LOS ANGELES (CNS) — If history is a reliable indicator, the new front-runner for the Academy Awards best picture is “CODA,” which earned the top prize at the 33rd annual Producers Guild of America Awards.

The coming of age comedy-drama won in the field for the PGA’s highest honor for theatrical motion pictures that also consisted of “Being the Ricardos,” “Belfast,” “Don’t Look Up,” “Dune,” “King Richard,” “Licorice Pizza,” “The Power of the Dog,” “tick, tick...BOOM!” and “West Side Story.”

What You Need To Know

  • Since the Academy expanded from five to 10 nominees in 2010, only three films have won the best picture Oscar without first winning the PGA Award

  • Saturday’s show included three special awards

  • The PGA Awards were presented at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Century City

  • “CODA” earned the top prize at the 33rd annual Producers Guild of America Awards

Since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expanded from five to 10 nominees in 2010, only three films have won the best picture Oscar without first winning the PGA Award.

The three exceptions occurred in 2016, when the PGA Award went to “The Big Short,” but the Oscar went to “Spotlight,” in 2017, when “La La Land” won the PGA honor while the Academy honored “Moonlight,” and in 2020, when the PGA Award went to “1917” but the Oscar went to “Parasite.”

According to the PGA, since the awards inception, the guild has predicted 22 of the 32 winners of the best picture Oscar. That includes last year’s winner of both prizes, “Nomadland.”

For animated films, the PGA’s winner was the Walt Disney Animation Studios’ musical fantasy comedy “Encanto.”

Saturday’s show also included three special awards:

  • “Insecure” creator and star Issa Rae received the 2022 Visionary Award, honoring producers from television, film or new media “who share inspiring, uplifting stories that add unique value to society and culture”
  • Rita Moreno received the 2022 Stanley Kramer Award for “a production, producer or other individuals whose achievement or contribution illuminates and raises public awareness of important social issues.” Moreno, 90, most recently appeared in and served as an executive producer on Steven Spielberg’s remake of "West Side Story"
  • Producer-writer-director Greg Berlanti, known for such series as “Dawson’s Creek” and “The Flight Attendant,” received the Norman Lear Achievement Award, which honors producers "who have made a remarkable impact on the art and craft of television"
  • Lucasfilm collaborators George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy, best known for the “Star Wars” franchise, received Milestone Awards for "unparalleled contributions to the film industry"

The PGA Awards were presented at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Century City.