In 2012, Gardner and her fellow producers were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for The Tree of Life. In 2014, she won the Academy Award for Best Picture for the movie 12 Years a Slave alongside co-producers Brad Pitt, Steve McQueen, Jeremy Kleiner and Anthony Katagas. In 2015, she was nominated once again for the Academy Award for Best Picture for producing Selma alongside fellow producers Oprah Winfrey, Jeremy Kleiner, and Christian Colson. In 2017, she won her second Academy Award for Best Picture for the movie, Moonlight. She becomes the first female Producer to win two Academy Awards for Best Picture.