Lady Gaga, “Pariah” and “Dancing With the Stars” win the first round of GLAAD Awards

Last night, the first round of awards for the annual Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Awards were announced at a ceremony in San Francisco. Hosted by Glee stars Cory Montieth and Naya Rivera, the show honored the film Pariah for Outstanding Film in Limited Release and Lady Gaga for Musical Artist. Dancing With the Stars won the Reality Show award for the first time following a season featuring gay contestant Carson Kressley and its first transgender contestant Chaz Bono. Other awards to the brilliant TV Movie Cinema Verite, Diane Sawyer, The Oprah Winfrey Show and Smash/Chicago/Hairspray producers Neil Meron & Craig Zadan . Take a look at the winners below and for more on GLAAD, head here. Also watch for the next round of winners in April which will include the TV Drama and Comedy Series winners.

VITO RUSSO AWARD
Craig Zadan & Neil Meron, executive producers of Smash

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD
Katy Butler, openly gay 17-year-old anti-bullying advocate

OUTSTANDING FILM – LIMITED RELEASE
Pariah (Focus Features)

OUTSTANDING TV MOVIE OR MINI-SERIES
Cinema Verite (HBO)

OUTSTANDING TV JOURNALISM – NEWSMAGAZINE
The ‘Sissy Boy’ Experiments, Anderson Cooper 360

OUTSTANDING TV JOURNALISM SEGMENT
Battle Against Bullying, ABC World News with Diane Sawyer

OUTSTANDING LOS ANGELES THEATRE
No Word in Guyanese for Me by Wendy Graf

OUTSTANDING NEW YORK THEATRE
The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures by Tony Kushner

OUTSTANDING NEW YORK THEATER/ Off-Off Broadway
Southern Comfort, book and lyrics by Dan Collins, music by Julianne Wick Davis

OUTSTANDING REALITY PROGRAM
Dancing with the Stars (ABC)

OUTSTANDING TALK SHOW EPISODE
“Coming Out on the Oprah Show: 25 Years of Unforgettable Guests” The Oprah Winfrey Show (syndicated)

OUTSTANDING MUSIC ARTIST
Lady Gaga, Born This Way

And here’s Musical Artist winner Lady Gaga with her equality anthem “Born This Way”

The Artist and Michelle Williams have the Independent Spirit

Oscar front-runner The Artist continued to dominate this awards season as it picked up four awards at today’s Independent Spirit Awards honoring the best in independent cinema. The films all had to be made and financed in the U.S. with a budget under $20 million to be eligible (hence, Hugo, War Horse and The Help, etc were not in contention… nor was British funded The Iron Lady). Along with Best Feature, The Artist took home Best Director, Cinematography and Best Actor for Jean Dujardin (who I think will nab tomorrow’s Oscar). In the other acting fields, Michelle Williams followed up her Golden Globe win for My Week with Marilyn in the Lead Actress category while Christopher Plummer won Supporting Actor for Beginners as he has done pretty much everywhere this season. Oscar snubbed Shailene Woodley won Supporting Actress for The Descendants which also took home the screenplay prize. For more on all the winners, head to the Indie Spirit site here and check out all the winners below.

2012 Independent Spirit Award Winners:

Best Feature Film: The Artist
Best Director: Michael Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
Best Actress: Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Best Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)
Best Screenplay: The Descendants
Best Cinematography: The Artist
Best International Film: A Separation
Best Documentary: The Interrupters
Best First Feature: Margin Call
Best First Screenplay: 50/50
John Cassavetes Award for Best Feature (under $500,000 budget): Pariah
Robert Altman Award (given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast): Margin Call

Beginners, Albert Nobbs, Modern Family and Glee are among the GLAAD Media Award Nominees

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation announced the nominees for their 23rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards this morning and we saw some familiar faces. Previous TV winners, Glee and Modern Family were in the mix, along with previous nominees Grey’s Anatomy and Dancing with the Stars. In the Best Film (Wide release category), you have Oscar contenders Albert Nobbs, Beginners and J. Edgar duking it out while Best Film (Limited release) includes standout pictures Circumstance, Pariah, Tomboy, Gun Hill Road and my pic for the winner, Weekend. Take a look at several of the nominees below which feature some of my faves like Hot in Cleveland, The Glee Project and The Big C and for all the contenders and more info, head to the GLAAD site here…. The awards will be given out in 3 ceremonies over the next few months in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Stay tuned for the winners.

2012 GLAAD Media Award Nominees:

Outstanding Film Wide Release:
Albert Nobbs
Beginners
J. Edgar

Outstanding Film- Limited Release:
Circumstance
Gun Hill Road
Pariah
Tomboy
Weekend

Outstanding Drama Series

Degrassi
TeenNick
Grey’s Anatomy
ABC
Pretty Little Liars
ABC Family
Shameless
Showtime
Torchwood: Miracle Day
Starz

Outstanding Comedy Series

Exes and Ohs
Logo
Glee
Fox
Happy Endings
ABC
Modern Family
ABC
The Big C
Showtime

Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series without a regular LGBT character)

“Acceptance” Man Up!
ABC
“Beards” Hot in Cleveland
TV Land
“Prom” Drop Dead Diva
Lifetime
“Recruited” NCIS
CBS
“The Boy Has Style” Are We There Yet?
TBS

Outstanding TV Movie or Mini-Series

Cinema Verite
HBO

Outstanding Documentary

Becoming Chaz
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network
The Strange History of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
HBO
The World’s Worst Place to be Gay?
Logo
Two Spirits
PBS
We Were Here
Red Flag Releasing

Outstanding Reality Program

Dancing with the Stars
ABC
Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys
Sundance Channel
The Glee Project
Oxygen
The Real L Word
Showtime
The Voice
NBC

Outstanding Talk Show Episode

“Chaz Bono” Late Show with David Letterman
CBS
“Children & Teens Caught in the Wrong Bodies” Anderson
syndicated
“Coming Out on the Oprah Show: 25 Years of Unforgettable Guests” The Oprah Winfrey Show
syndicated
“The Wedding of Scott Cronick & David Gorshein” Conan
TBS
“Zach Wahls” The Ellen DeGeneres Show
syndicated

Outstanding Daily Drama

All My Children
ABC
Days of Our Lives
NBC

Outstanding Music Artist

Beverly McClellan, Fear Nothing
Oarfin Records
Girl in a Coma, Exits & All the Rest
Blackheart Records
Hunx and His Punx, Too Young to Be in Love
Hardly Art
Lady Gaga, Born This Way
Interscope Records
MEN, Talk About Body
IAMSOUND Records

Outstanding Los Angeles Theater

Bonded
by Donald Jolly
House of the Rising Son
by Tom Jacobson
Killer Queen: The Story of Paco the Pink Pounder
by Peter Griggs
No Word in Guyanese for Me
by Wendy Graf
Who’s Your Daddy?
by Johnny O’Callaghan

Outstanding New York Theater: Broadway and Off-Broadway

Maple & Vine
by Jordan Harrison
Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical
by Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott
Sons of the Prophet
by Stephen Karam
The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures
by Tony Kushner
Unnatural Acts: Harvard’s Secret Court of 1920
conceived by Tony Speciale

Outstanding New York Theater: Off-Off Broadway

She Kills Monsters
by Qui Nguyen
Southern Comfort
book and lyrics by Dan Collins, music by Julianne Wick Davis
The Dog and Pony Show (Bring Your Own Pony)
by Holly Hughes
The Escape Artist
book by John Kelly, songs by John Kelly & Carol Lipnik
The Momentum
by Boo Killebrew, Geoffrey Decas O’Donnell & Jordan Seavey