La La Land, Hidden Figures and Passengers won theatrical feature honors at the Art Directors Guild’s (ADG, IATSE Local 800) 21st Annual Excellence in Production Design Awards on Saturday night (2/11) in Hollywood.
Production designer Wynn Thomas topped the Period Film category for Hidden Figures, with production designer David Wasco winning the Contemporary Film competition for La La Land, and Guy Hendrix Dyas earning best Fantasy Film distinction for Passengers. Thomas and Dyas were on hand at the awards ceremony to accept their Cinemagundi trophies.
Thomas noted that he was first nominated for an Excellence in Production Design Award some 20 years ago for Mars Attacks! It wasn’t until this year that he earned his second career nod, this time coming up a winner for Hidden Figures. Thomas thanked his team members as well as director Theodore (Ted) Melfi who also wrote (with Allison Schroeder) the adapted screenplay for Hidden Figures. Thomas said that Melfi “uses tools of love and kindness to direct a movie.”
Dyas thanked both his wife and team members. He also expressed gratitude to Sony for giving him the opportunity to go all out and completely obsess over the environments for Passengers.
Television winners included production designers Nathan Crowley for Westworld, Anastasia White for Mr. Robot, Patrizia von Brandenstein for The Night Of, Tommaso Ortino for Mozart in the Jungle, Glenda Rovello for The Great Indoors, and Keith Ian Raywood, Eugene Lee, Akira Yoshimura and N. Joseph DeTullio for multiple episodes of Saturday Night Live. Production designer Hannah Beachler topped the Awards or Event Special category for Beyoncé’s conceptual music video album Lemonade. And production designer James Chinlund won the short-form honor for the Apple iPhone commercial “Balloons” out of TBWAMedia Arts Lab, Los Angeles.
In her acceptance remarks, Beachler said of Lemonade, “I am so honored to be recognized for this unique project. I loved designing for a strong woman of color [Beyoncé] on such a bold, original artistic expression.”
Two-time Oscar-winner Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) received the prestigious Cinematic Imagery Award. Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to Emmy-winning production designer René Lagler, scenic artist Albert "Obie" Obregon, Emmy-nominated set designer Cate Bangs and sr. illustrator Joseph Musso. Gene Allen, the production designer who won an Oscar for My Fair Lady and was nominated for two other Academy Awards (A Star is Born, Les Girls), was posthumously inducted into the Art Directors Guild Hall of Fame.
Upon receiving the Cinematic Imagery Award, Bird told the audience about how on his feature directorial debut, The Iron Giant, he and his colleagues worked on a time and tightly budget-challenged schedule. He quipped that this necessitated him lying about his progress on Monday with the hope that what he reported would be true by Wednesday. Bird said he felt much the same about receiving such a high ADG honor after having directed just five feature films thus far (the animated The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille, and the live-action features Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol, and Tomorrowland). Bird wishes that his upcoming films will someday fully justify the ADG recognition–putting him more in the ballpark of the lifetime achievements and bodies of work belonging to the other evening’s special ADG Award winners.
The ADG Awards ceremony drew an audience of more than 900 to the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood and Highland. ADG president Nelson Coates and Art Directors Council chair Marcia Hinds presided over the ceremony with Emmy-winning comedian Patton Oswalt serving as emcee.
Here’s a category-by-category rundown of the winners:
21st ANNUAL ADG WINNERS FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR A FEATURE FILM:
PERIOD FILM
HIDDEN FIGURES
Production Designer: WYNN THOMAS
FANTASY FILM
PASSENGERS
Production Designer: GUY HENDRIX DYAS
CONTEMPORARY FILM
LA LA LAND
Production Designer: DAVID WASCO
21st ANNUAL ADG WINNERS FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR TELEVISION ARE:
ONE-HOUR PERIOD OR FANTASY SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES
WESTWORLD: “Pilot”
Production Designer: NATHAN CROWLEY
ONE-HOUR CONTEMPORARY SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES
MR. ROBOT: “Eps2.0_unm4sk-pt1.tc,” “Eps2.4_m4ster-slave.aes,” “Eps2.9_pyth0n-pt1.p7z”
Production Designer: ANASTASIA WHITE
TELEVISION MOVIE OR LIMITED SERIES
THE NIGHT OF: Pilot
Production Designer: PATRIZIA VON BRANDENSTEIN
HALF HOUR SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES
MOZART IN THE JUNGLE: “Now I Will Sing”
Production Designer: TOMMASO ORTINO
MULTI-CAMERA SERIES
THE GREAT INDOORS: Pilot
Production Designer: GLENDA ROVELLO
AWARDS OR EVENT SPECIAL
BEYONCÉ: LEMONADE
Production Designer: HANNAH BEACHLER
SHORT FORMAT: WEB SERIES, MUSIC VIDEO OR COMMERCIAL
iPHONE 7: “BALLOONS”
Production Designer: JAMES CHINLUND
VARIETY, REALITY OR COMPETITION SERIES
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: “Larry David/The 1975,” “Peter Dinklage/Gwen Stefani,” “Tom Hanks/Lady Gaga”
Production Designers: KEITH IAN RAYWOOD, EUGENE LEE, AKIRA YOSHIMURA, N. JOSEPH DeTULLIO
