The 28th Annual Art Director's Guild Awards, scheduled to take place in Hollywood this Saturday evening, promise to be a glamorous celebration of exceptional production design in various entertainment mediums. With categories spanning from theatrical motion pictures to television, commercials, animated features, and music videos, the ADG Awards recognize the artistic brilliance of art directors within the industry.
This highly anticipated event will be hosted by the talented Max Greenfield, adding an extra layer of excitement and entertainment to the proceedings. As producers Michael Allen Glover, ADG, and Megan Elizabeth Bell, ADG express, 'It's our honor and privilege to gather the guild to recognize the excellence among our members.' Undoubtedly, the ADG Awards offer a unique platform for these exceptional individuals to be acknowledged and celebrated for their extraordinary contributions to the world of production design.
In the realm of live-action feature films, the ADG divides the competition into three distinct categories: period, fantasy, and contemporary. The nominees for the period feature film category include 'Asteroid City' (Production Designer: Adam Stockhausen), 'Killers of the Flower Moon' (Production Designer: Jack Fisk), 'Maestro' (Production Designer: Kevin Thompson), 'Napoleon' (Production Designer: Arthur Max), and 'Oppenheimer' (Production Designer: Ruth De Jong).
Moving on to the fantasy feature film category, we have 'Barbie' (Production Designer: Sarah Greenwood), 'The Creator' (Production Designer: James Clyne), 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' (Production Designer: Beth Mickle), 'Poor Things' (Production Designers: James Price, Shona Heath), and 'Wonka' (Production Designer: Nathan Crowley).
Lastly, in the contemporary feature film category, the nominees are 'Beau is Afraid' (Production Designer: Fiona Crombie), 'John Wick: Chapter Four' (Production Designer: Kevin Kavanaugh), 'The Killer' (Production Designer: Donald Graham Burt), 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One' (Production Designer: Gary Freeman), and 'Saltburn' (Production Designer: Suzie Davies). These talented production designers have left an indelible mark on their respective films, contributing to the overall visual appeal and storytelling.
In addition to recognizing outstanding achievements in feature films, the ADG Awards also highlight exceptional work in animated feature films. This year's nominees in this category include 'The Boy and the Heron' (Art Director: Yôji Takeshige), 'Elemental' (Production Designer: Don Shank), 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' (Production Designer: Patrick O'Keefe), 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' (Production Designer: Guillaume Aretos), and 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem' (Production Designer: Yashar Kassai).
The ADG Awards extend beyond the big screen, recognizing the astonishing production design seen in television series, movies, and limited series. In the one-hour period single-camera series category, the nominated shows are 'The Crown' - 'Sleep Dearie Sleep' (Production Designer: Martin Childs), 'The Gilded Age' (Production Designer: Bob Shaw), 'The Great' (Production Designer: Francesca di Mottola), 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' - 'Susan' (Production Designer: Bill Groom), and 'Perry Mason'- 'Chapter Eleven' (Production Designer: Keith Cunningham).
In the one-hour fantasy single-camera series category, the nominees are 'For All Mankind' - 'The Bear Hug' (Production Designer: Seth Reed), 'The Last of Us' - 'Infected' (Production Designer: John Paino), 'Loki' - 'Ouroboros' (Production Designer: Kasra Farahani), 'The Mandalorian' - 'Chapter 23: The Spies' (Production Designers: Doug Chiang, Andrew L. Jones), and 'Silo' - 'Machines' (Production Designer: Gavin Bocquet).
The one-hour contemporary single-camera series category features 'Fargo' - 'Trials and Tribulations' (Production Designer: Trevor Smith), 'The Morning Show' - 'The Kármán Line,' 'Ghost in the Machine,' 'Love Island' (Production Designer: Nelson Coates), 'Poker Face' - 'Escape From Shit Mountain' (Production Designer: Judy Rhee), 'Succession' - 'America Decides' (Production Designer: Stephen Carter), and 'Yellowjackets' - 'Digestif' (Production Designer: Margot Ready).
