The Shape of Water and The Handmaid's Tale won big at the 29th annual The Producers Guild of America (PGA) Awards, which took place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles on Saturday, Jan. 20.
The Shape of Water won PGA's Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures for producers J. Miles Dale and Guillermo del Toro. Dale expressed his gratitude to the members of The Producers Guild of America for their support and for recognizing the film, which he said is a tough movie to sell since the main characters are not your typical leads.
"When your romantic leads are a cleaning lady and a fish, it's a tough sell," he said.
del Toro, who also directed The Shape of Water, was not in attendance during the awarding ceremony since he had to fly to Mexico to be with this ailing father. He penned an acceptance speech instead which actor Richard Jenkins, who plays the role of a gay artist named Giles, read on stage.
"I would like to ask of you all to allow me then to dedicate a little moment and the honors of this night to both my father and my mother, to whom my infinite gratitude belongs, and in turn as a father to offer to my kids also. May they be free to pursue their dreams and fantasies and may they stand by my side when I fade away," reads del Toro's speech at the 2018 PGA Awards.
The Zanuck Award solidifies The Shape of Water's status as an Oscar Best Picture contender given that the category has remained a strong prognosticator for the 90th Academy Awards, which will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles on March 4. The Zanuck Award has predicted 19 Best Picture wins at the Annual Academy Awards in its 28-year history.
Meanwhile, The Handmaid's Tale also took home PGA's the Norman Felton award for television drama series. The first season of the Hulu series won the Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television in a drama series for producers John Weber, Bruce Miller, Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears, Warren Littlefield, Eric Tuchman, Ilene Chaiken, Elisabeth Moss, Sheila Hockin, Frank Siracusa, Leila Gerstein, Joseph Boccia, and Kira Snyder.
The PGA Awards mark the second win for del Toro. He also took home the Best Director Award at the recent Golden Globes for The Shape of Water. It was del Toro's first Golden Globes win.
