Judging Amy

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Producers Guild taps pix, series for honors


Variety - January 20, 2000

By DAVE MCNARY

HOLLYWOOD — The producers of "American Beauty," "Being John Malkovich," "The Cider House Rules," "The Hurricane" and "The Insider" made the short list for the Producers Guild of America Golden Laurel Award for the best films of 1999.

The awards ceremony will take place March 2 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Nominees for the movie honor, named after Darryl F. Zanuck, include Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks for "American Beauty"; Michael Stipe, Sandy Stern, Steve Golin and Vincent Landy for "Malkovich"; Richard N. Gladstein for "Cider House Rules"; Armyan Bernstein, John Ketcham and Norman Jewison for "Hurricane"; and Michael Mann and Jan Pieter Brugge for "Insider."

Executive producer nominees for the Norman Felton Producer of the Year kudos for episodic television include Barbara Hall, Connie Tavel, Joseph Stern and Amy Brenneman for "Judging Amy"; Aaron Sorkin, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Tony Krantz, Thomas Schlamme and Rob Scheidlinger for "Sports Night"; John Wells, Sorkin and Schlamme for "The West Wing"; David Chase and Brad Grey for "The Sopranos"; and Dick Wolf and Robert Palm for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

Norman Felton Producer of the Year award nominees for non-episodic TV include Lionel Chapman, Richard Gerdau, Abbe Raven and Charlie Maday for "The Century: America’s Time"; Stan Margulies, Antony Root, Delia Fine, Scott Siegler, Jon Cowan and Robert Rovner for "Dash & Lilly"; Marilyn Lewis, Irwin Meyer and Steven Hewitt for "The Passion of Ayn Rand"; Steven Haft and Nick Lombardo for "Pirates of Silicon Valley"; and Oprah Winfrey and Kate Forte for "Tuesdays With Morrie."

The org has 500 active members and 1,000 affiliated members.


Producers Guild trims Laurels

Variety - February 24, 2000

By Dave McNary

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - The Producers Guild of America, kicking off its campaign to tighten standards on producer credits, announced Wednesday that it has pulled two dozen names from previously announced television nominations for its Golden Laurel Awards next week.

The moves affect such industry heavyweights as manager Brad Grey for "The Sopranos," Imagine Entertainment chiefs Brian Grazer and Ron Howard for "Sports Night" and actress Amy Brenneman for "Judging Amy."

The PGA did not, however, exclude any producers for the five movies up for the Golden Laurel.

The move is PGA's first step toward its launch of the PGA credit determination process, under which an anonymous three-member arbitration panel was appointed to review each TV program and movie.

The guidelines, developed along the lines of the Writers Guild of America system, were first disclosed nearly a year ago and include a voluntary certification program under which the organization will allow producers to include the PGA certification mark -- a laurel with the PGA initials -- in producer credits that the PGA has reviewed.

PGA executive director Vance Van Petten said the moves reflect the group's desire to ensure that producer and executive producer credits are given only to the primary producers.

He stressed that the PGA's exclusions from the nominee lists for the March 2 awards, which can be appealed, will not change how the credits are listed on the shows.

The PGA's rules included limiting the number of producers in each category to three, with an established team counted as a single executive producer. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has taken a similar step, limiting to three the number of producers honored for each movie in the best picture category.

PGA president Thom Mount, whose credits include "Bull Durham" and "Tequila Sunrise," admitted that the exclusions -- disclosed to those affected late Tuesday -- had produced some unhappy reactions.

"All it means is that they can't walk up on stage and get the award," he said.

Those excluded for episodic TV, in which only executive producers are eligible for the award, include Brenneman and Connie Tavel for "Judging Amy"; Grey for "The Sopranos"; and Grazer, Howard and Tony Krantz for "Sports Night."


PGA finds in favor of "Amy" star

Variety - March 1, 2000

By Dave McNary

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - A Producers Guild of America appeals board has reinstated Golden Laurel nominations for actress Amy Brenneman and Connie Tavel on "Judging Amy," a week after excluding the pair as part of its campaign to tighten credit standards.

The decision will allow Brenneman and Tavel to join Barbara Hall and Joseph Stern on stage Thursday at the PGA Awards ceremonies in Los Angeles should their CBS hit win the honor for best television series.

The pair had appealed the exclusion, which was based on determinations of not having been "primarily responsible" as producers, along with a PGA policy to limit the number of producers per show to three with an established team counted as a single producer. In all, the PGA pulled 21 names from producer credits for the nominations.

Another unidentified producer appealed, but the PGA's exclusion was upheld.

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