Cuesta Wins Producers Guild Award for Showtime’s “Homeland”

Michael Cuesta has another award to add to his mantle…

The 49-year-old Latino film & television director picked up a Producers Guild Award (PGA Award) on Saturday night in the Television Drama category.

Michael Cuesta

Cuesta earned the award for producing Showtime’s Homeland, along with fellow producers Henry Bromell, Alexander Cary, Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, Chip Johannessen, Michael Klick and Meredith Stiehm.

It’s the director’s first PGA Award.  Cuesta, was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for directing Homeland’s pilot episode, had previously been nominated for a PGA Award in the Television Producer of the Year Award in Episodic category in 2008 for Showtime’s Dexter.

Meanwhile, Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn’s Searching for Sugar Man, about Mexican-American indie singer Rodriguez, earned the PGA Award in the Documentary category.

Rodriguez to Perform on the Festival Circuit

Call it the second coming of Sixto Rodríguez

The 70-year-old Mexican-American singer/songwriter, the man at the center of Malik Bendjelloul‘s Oscar-nominated documentary Searching for Sugar Man, has lined up festival dates lined up at Coachella, Glastonbury and Primavera in Spain that will follow tours of South Africa and Australia.

Rodriguez

The new dates are part of Rodriguez’s astonishing rediscovery after releasing two albums for Clarence Avant‘s Sussex label in the early 1970s that didn’t sell anywhere except in South Africa where his legend grew along with his record sales.

Bendjelloul’s documentary, which will be released on DVD on January 22, chronicles the myths and realities of Rodriguez’s story and his 1998 concerts in South Africa.

“It’s a different level that we’re at now,” Rodriguez said during a recent visit to Los Angeles to perform on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. “I can’t imagine it getting much busier. This is pretty busy. You gotta stay balanced and normalized, pace yourself. At this late date I have a new perspective on things because of the success of the music now.”

The demand for Rodriguez has picked up dramatically in the last year for Rodriguez, who had done a few club performances per year since 2008 when Light in the Attic re-released his two albums, Cold Facts and Coming From Reality. Rodriguez appeared at film festivals like Sundance and SXSW in early 2012 and performed solo at most of his shows. He has been using various bands to back him since moving up to larger clubs and small theaters in the fall.

“We did 13 dates in the UK, all 3,000-seaters, and when we go back it will be Royal Albert Hall,” Rodriguez says.

60 Minutes, which did a piece on Rodriguez prior to the film opening, has contacted him again about possibly chronicling his tour of South Africa in February.

Besides the Oscar nomination, Searching for Sugar Man is up for BAFTA, Producers Guild and WGA awards. It won the International Documentary Association‘s best feature and best music awards and the National Board of Review named it the best documentary of the season.

“Searching for Sugar Man” Wins Int’l.Documentary Assoc. Honors

Rodriguez’s Searching For Sugar Man has picked up its latest awards…

The documentary, written and directed by Malik Benjelloul, was named best feature over the weekend at the International Documentary Association Awards.

Searching for Sugar Man

Searching for Sugar Man, which tells the story of Mexican-American singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriguez, also picked up the award for Best Music, for Rodriguez’s songs featured in the film and Benjelloul’s score.

The film was named best documentary earlier this week by the National Board of Review. And, the Producers Guild of America has nominated the film for the same honor, as well as the International Press Academy.

Searching for Sugar Man has made the list of 15 documentary feature finalists in the hunt for that coveted Oscar nomination.

 

“Searching for Sugar Man” Honored by the National Board of Review

Searching for Sugar Man is continuing to gain momentum in its quest to land an Oscar nomination…

Rodriguez

The moving film about Mexican American folk singer Rodriguez, who has been dubbed the greatest ’70s U.S. rock icon who never was, has been named the Best Documentary by the National Board of Review.

In recent weeks, Searching for Sugar Man has picked up Best Documentary nods from the International Press Academy, the Producers Guild of America and the International Documentary Association.

The National Board of Review’s awards will be handed out on January 8 at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City in a gala hosted by Meredith Vieira.

Bardem Receives Satellite Award Nod

He’s being hailed as one of the greatest villains in Bond history… And, now Javier Bardem is getting some awards recognition to go with it…

The 43-year-old Spanish actor has received a Satellite Award from the International Press Academy for his inspired role in the latest installment of the James Bond franchise, Skyfall.

Javier Bardem in Skyfall

Bardem is nominated in the Actor in a Supporting Role category. He’s up against some stiff competition: The Master’s Philip Seymour Hoffman, Silver Linings Playbook’s Robert De Niro, Flight’s John Goodman, Lincoln’s Tommy Lee Jones and Les Miserables’ Eddie Redmayne.

Meanwhile, Searching for Sugar Man, the documentary about 70-year-old Mexican American singer/songwriter Rodriguez is one of the eight nominated films in the Motion Picture, Documentary category. Last week the critically acclaimed film was nominated for a PGA Award in the same category by the Producers Guild of America.

Other Latinos nominated for a Satellite Award include Chilean cinematographer Claudio Miranda in the Cinematography category for his visually stunning work on Ang Lee’s Life of Pi and Spanish costume designer Paco Delgado in the Costume Design category for his work on the musical Les Miserables.

The 17th annual Satellite Awards cover a total of 31 film and TV categories. Winners will be announced during a gala on December 16 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Century City, California.

Rodriguez’s “Searching for Sugar Man” Earns PGA Award Nomination

The documentary about ’70s singer/songwriter Rodríguez continues to garner praise this awards season

Following its best documentary feature nod from the International Documentary Association, the Producers Guild of America has selected Searching for Sugar Man as a nominee for its Documentary Motion Picture Award.

Rodriguez

Directed by Malik Bendjelloul, the documentary tells the story of Sixto Díaz Rodríguez, the now 70-year-old Mexican American folk musician who became a huge star in South Africa while remaining a virtual unknown in the United States or even his hometown of Detroit.

CBS60 Minutes recently featured a special news report on Rodriguez and the critically acclaimed documentary.

Searching for Sugar Man will face off against Aaron Yeger‘s A People Uncounted, Dror Moreh‘s The Gatekeepers, Jon Shenk‘s The Island President and Marius A. MarkeviciusThe Other Dream Team.

The PGA Awards will be held January 26 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Louis C.K.’s “Louie” Earns Producers Guild of America Award Nomination

Louis C.K. has received some love from the Producers Guild of America

Louis C.K.

The 45-year-old half-Mexican-American actor/comedian’s critically acclaimed Louie has picked up a nomination in the TV portion of the PGA Awards.

The FX series, which earned Louis C.K. a Primetime Emmy Award for his behind-the-scenes work, will compete against 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family in the best comedy series field.

The 2013 Producers Guild Award winners will be announced on January 26, 2013 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.