What does a producer do again? He or she produces. Okay, so producers aren't always that easy to define, but they are very important and they deserve their countless accolades as much as anyone else in Hollywood. I used to think of the producer being more important on big studio pictures, the kind with a for-hire type director. However, producers on indie films (or "specialty division" films) are potentially more important these days. That could be why the Producers Guild of America is predominantly recognizing these "independent" producers for the second year in a row.

Last year the PGA nominated a few films from studio specialty divisions, including Brokeback Mountain, which won the main prize (well, technically its producers, Diana Ossana and James Schamus, won the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award). This year three of the films nominated for that prize are also from specialty divisions: Little Miss Sunshine, from Fox Searchlight; The Queen, from Miramax; Babel, from Paramount Vantage. The other two nominees are studio product, The Departed and Dreamgirls.

The PGA also gives a prize for animated feature. Those films nominated are Cars, Happy Feet, Monster House, Ice Age: The Meltdown and Flushed Away. They have awards for television producers, too.

Though the PGA has struck out lately with its ability to predict the Academy Award winner for Best Picture, its nominations typically reflect those of the Oscar nominations. Last year it was only different by picking Walk the Line instead of Munich in its final five. Personally I'm hoping that Little Miss Sunshine is the one they got wrong this time around. The producer is typically the overseer of the whole operation, and therefore the winner of the Zanuck prize can not be forgiven for any bad job done by the rest of the cast or crew. That is why The Departed, like many Scorsese films, is deserving of an award for director but not necessarily for producer (though Graham King has done a good job of turning Scorsese's recent productions into Oscar bait).

As for the rest of the noms, I think The Queen is primarily Mirren's film, but the fact that it doesn't look like a big deal probably means that it was produced well. I haven't seen Babel or Dreamgirls, but they both look like harder work, so one of them should take the prize. Graham King already got a Zanuck anyway. And Steve Golin (Babel) still deserves the one he lost for Being John Malkovich.