As PriceWaterhouseCoopers starts to tabulate filed Oscar ballots and Nominations Day approaches January 16, the best way to get an accurate lay of the land–especially with one of the more wide-open fields in years–is to look at all the guild nominations.
The big guilds are more populist versions of the Academy branches they reflect–the Screen Actors, Directors, Producers and Writers Guilds all reveal strength and weakness among the larger Academy voting blocks. Who landed on all lists? Only David O. Russell’s “American Hustle” nabbed the coveted Ensemble nomination at SAG as well as PGA, DGA and WGA nominations. “Captain Phillips” also nabbed nominations from all the Guilds. Had “12 Years a Slave” been eligible for a WGA nomination it likely would have swept the Guilds as well. Safe to say those are the top three Oscar contenders for Best Picture.
Eligible but left off the WGA were “Gravity,” “The Butler,” “Saving Mr. Banks” and “Enough Said.” “Gravity,” which landed SAG, PGA, DGA and 11 BAFTA nominations, will be boosted by all the crafts and tech categories. (For the Coens’ “Inside Llewyn Davis” not to be nominated for acting, directing or producing was one thing, but to be snubbed by the WGA was the coup de grace.) “August: Osage County” scored SAG ensemble and WGA nods, but did not make the DGA or the PGA’s list of ten. Clearly actors like “The Butler,” granting it an Ensemble nod, more than any other Guild.
Showing weakness with actors are SAG also-rans “Her” (which did get PGA and WGA) and “The Wolf of Wall Street” (PGA and WGA), which was the last to screen. Both are Best Picture Oscar contenders. Omitted from the DGA’s top five were Oscar Best Picture contenders “Saving Mr. Banks,” “Dallas Buyer’s Club,” “Blue Jasmine,” and “Nebraska.” That puts them in the second tier of Best Picture contenders. (We don’t know if there will be as few as seven or as many as 10.)
The Academy, which despite various new initiates, from the music branch’s Prince and Beyonce to actor James Franco (who Instagrammed his Oscar ballot), is still dominated by white men, many of them bonafide “Steakeaters” who tend to favor the likes of “The Wolf of Wall Street” or “Captain Phillips” over relationship movies such as “Before Midnight,” “Blue Jasmine,” “Blue is the Warmest Color” or “Enough Said.” (Still to vote for the final five is Mark Johnson’s foreign branch committee, who will catch up on the shortlist of nine they missed at back-to-back screenings this weekend.)
But the Academy also splits into more mainstream branches (executives, producers, members-at-large, and publicists), who are more likely to go for “American Hustle,” “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Saving Mr. Banks” or “Gravity,” and the crafts (art directors, costume designers, cinematographers, editors, visual effects, sound mixers etc.), likeliest to favor the artistic merits of “12 Years a Slave,” “Nebraska” or “Her.”
Look at the recent Cinematographers’ votes (so far the only Guild to ignore “American Hustle,” along with “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Saving Mr. Banks,” “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Her ” and “Blue Jasmine”) or the Art Directors Guild, which just nominated Best Picture contenders “American Hustle,” “Gravity,” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” as well as tech competitor “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (full list of nominations are below) but breaks their 15 nominees into three categories (period, contemporary and fantasy), so any omissions are telling indeed. Basically, low-budget entries “Nebraska” and “Dallas Buyers Club” were left out. (Winners will be named on February 8.)
Check the Costume nominees (full list also below), which also breaks their categories down into period, contemporary and fantasy. They favored period Best Picture contenders “12 Years a Slave,” “American Hustle,” “Dallas Buyers Club” and “Saving Mr. Banks.” On the contemporary side are “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” “Nebraska,” “Philomena,” “Her,” and “Blue Jasmine,” while the fantasy category had three nominees, including Trish Summerville’s eye-popping designs for “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.”
But they left off “Captain Phillips,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” and “Gravity,” where arguably costumes do not play a key role. (Winners will be presented on February 22.)
OK. I’d better go update my Oscar predictions.
