‘Dick Johnson Is Dead,’ ‘Time,’ ‘The Truffle Hunters’ Nominated for Producers Guild Documentary Awards

“David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet,” “My Octopus Teacher,” “Softie” and “A Thousand Cuts” also nominated

Brian Welk

The Producers Guild of America has revealed its seven nominees for documentary films that will be up for the 32nd PGA Awards, including some of the most celebrated films this awards season so far, “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” “Time” and “The Truffle Hunters.”

The seven nominees, in alphabetical order, are “David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet,” “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” “My Octopus Teacher,” “Softie,” “A Thousand Cuts,” “Time” and “The Truffle Hunters.” These films are still in the process of being vetted for individual producer eligibility. And three of the nominees this year, “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” “A Life on Our Planet” and “My Octopus Teacher,” come from Netflix.

Last year, the PGA Award for Outstanding Producer of a Documentary Motion Picture went to Todd Douglas Miller and Thomas Petersen for “Apollo 11” in a nominee field that also included “The Cave,” “For Sama,” “Honeyland” and the eventual Oscar winner “American Factory.” Previous films to win in this category have included “O.J.: Made in America,” “Amy” and “Searching for Sugar Man.”

The Producers Guild documentary award is one of the more idiosyncratic nonfiction awards. Only 15 times out of 57 nominees in the last decade have those films gone on to receive an Oscar nomination in the Best Documentary Feature race. Last year however, four of the seven movies nominated for the PGA prize were also nominated by the Academy. And though this year’s documentary field had a record number of submissions, some of the above films are the most critically acclaimed and honored films of 2020 so far.

PGA Award winners will be honored during a virtual ceremony on Wednesday, March 24. Additional information about this year’s show and its ancillary events will be announced soon.

Nominees for the Sports, Children’s and Short Form Television Program categories will be announced on February 26. The nominees for Theatrical Motion Pictures, Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures, Television Series/Specials, and Televised/Streamed Motion Pictures will be announced on Mar. 8.

The 2021 Producers Guild Awards event chairs are Chris Thomes, vice president, creative services for Disney Television Studios and Julius Tennon, president and co-founder of Juvee Productions. The 2021 Producers Guild of America Awards are produced by Anchor Street Collective for the Producers Guild of America. Branden Chapman is executive producer, Carleen Cappelletti is supervising producer, Emily Poenisch is talent executive and Jim Piccirillo is director.