The television movie or limited series category sees nominations for 'All the Light We Cannot See' (Production Designer: Simon Elliott), 'A Murder at the End of the World' (Production Designer: Alex DiGerlando), 'Beef' (Production Designer: Grace Yun), 'Daisy Jones & The Six' (Production Designer: Jessica Kender), and 'Lessons in Chemistry' (Production Designer: Cat Smith).
For half-hour single-camera series, the nominees are 'The Bear' - 'Omelette' (Production Designer: Merje Veski), 'Only Murders in the Building' - 'Sitzprobe,' 'Opening Night' (Production Designer: Patrick Howe), 'Our Flag Means Death' - 'Impossible Birds,' 'Red Flags,' 'Man on Fire' (Production Designer: Ra Vincent), 'Reservation Dogs' - 'Deer Lady' (Production Designer: Brandon Tonner-Connolly), and 'What We Do in the Shadows' - 'A Weekend at Morrigan Manor' (Production Designer: Shayne Fox).
In the multi-camera series category, the nominees include 'Bob Hearts Abishola' - 'Twerk O' Clock' (Production Designer: Francoise Cherry-Cohen), 'Bunk'd' - 'The Glitching Hour' (Production Designer: Kelly Hogan), 'The Conners'- 'Road Trip and Guilt Trip' (Production Designer: Jerry Dunn), 'Frasier' - 'Moving In' (Production Designer: Glenda Rovello), and 'That 90's Show' - 'Free Leia' (Production Designer: Greg J. Grande).
The ADG Awards also showcase exceptional production design in the realm of variety or reality series. This year's nominees include 'A Black Lady Sketch Show' - 'I'm Clapping From My Puss,' 'What Kind of Medicine Does Dr. King Practice?,' 'Peek-A-Boob, Your Titty's Out' (Production Designers: Cindy Chao, Michele Yu), 'History of the World, Part II' - 'VIII' (Production Designer: Monica Sotto), 'RuPaul's Drag Race' - 'Blame it on the Edit' (Production Designer: Gianna Costa), 'Saturday Night Live' - 'Jenna Ortega/The 1975,' 'Nate Bargatze/Foo Fighters' (Production Designers: Keith Ian Raywood, Akira Yoshimura, N. Joseph DeTullio), and 'Squid Game' - The Challenge: 'War' (Production Designers: Mathieu Weekes, Benjamin Norman).
Furthermore, the ADG Awards recognize the outstanding production design in variety specials. The nominated variety specials this year are '76th Annual Tony Awards' (Production Designer: Steve Bass), '80th Golden Globe Awards' (Production Designer: Brian Stonestreet), 'Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer' (Production Designer: Bruce Ryan), 'Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas' (Production Designer: Misty Buckley), and 'The Weeknd: Live at Sofi Stadium' (Production Designer: Es Devlin).
Lastly, the ADG Awards acknowledge exceptional production design in commercials, short formats, and music videos alike. The nominees in these categories include noteworthy projects such as Apple: The New Macbook Pro: 'Scary Fast' (Production Designer: François Audouy), Booking.com: 'Somewhere, Anywhere,' The Musical (Production Designer: Florencia Martin), Dom Perignon: 'Lady Gaga - The Labor of Creation' (Production Designer: Dylan Kahn), Giorgio Armani: 'Armani Si' (Production Designer: Annie Beauchamp), and M&M's: 'Ma&Ya's' (Production Designer: Natalie Groce).
With such an impressive lineup of nominees, the 28th Annual Art Director's Guild Awards promise to be a night filled with admiration, celebration, and recognition of the remarkable talent that brings our favorite films, television shows, and commercials to life. Alongside the accolades, this year's event will also include the induction of the legendary production designer Lawrence G. Paull into the ADG Hall of Fame.
As the excitement continues to build, industry professionals and fans alike eagerly await the announcement of the winners in each category. The ADG Awards serve as a reminder of the significant impact that production design has on the storytelling and overall cinematic experience.