NOMINEES FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR A FEATURE FILM IN 2013:
Period Film
AMERICAN HUSTLE – Production Designer: Judy Becker
THE GREAT GATSBY – Production Designer: Catherine Martin
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS – Production Designer: Jess Gonchor
SAVING MR. BANKS – Production Designer: Michael Corenblith
12 YEARS A SLAVE – Production Designer: Adam Stockhausen
Fantasy Film
ELYSIUM – Production Designer: Philip Ivey
GRAVITY – Production Designer: Andy Nicholson
THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG – Production Designer: Dan Hennah
OBLIVION – Production Designer: Darren Gilford
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS – Production Designer: Scott Chambliss
Contemporary Film
AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY – Production Designer: David Gropman
BLUE JASMINE – Production Designer: Santo Loquasto
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS – Production Designer: Paul Kirby
HER – Production Designer: K.K. Barrett
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET – Production Designer: Bob Shaw
NOMINEES FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRODUCTION DESIGN IN TELEVISION FOR 2013:
One-Hour Single Camera Television Series
BOARDWALK EMPIRE
Production Designer: Bill Groom
Episode: Old Ship of Zion
BREAKING BAD
Production Designer: Mark Freeborn
Episode: Felina
DOWNTON ABBEY
Production Designer: Donal Woods
Episode: 7
GAME OF THRONES
Production Designer: Gemma Jackson
Episode: Valar Dohaeris
MAD MEN
Production Designer: Dan Bishop
Episode: The Better Half
Television Movie or Mini-Series
AMERICAN HORROR STORY: COVEN
Production Designer: Mark Worthington
Episode: Bitchcraft
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA
Production Designer: Howard Cummings
BONNIE & CLYDE
Production Designer: Derek R. Hill
Episode: Night 1 & Night 2
MOB CITY
Production Designer: Gregory Melton
Episode: A Guy Walks Into A Bar, Reason To Kill A Man
PHIL SPECTOR
Production Designer: Patrizia von Brandenstein
Half Hour Single-Camera Television Series
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
Production Designer: Dan Butts
Episode: The B. Team
CALIFORNICATION
Production Designer: Ray Yamagata
Episode: The Unforgiven
MODERN FAMILY
Production Designer: Richard Berg
Episode: The Wow Factor
PARKS AND RECREATION
Production Designer: Ian Phillips
Episode: London
VEEP
Production Designer: Jim Gloster
Episode: Helsinki
Short Format, Live Action Series
10,000 DAYS
Production Designer: Mimi Gramatky
Episode: Salvation or Destruction
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA:
BLOOD AND CHROME
Production Designer: Brian Kane
Episode: Pilot
BLUE
Production Designer: Rachel Myers
Episode: The Truth Hurts
DAYBREAK
Production Designer: Stuart Blatt
Episode: 5
H+: THE DIGITAL SERIES
Production Designer: Andres Cubillan
Episode: Visions Of Whats To Come
Multi-Camera, Variety, or Unscripted Series
THE BIG BANG THEORY
Production Designer: John Shaffner
Episode: The Bakersfield Expedition
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
Production Designer: Steve Olson
Episode: The Light House
PORTLANDIA
Production Designer: Tyler Robinson
Episode: Missionaries
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
Production Designers:
Akira Yoshimura
Eugene Lee
Keith Ian Raywood
N. Joseph Detullio
Episode: Justin Timberlake/Justin Timberlake
THE VOICE
Production Designers:
Anton Goss
James Pearse Connelly
Episode: Live Playoffs, Part 1
Awards, Music, or Game Shows
THE AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS 2013
Production Designer: Joe Stewart
2013 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS
Production Designer: Brian Stonestreet
THE 65th PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS
Production Designer: Brian Stonestreet
THE 67th ANNUAL TONY AWARDS
Production Designer: Steve Bass
SUPERBOWL XLVII HALFTIME SHOW
STARRING BEYONCE
Production Designer: Bruce Rodgers
Commercial, PSA, Promo, and Music Video
ARCADE FIRE
Production Designer: Anastasia Masaro
Episode: Reflektor
CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS
Production Designer: Todd Cherniawsky
Episode: Epic Night Out
DIEHARD
Production Designer: Tom Wilkins
Episode: The Getaway
INFINITI
Production Designer: Christopher Glass
Episode: Factory of Life
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE FT. JAY Z
Production Designer: Richard Bridgland
Episode: Suit & Tie
COSTUME NOMINEES
EXCELLENCE IN CONTEMPORARY FILM
“Blue Jasmine,” Suzy Benzinger
“Her,” Casey Storm
“Nebraska,” Wendy Chuck
“Philomena,” Consolata Boyle
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” Sarah Edwards
EXCELLENCE IN PERIOD FILM
“12 Years a Slave,” Patricia Norris
“American Hustle,” Michael Wilkinson
“Dallas Buyers Club,” Kurt & Bart
“The Great Gatsby,” Catherine Martin
“Saving Mr. Banks,” Daniel Orlandi
EXCELLENCE IN FANTASY FILM
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor, Bob Buck
“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” Trish Summerville
“Oz the Great and Powerful,” Gary Jones, Michael Kutsche
OUTSTANDING CONTEMPORARY TELEVISION SERIES
“Breaking Bad,” Jennifer Bryan
“House of Cards,” Tom Broecker
“Nashville,” Susie DeSanto
“Scandal,” Lyn Paolo
“Saturday Night Live,” Tom Broecker, Eric Justian
OUTSTANDING PERIOD/FANTASY TELEVISION SERIES
“Boardwalk Empire,” John Dunn, Lisa Padovani
“The Borgias,” Gabriella Pescucci
“Downton Abbey,” Caroline McCall
“Game of Thrones,” Michele Clapton
“Mad Men,” Janie Bryant
OUTSTANDING MADE FOR TELEVISION MOVIE OR MINI SERIES
“American Horror Story: Coven,” Lou Eyrich
“Behind the Candelabra,” Ellen Mirojnick
“Bonnie & Clyde,” Marilyn Vance
“House of Versace,” Claire Nadon
“Phil Spector,” Debra McGuire
EXCELLENCE IN COMMERCIAL COSTUME DESIGN
Call of Duty: “Ghosts Masked Warriors,” Nancy Steiner
Dos Equis: “Most Interesting Man in the World Feeds a Bear,” Julie Vogel
Fiat “British Invasion,” Donna Zakowska
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