.

"Deliver Us From Evil," which centers on a former priest and convicted pedophile, is the only entry on the short list of 15 docus eligible for an Oscar.

The WGA, which made its announcement Friday, said the nominees were chosen from 35 submissions. The credited writers of these docs are required to join the WGA West Nonfiction Writers Caucus or WGA East Nonfiction Writers Committee in order to be considered, but the scripts do not have to be written under WGA jurisdiction.

Winner will be announced Feb. 11 at the WGA Awards ceremonies at the Century Plaza in Los Angeles and the Broadway Millennium in New York.

Nominated writers are Amy Berg for Lionsgate's "Deliver Us From Evil"; Ward Serrill for Miramax's "Heart of the Game"; Mark Monroe for Miramax's "Once in a Lifetime," based on a story by Monroe and John Dower; Chris Paine for Sony Classics' "Who Killed the Electric Car?"; and Eugene Jarecki for Sony Classics' "Why We Fight."

Award was established two years ago. Morgan Spurlock's "Super Size Me" won in 2005, and Alex Gibney took the trophy last year for "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room."

Guild said since the creation of the award, the number of U.S. documentaries containing a writing credit has jumped more than 50%. It also said the 35 films submitted for consideration repped a 40% increase from the previous year.

[MacGuffin]

"Sunshine" a surprise winner at producers awards

Comedy "Little Miss Sunshine" was the surprise winner at an influential awards ceremony in Hollywood on Saturday, making the low-budget film a formidable contender heading into the Oscar race.

The movie was named best picture by the Producers Guild of America, an association of film and television producers whose choices are often echoed at the U.S. film industry's top honors, the Academy Awards.

The other contenders for the guild's feature honors were cultural drama "Babel," crime thriller "The Departed," musical "Dreamgirls" and "The Queen," an inside look at the British royals.

Awards and nominations from industry associations like the Producers Guild often help narrow the choices for Oscars. Many of the group's members belong to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars.

"Babel," "The Departed" and "Dreamgirls" are expected to dominate when the Academy Award nominations are unveiled early on Tuesday in Beverly Hills, though "Little Miss Sunshine's PGA win is likely to raise its profile among Academy voters.

"Babel" and "Dreamgirls" took the top awards at the closely watched Golden Globes earlier this week.

"Little Miss Sunshine," which was made outside of Hollywood's studio system for a mere $8 million, was a commercial and critical hit, earning about $60 million in the United States so far. Comedies, however, do not historically score well with Oscar voters.

The film follows a family on a road trip to a young girls' beauty pageant in California and its ensemble cast includes Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell and Toni Collette. It was released by Fox Searchlight, a unit of News Corp.

The Producers Guild of America has predicted the eventual best-picture Oscar winner 11 times in its 17 years of voting, but it was out of step in the last two years. In 2006, the guild chose "Brokeback Mountain," while the Academy went with "Crash." In 2005, PGA choice "The Aviator" lost out to "Million Dollar Baby" on Oscar night.

Oscar winners will be unveiled February 25 during the 79th annual Academy Awards.

In other awards given out by the Producers Guild, "Cars" was named the year's best animated movie and HBO's "Elizabeth I" was named best made for television film. ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" was named best TV drama series and NBC's "The Office" best TV comedy series. The non-fiction TV award went to CBS' "60 Minutes" and the award for best variety TV show went to HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher."