Producers Guild Awards – Red Carpet Report

Awards Daily was there on the red carpet speaking to the nominees for the Producers Guild Awards. Among the nominees I spoke to were Arrival Producers Dan Levine and Aaron Ryder, La La Land Producers Jordan Horowitz and Fred Berger. Horowitz and Berger would go home to win the top prize.

Read what the Producers had to say:

• Arrival Producers – Aaron Ryder and Dan Levine

On Joe Walker winning the ACE Eddie Award For Arrival:

Dan Levine : “We are so happy. He is brilliant and so smart. He and Denis worked so closely together, and what they showed us when it was done, it was so brilliant. We couldn’t be more happier.”

Aaron Ryder: “Joe Walker is a great editor and a great storyteller. He’s also a great kisser.”

On getting involved:

Dan Levine: We found the short story and brought it to Denis. Everyone wanted to buy it, and we knew who was the best buyer for it.

On Arrival’s story

Dan Levine: “Every alien movie skips over the most interesting part. They land and there’s a battle. We wanted to know what would happen if they really landed. That was Denis approach. We wanted to slow down that part where if they landed, how would we communicate with them? How would we know what they wanted?”

On being at the PGA’s

Aaron Ryder : “We’re among some fantastic people. This film is something we’re proud of and we’re proud of the company. You have films like Hell or High Water that stood the test of time, so it’s great being here and recognizing all this great talent.”

• Clark Spencer – Zootopia – Winner for Best Animated Feature

On being at the Producer Guilds:

“It’s an amazing experience,” Spencer said about being among his peers at the awards.

On Zootopia and its timeless message:

“When the idea was first pitched, I knew I wanted to be in right away. We knew the message would be timeless. We had no idea just how much the world would shift in a way that makes it even more important.” Spencer added. “Every time I hear something else out there I think about Zootopia and the idea that we can’t let fear divide us. We have to figure out how to be unified. I’m so proud of the movie.”

On his favorite homage in the film:

“I love the Godfather one. I love the sloth scene too. I thought it would be so universal. That scene plays around the world. Even if they don’t go to that office, they go to the post office, they go to the passport office and everybody understands bureaucracy.”

• Fences producer Todd Black

On Being at the Producers Guild Awards:

“It’s incredibly exciting and fun. Particularly with what’s happening in our country right now it’s important. It’s great.”

On how he got involved:

“Denzel and I have worked together a lot. Scott Rudin and Denzel took Fences to Broadway. After he took it to Broadway, he decided he wanted to make it as a film. Denzel and I have made everything together, and he asked if I wanted to produce it with him and Scott. I said, “Yes.” How could you turn down this beautiful Pulitzer Prize winning, Tony Award winning play. So we made it into a movie.”

On finding a female cinematographer for the film:

My wife Ruth and I had seen her films and thought we wanted to work with her. We told Denzel about her. We met her and we hired her.

• Osnat Shurer – Moana – Producer

On her first nomination at the Producers Guild:

“There are so many things going on that I don’t even want to think about so it’s just wonderful. I’m so happy. It’s my first nomination and being here with all these people, it’s a great honor.”

On how producing  animation differs from other fields:

“It takes so much longer. It’s the most collaborative art form I know. We would have over 100 people working on it at one time, we’d draw it out and could change things pretty much right up to the end. I just love it there are so many talented people. ”

On What she loved about the story of Moana:

“We were able to create a strong female protagonist who doesn’t need anything else beside herself. The fact it was set on a Pacific Island with a culture that was so rich and beautiful, working with the people on the island, that was exciting.” Shurer added, “It also has a message about nature and when nature is out of balance so inadvertently it became very timely.”

On her First Oscar nomination:

“I was in the middle of an interview. I was sitting down with a very serious reporter who was talking to me and I kept looking at my publicist. As she finished the interview, my publicist put two thumbs up and smiled. This reporter and I ended up hugging and high-fiving. It was great.”

• Hell or High Water – Carla Hacken, Julie Yorn

On Hell or High Water’s Appeal:

Carla Hacken: “I think it came out a really good time and there were movies that were out that weren’t as satisfying. Also with what happened in Fall it’s been an interesting time in this country. The love for the movie has carried through. It’s an achievement for a movie at this time of year to do that.”

Julie Yorn: “Our distributors did a great job in keeping the film in the conversation. Also the critics and reviews were stellar and that goes all the way back to the Cannes Film Festival.”

How they got involved:

Julie Yorn: “Carla read the script, and I had read it a while ago and tried getting someone else to buy it, but that didn’t pan out. It was a great mission of mine to get it made, I loved it and I knew the talent loved it.”

Carla Hacken: “I knew Julie would be a great match for the director.”

On being a female producer and there being so few producers:

Carla Hacken: “I love when we speak to female journalists who say that. It was a hard road.”

Julie Yorn: “It was a long road and we had actor challenges. We were up against Star Trek, but Chris Pine was determined to get on board. We had tremendous talent around it and it was a great script.”

• La La Land Producers – Jordan Horowitz and Fred Berger

On Being at the PGA’s

Jordan Horowitz: “It was a surreal experience. The thing that struck me was we get to celebrate the movie. It was a tight-knit family and it was really exciting.”

When they heard Damien talk about the opening scene:

Fred Berger: “What’s so fun about this movie is we never wondered if we could pull off the scene. We said to ourselves, let’s pull off the most audacious fantasy of this original musical. We asked, “How do we get people to fall in love with LA?” So we started with all the cliches that people wonder about the city? How do you deal with the traffic? How do you deal with all the insular people who want to be famous? How do you deal with no seasons? So we turned it into one big dance number. That was in it before there was even a script. It was a surreal and the most joyous moments of our career.”

On their favorite musicals:

Jordan Horowitz: “I have to say Singing in The Rain and Funny Face. I love it.”

Fred Berger: “Singing In The Rain.”

On the Mutual love from Barry Jenkins as Barry Jenkins comes over and gives them a hug.

Fred Berger: “It’s so great being in a room with people you admire and getting to celebrate each other’s accomplishments. These are all friends walking by.”

On Their First Memory of LA:

Fred Berger: “I imagined a West Coast New York. I was surprised at how flat it was. That’s what I love about it. Once you carve your own version of LA and you get used to it, you love it.” He added, “That was our whole conversation. It was all about taking everyone’s first impression of LA and making it into something beautiful.”

Jordan Horowitz: “My first memory was the beach, and seeing a sunset on the beach.”
Highlights from last night’s red carpet and Producer’s Guild Ceremony: