The Origins and Purpose of the Progie Awards

The Progies grew out of the 2005 book I wrote, Progressive Hollywood, A People’s Film History of the United States. The awards began in 2007 with a piece I wrote that was published by The Progressive Magazine as a way to honor and focus attention on the Best Progressive Pictures and cinematic talents of that year. The concept was to not only hold in high esteem films and filmmakers based solely on artistic standards of excellence (and often, arguably, upon commercial considerations), but to pay homage to motion pictures and artists for the progressive content and style of their work—not only on the screen, but offscreen, as well.

The Progies’ goal was to highlight these productions and creatives, to bring them to the attention of audiences, which is essential for all artwork, particularly those rendered in a mass medium that is usually very expensive to create in. In addition, The Progies intended to honor and uphold activist/artists and their productions under attack by the Bush regime and conservative cancel culture for daring to publicly speak out, through their films and/or activism, against the powers-that-be and their policies. There is a long history of persecution of members of the motion picture industry going at least as far back as 1947, when the Hollywood Blacklist began, and The Progies’ hoped to counteract contemporary repression of progressive voices.

What is the derivation of this accolade’s name? No, The Progies are not named after “perogies,” those Ukrainian delicious dumplings (even if my ancestors did come from Odessa and Kiev) or from “pirogues,” a word that comes from the French for dugout canoes. Obviously, “Progie” is derived from the word “progressive.” This is a term that is often bandied about in the mainstream media and public discourse, often used (incorrectly) as being synonymous with “liberal.” However, The Progies use this definition of progressive: “Pro-people, pro-working class, pro-women, pro-LGBTQA, pro-environment, anti-war, anti-racist, anti-fascist, etc.” By zooming in on lefty content and creators, The Progies has aimed to be a sort of “anti-Oscar” that singles out thought-provoking films/filmmakers for making brave social statements that enlighten as well as entertain, as opposed to box office considerations and mindless, escapist entertainment.

The Progie Awards for Best Progressive Pictures and talents were selected in various categories named after outstanding artists who had contributed to cinema, to show respect to those motion picture pioneers, as well as to the contemporary works and creators being honored. For example, The Dziga—the Progie for Best Progressive Documentary—was named after the great Soviet documentarian Dziga Vertov and awarded to the scathing 2007 critique of the U.S. healthcare crisis Sicko directed by Michael Moore, who had also come under fire from the Bush regime for his Oscar-winning Fahrenheit 9/11 and his bold antiwar acceptance speech on live TV during the 2005 Academy Awards ceremony.

By 2008, the concept of The Progies spread, and a national group of left-leaning film critics formed the James Agee Cinema Circle to vote for the awards. More news outlets covered what became an annual “plebiscite” on progressive pictures and talents (see: People's World and Hollywood Progressive). The yearly voting for The Progie Awards for Best Progressive Pictures and talents lasted for about a decade.

In late 2024 I got the idea to revive The Progies—but this time to refocus the award on theater in the Los Angeles area. The live stage was hit hard by the pandemic. At the same time, many plays were being mounted with progressive themes and characters that spoke about the human condition and issues of the day. The idea of the Progie Awards for Best Progressive L.A. Plays and performers is simply to highlight those productions, and the artists who present them, in order to bring wider awareness of these shows to theatergoers and other potential audiences, plus to encourage and support these talents.

By early January 2025, progressive Los Angeles theater critics (who have no commercial ties to L.A. theaters) reviewing for Hollywood Progressive, People’s World and KPFK voted for Progie nominations in a variety of categories named after outstanding leftist theater artists, such as Bertolt Brecht. (Other likeminded L.A. theater critics are welcome to participate in the voting process.) The Progie noms are in the process of being revealed. The winners of the Progie Awards for Best Progressive L.A. Plays and performers will be announced by late February, before the March 2 Academy Awards ceremony. Stay tuned!

At a time when conservative cancel culture is striking out against dissenting voices, we hope The Progie theater awards encourage theatergoers to attend those progressive productions still on the boards—and inspire playwrights, actors, directors, theaters, theater companies, et al., to keep on keeping on by creating future plays about human rights and more with compassion, conscience, and consciousness.