The Costume Designers Guild announced that Oscar® and Emmy®-nominated Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter will be honored with the Career Achievement Award at the 21st CDGA (Costume Designers Guild Awards) taking place February 19, 2019 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Executive Produced by JumpLine, and sponsored by Westfield and Grand Marnier®, the annual CDGA gala celebrates excellence in film, television, and short form Costume Design.

The Career Achievement Award recognizes leaders who have made a lasting impact on Costume Design. Past recipients include designers Joanna Johnston, Jeffrey Kurland, Ellen Mirojnick, Julie Weiss, April Ferry, Eduardo Castro, Judianna Makovsky, Colleen Atwood, Sandy Powell, Ann Roth, and more.

“The decades of iconic costumes and her stunning designs from this year’s Black Panther certainly speak for themselves. As one of the most innovative and passionate leaders in her craft, the CDG board and its members can think of no more deserving recipient of the CDGA 2019 Career Achievement Award than Ruth E. Carter,” Salvador Perez, President of the Costume Designers Guild, stated. Additional honorees and participants for the 21st CDGA will be announced in the coming months.

Ruth E. Carter, 2019 Career Achievement Award Recipient
Ruth E. Carter’s unparalleled ability to develop an authentic story through costume and character has made her one of the most sought after and renowned costume designers today. She has garnered two Academy Award® nominations for Best Costume Design for Spike Lee’s Malcom X (1993) and Steven Spielberg’s Amistad (1998) as well as an Emmy® nomination in 2016 for the reboot of Roots. Carter is the first African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award® in Costume Design. She has worked in the industry for over three decades with over forty films credits and counting including over ten films with Spike Lee. Known for her research and diligence to the craft, specifically for her outstanding work for period ensemble films like the highly praised Lee Daniels’ The Butler and Ava Duvernay’s, Selma, she proudly presented her work in 2018’s blockbusterBlack Panther, directed by Ryan Cooglar, and Marshall, directed by Reginald Hudlin, which premiered in October 2017. Carter also recently completed work on the television series Yellowstone, starring Kevin Costner and directed by Taylor Sheridan. She is currently working on Season 2 of Yellowstone as well as Dolemite Is My Name, starring Eddie Murphy. Her exhibit, Heroes & Sheroes, is currently on display at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh and will be making its debut at FIDM in Los Angeles in February 2019.

It was also announced that the CDGA will be adding an eighth competitive category, Excellence in Variety, Reality-Competition, Live Television, to this year’s awards slate. Additionally, feature-length films designed for television and streaming services will now compete in the CDGA’s Excellence in Film categories. 

“Costume Designers are doing incredible work across a variety of entertainment platforms and they deserve to be recognized for their accomplishments. In order to pay tribute to these projects appropriately, the decision was made to create a new category dedicated to variety, reality-competition and live television programming. Additionally, the landscape of how films are being made and where they are ultimately released is evolving. The CDGA committee felt that it was time to embrace this transformation and to offer the opportunity for Costume Designers working on these films to compete alongside their peers, regardless of where the movie is being released or how audiences are viewing it,” Perez explained. 

The CDG includes more than 1,000 Costume Designers and Illustrators working in motion pictures, television, commercials, music videos, and new media programs throughout the world. Submissions, Nomination, and Final Ballot voting will be conducted online. Details have been emailed to all eligible voting CDG members. Forms, rules, and guidelines available on the CDG website.

About THE COSTUME DESIGNERS GUILD
The Costume Designers Guild, IATSE local 892, is a union formed for the promotion and protection of the art of costume design. Members, including costume designers, assistant costume designers, and illustrators, use their artistry and technical expertise to create believable characters within the narratives of motion pictures, television, commercials, music videos, and new media. Over 1,000 members strong, the CDG is a proud affiliate of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Find them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter: @CDGlocal892.

About JUMPLINE
JumpLine Group: The intersection of live production and original content. JumpLine specializes in high-touch events and premium lifestyle brand activations. Its content division, BehindTheLine develops film, television, and digital content, and produced the feature-length documentary about Saturday Night Live, Live From New York!