Taika Waititi to receive Norman Lear Award at 2025 Producers Guild Awards
Taika Waititi will soon be adding another trophy to the case.
The prolific writer, director, and producer will receive the prestigious Norman Lear Award from the Producers Guild of America. The prize, which honors a producer’s body of work and contributions to the TV industry, has previously gone to such creators as Mindy Kaling, Greg Berlanti, Marta Kauffman, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Ryan Murphy, Shonda Rhimes, Chuck Lorre, J.J. Abrams, Lorne Michaels, Dick Wolf, Jerry Bruckheimer, Gail Berman, Aaron Spelling, David E. Kelley, and Norman Lear himself.
Waititi made a big splash in TV with the supernatural comedy series What We Do in the Shadows, which was based on his independent mockumentary of the same name. That program, which just ended its six-season run on Dec. 16, has earned him three Primetime Emmy nominations for Best Comedy Series (2020, 2022, 2024). Waititi also co-created Reservation Dogs, which received ample critical acclaim and earned its first Best Comedy Series bid from the Emmys in 2024 for its third and final season. And Waititi produced and co-starred in the queer pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death, which was canceled after two seasons but developed a cult following. In addition to his Emmy recognition, Waititi has also contended twice at the PGA Awards, for producing What We Do in the Shadows and the feature film Jojo Rabbit, for which he earned an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay among numerous other accolades. He has most recently produced the comedy series Time Bandits and Interior Chinatown. His other film work includes the Marvel Cinematic Universe installments Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder as well as the 2023 soccer comedy Next Goal Wins.
“Through his unwavering commitment to diverse narratives and the amplification of Indigenous voices, Taika redefines the art of storytelling, grounding cultural experiences in mainstream media,” PGA Presidents Stephanie Allain and Donald De Line said in a joint statement, “We are honored to recognize him for his significant contributions to television, continuing Norman Lear’s legacy of enriching the craft of producing.”
Waititi expressed his gratitude for the honor. “Thank you so much to the Producers Guild of America for this incredible honor. To be included alongside legends and so many I look up to, like the great Norman Lear himself, is truly humbling,” he said in a statement. “My work as a producer has always been about telling stories that reflect the world as it is — messy, diverse, and full of humanity. I’m lucky to work with an amazing team of people who help bring these stories to life, and I’m grateful to be able to give a voice to storytellers that deserve to be heard. This award is for all of us — thank you for recognizing the importance of storytelling that connects us.”