Fox Searchlight Is Brad Pitt this year's George Clooney and Ben Affleck rolled into one?
12 Years a Slave, which counts Pitt as a producer, leads all nominees for the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards, the shabby-chic, beach-side fest traditionally held the day before the Oscars.
And while 2013 darling Argo, whose production team included Affleck and Clooney, was a big studio movie, 12 Years could easily equal its success and leave producer Pitt with a whole bunch of new trophies on his mantel (or wherever he and Angelina Jolia like to keep their loot).
The Steve McQueen-directed epic earned seven nominations, including Best Feature, Best Director, Best Male Lead for Chiwetel Ojiafor, Best Supporting Male for Michael Fassbender and Best Supporting Female for standout newcomer Lupita Nyong'o.
Thanks to the large haul, Fox Searchlight (the indie arm of 20th Century Fox) is the most nominated distributor heading into the ceremony.
Joining 12 Years a Slave in the Best Feature category are the Coen brothers' folk-music trip Inside Llewyn Davis, the one-man survival show All Is Lost, the black and white dramedy Frances Ha and the similarly black and white father-son odyssey Nebraska.
The acting categories are their usual mix of major players and up-and-comers. For Best Lead Actor, Ejiofor has competition from veteran thesps Robert Redford in All Is Lost and Nebraska's Bruce Dern, who are both 77; Matthew McConaughey, who got the nod for Dallas Buyers Club over Mud after earning raves for both performances; singer-actor Oscar Isaac who scored the title role that the Coens thought might be uncastable in Inside Llewyn Davis; and breakout star of the year Michael B. Jordan, who took on the role of an average guy going about the last day of his life in Fruitvale Station.
Mud is the 2014 recipient of the Robert Altman Award, given out for the best ensemble in a film.
The Best Supporting Male category is pretty packed with household names, too, including James Gandolfini, earning a posthumous nod for the romantic comedy Enough Said. Competition there includes Fassbender, Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club, Will Forte for Nebraska and Keith Stanfield for Short Term 12.
Cate Blanchett as expected was nominated for Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, which also earned him a screenwriting nod; and she'll square off against Before Midnight's Julie Delpy, Crystal Fairy's Gaby Hoffman; Short Term 12's Bree Larson; and The Spectacular Now's Shailene Woodley, who won Best Supporting Female in 2012 for The Descendants. (Greta Gerwig, whose performance was said to be the glue holding Frances Ha together, is noticeably missing from the list.)
Patton Oswalt will host the March 1 daytime ceremony in a tent set up alongside the beach in Santa Monica, Calif. As usual, the event is being televised on IFC, meaning no bleeps necessary.
Here's a complete list of the nominees for the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards:
Best Feature
• 12 Years a Slave
• All Is Lost
• Frances Ha
• Inside Llewyn Davis
• Nebraska
Best Director
• Shane Carruth, Upstream Color
• J.C. Chandor, All Is Lost
• Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
• Jeff Nichols, Mud
• Alexander Payne, Nebraska
Best Screenplay
• Woody Allen, Blue Jasmine
• Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater, Before Midnight
• Nicole Holofcener, Enough Said
• Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, The Spectacular Now
• John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
Best First Feature
• Blue Caprice
• Concussion
• Fruitvale Station
• Una Noche
• Wadjda
Best First Screenplay
• Lake Bell, In a World
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Don Jon
• Bob Nelson, Nebraska
• Jill Soloway, Afternoon Delight
• Michael Starrbury, The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete
John Cassavetes Award
• Computer Chess
• Crystal Fairy
• Museum Hours
• Pit Stop
• This Is Martin Bonner
Best Female Lead
• Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
• Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
• Gaby Hoffman, Crystal Fairy
• Brie Larson, Short Term 12
• Shailene Woodley, The Spectacular Now
Best Male Lead
• Bruce Dern, Nebraska
• Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
• Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
• Michael B. Jordan, Fruitvale Station
• Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
• Robert Redford, All Is Lost
Best Supporting Female
• Melonie Diaz, Fruitvale Station
• Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
• Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
• Yolanda Ross, Go for Sisters
• June Squibb, Nebraska
Best Supporting Male
• Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
• Will Forte, Nebraska
• James Gandolfini, Enough Said
• Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
• Keith Stanfield, Short Term 12
Best Cinematography
• 12 Years a Slave
• Spring Breakers
• Inside Llewyn Davis
• All Is Lost
• Computer Chess
Best Editing
• Upstream Color
• Museum Hours
• Frances Ha
• Una Noche
• Short Term 12
Best Documentary
• 20 Feet From Stardom
• After Tiller
• Gideon's Army
• The Act of Killing
• The Square
Best International Film
• A Touch of Sin
• Blue Is the Warmest Color
• Gloria
• The Great Beauty
• The Hunt
Robert Altman Award for Best Ensemble: Mud