Hollywood producers pick best film nominees

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-01-04 10:12

The Producers Guild of America picked a wide range of nominees on Wednesday for 2006's best film, including musical "Dreamgirls" and crime thriller "The Departed," giving all the movies a boost in Hollywood's Oscar race.

Comedy "Little Miss Sunshine," cultural drama "Babel" and "The Queen," about Britain's royal family, were the other best movie nominees.

The list features a diverse group of films in both genre and budget size, which contrasts to last year when many low-budget dramas were considered among the year's top films.

"Dreamgirls," for instance, is a flashy Hollywood musical with big-name stars such as actor Jamie Foxx and singer Beyonce Knowles. By contrast, "Little Miss Sunshine," was made outside Hollywood's studio system for a around $8 million.

"I love the variety -- the mixture of dramas, a musical and a comedy, and the fact that you have big budgets and small budgets," said Producers Guild Executive Director Vance Van Petten.

The association of film and television producers is among the industry's top organizations, and Hollywood watchers follow its nominees closely when tracking movies competing for Oscars, the film industry's top honors.

The Guild also nominated the makers of five films for best animated movie: "Cars," "Happy Feet," "Ice Age: The Meltdown," "Monster House" and "Flushed Away."

For best U.S. TV drama, the organization picked the producers of hospital programs "Grey's Anatomy" and "House," crime shows "24" and "The Sopranos," as well as "Lost."

The nominees for top TV comedy produced "Arrested Development," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "The Office," "My Name is Earl" and "Weeds."

Among other TV awards it will give out are best "non-fiction" -- reality or news -- program. Competitors for that award include the producers of talent contests "American Idol" and "Project Runway," "The Amazing Race 9," "Dancing with the Stars," and venerable news program, "60 Minutes."

Nominees for best "long-form" TV program include "Mrs. Harris," "High School Musical," "Elizabeth I," "Bleak House" and "Flight 93."

The Producers Guild names its winners in a ceremony in Los Angeles on January 20. The Oscars are handed out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in February.