René Lagler, an Emmy® award-winning Production Designer of more than 2,500 television shows and major events, will receive the Art Directors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award at the 21st Annual Excellence in Production Design Awards on Saturday, February 11, 2017 at a black-tie ceremony at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood and Highland. The announcement was made today by Marcia Hinds, ADG Council Chair and ADG Awards co-producers Tom Wilkins and Tom Walsh. 

A recipient of five Emmys and 18 Emmy nominations, Lagler is best known for his contemporary and classic designs for awards shows and specials, sit-coms, talk shows, network news shows, and game shows. He designed the 57th Academy Awards® for which he won an Emmy; the Grammy Awards from 1983 to 1987; the Emmy Awards; and the Country Music Awardsfrom 1991 to 2006. He was Production Designer for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and for seven events for David Wolper's Liberty Weekend in 1986 celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty, for which he also won an Emmy. 

In addition to designing the acclaimed venues for all three Popes that have come to America, Lagler also designed award winning television specials and series for Barbara Streisand, Frank Sinatra, George Burns, Dinah Shore, Billy Crystal, Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett, Mary Tyler Moore, Glen Campbell, Dolly Parton, Barry Manilow, Tony Orlando, and Neil Diamond. He also worked on Hollywood Squares with his mentor E. Jay Krause.

Lagler redesigned the main newsroom studio for CNN in Atlanta, as well as CNN studios in New York, Los Angeles and Washington. He designed the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta in 1988, New York in 1992, Chicago in 1996 and Los Angeles in 2000, as well as both of President Clinton’s Presidential Inaugural Galas in 1993 and 1997.

ADG Lifetime Achievement Awards are awarded to outstanding individuals in each of the guild’s four crafts: Art Directors; Scenic, Title and Graphic Artists; Illustrators and Matte Artists; and Set Designers and Model Makers. Honorees in the other three crafts will be announced shortly. Previous recipients include Production Designers Patrizia von Brandenstein (Amadeus), Jim Bissell (Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation), Rick Carter (Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens), Robert Boyle (North by Northwest) and Stuart Craig (Harry Potter), among others. A complete list can be found on ADG's website.

Submissions for the 21st Annual ADG Excellence in Production Design Awards will be open October 6 - November 10, 2016. Online voting will be held December 7, 2016 – January 4, 2017. Nominations will be announced on January 5. Final online balloting will be held January 9 - February 9 and winners will be announced at the dinner ceremony on Saturday, February 11, 2017

ADG Awards are open only to productions, when made within the U.S., by producer’s signatory to the IATSE agreement. Foreign entries are acceptable without restrictions.

Media sponsors are The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and SHOOTonline. 

ABOUT THE ART DIRECTORS GUILD:
The Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800) represents 2,500 members who work throughout the United States, Canada and the rest of the world in film, television and theater as Production Designers, Art Directors, Assistant Art Directors; Scenic, Title and Graphic Artists; Illustrators and Matte Artists; Set Designers and Model Makers; and Previs Artists. Established in 1937, the ADG’s ongoing activities include a Film Society, an annual Awards Banquet, a creative/technology community (5D: The Future of Immersive Design), a bimonthly craft magazine (Perspective); and extensive technology-training programs, figure drawing and other creative workshops and year-round Gallery 800 art exhibitions. The Guild's Online Directory/Website Resource is atwww.adg.org. For more info about the awards, please go to adg.org. Connect with the Art Directors Guild and #ADGawards on FacebookTwitter and Instagram.