"The Artist" takes Producers Guild Award

LOS ANGELES -- "The Artist" followed its Golden Globe win by taking top honors at the Producers Guild Awards on Saturday, as the silent film continues its unlikely run toward Oscar night.

Producer Thomas Langmann received the award handed out at the Beverly Hilton by the Producers Guild of America, as "The Artist" beat out George Clooney's family drama (and another Oscar favorite), "The Descendants."

"The Artist" won best musical or comedy at Sunday's Golden Globes and "The Descendants" won best drama along with a Best Actor nod for Clooney, making the movies likely rivals for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

Pictures: Producers Guild Awards 2012
Special section: Awards season

The other nominees in the movie category were "War Horse," "The Help," "Bridesmaids," "Hugo," "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "Midnight in Paris," "Moneyball," and another Clooney movie, "The Ides of March."

Along with honors from other Hollywood professional groups such as actors, directors and writers guilds, the producer prizes have become part of the preseason sorting out contenders for the Oscars, whose nominations come out Jan. 24.

HBO's saga of mobsters in Prohibition-era Atlantic City "Boardwalk Empire" won the producers' award for television drama series, keeping AMC's "Mad Men" from winning its fourth straight PGA Award.

A team of seven producers including Martin Scorsese received the award for "Boardwalk Empire," which also beat out Showtime's "Dexter," CBS's "The Good Wife," and another HBO series, "Game of Thrones."

The ABC sitcom "Modern Family" took the award for best comedy series for the second straight year, beating "30 Rock," "The Big Bang Theory," "Glee," and "Parks and Recreation."

Other winners at the PGA awards include PBS's "Downton Abbey" for long-form television, "The Adventures of Tintin" for animated film, "Beats, Rhymes & Life" for movie documentary and "The Colbert Report" for talk and live entertainment shows.

"The Amazing Race" won in the Competition Television category.

The PGA also presented honorary awards to producer-director Steven Spielberg, executive Leslie Moonves, TV producer Don Mischer, and comic artist Stan Lee. The Stanley Kramer Award, recognizing filmmakers "whose achievement or contribution illuminates provocative social issues in an accessible and elevating fashion," was presented to Angelina Jolie's drama of the war in the Balkans, "In the Land of Blood and Honey."