Birdman has received a welcome lift on its flight to the Oscars after winning the Producers Guild of America's highest film award at a ceremony in Los Angeles.
But Australia's Oscar snub has been partially reversed, with The Lego Movie gaining a gong for best animated feature.
That should give the film's Australian animators, Animal Logic, something to sing about.
Birdman's win on Saturday delivers needed momentum to Alejandro Inarritu's showbiz romp following its upset loss to The Grand Budapest Hotel in the Golden Globes' comedy category earlier this month.
It's now neck and neck in the Oscar race with Richard Linklater's Boyhood, which won in the Globes drama category.
Many of the PGA's 6700 members are also Oscar voters and for the past seven years, the guild's choices for its top trophy went on to win the best-picture prize at the Academy Awards.
Other trophies included Life Itself for documentary film, Fargo for television movie or miniseries, Breaking Bad for TV drama series, Orange is the New Black for TV comedy series and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee for digital series.
Next up on the pre-Oscar awards circuit are Sunday night's Screen Actors Guild Awards, the February 7 Directors Guild honours and the Writer Guild ceremony on February 14. The 87th annual Academy Awards will be presented on February 22.
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