Topping the film categories in the 18th Annual Art Director Guild’s Excellence in Production Design Awards last night were K.K. Barrett for Her, Andy Nicholson for Gravity, and Catherine Martin for The Great Gatsby. Gravity won for best production design in a fantasy film, The Great Gatsby in a period film and Her took contemporary film honors.
In accepting his award, Barrett quipped that when he was first approached by director/writer Spike Jonze to take on Her, he wasn’t sure if it was “a fantasy film or a period piece in the future or a contemporary film.” Still the production designer was gratified to win a contemporary film category which also included August: Osage County, Blue Jasmine, Captain Phillips and The Wolf of Wall Street.
Production designer Nicholson thanked, among others, his full art direction team as well as Gravity director/co-writer Alfonso Cuaron, producer David Heyman and Warner Bros. Gravity topped a field of nominated fantasy films which also consisted of Elysium, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Oblivion, and Star Trek Into Darkness.
Martin was in Sydney working on another film and could not attend the awards ceremony which was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Her efforts on The Great Gatsby garnered the Guild Award over period film contenders American Hustle, Inside Llewyn Davis, Saving Mr. Banks, and 12 Years a Slave.
TV winners; inaugural category
Production designer Gemma Jackson won for best production design in a one-hour single camera TV series on the strength of the “Valar Dohaeris” episode of Game of Thrones. Half-hour TV series honors went to production designer Jim Gloster for Veep. The Excellence in Production Design Award for TV movie or miniseries was bestowed upon Behind the Candelabra and production designer Howard Cummings who in his acceptance remarks noted the time squeeze upon him and his team. Cummings related that Behind the Candelabra took “five years to get off the ground, and five weeks to get it done.”
Portlandia and production designer Tyler Robinson topped the multi-camera, variety or unscripted series category for the episode titled “Missionaries.” Production designer Steve Bass was recognized for The 67th Annual Tony Awards which topped the category honoring awards, music or game shows.
Winning for best production design in a commercial, PSA, promo or music video was production designer Todd Cherniawsky for the “Call of Duty: Ghosts” spot. Cherniawsky in his acceptance remarks noted that the job was awarded on September 7 and shooting began on September 20. That tight turnaround time, he affirmed, is “testament to what can be done” in Hollywood. In an era of runaway production, Cherniawsky said that the many talented people recruited for the project are part of an unparalleled L.A. infrastructure. Without them, there’s no way the commercial could have come to fruition so quickly.
The Art Directors Guild also launched its short format, live action series category, the first winner being production designer Brian Kane for Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome.
Special honors
Martin Scorsese received the Guild’s prestigious Cinematic Imagery Award, presented to him by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill, who starred in the director’s acclaimed The Wolf of Wall Street, which is currently nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Production designer Rick Carter (Lincoln, War Horse, Jurassic Park, Avatar, Amistad, Back To The Future) was recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Hall of Fame inductees were Robert Clatworthy (Touch of Evil, Psycho), Harper Goff (20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, the sketches for what became Disneyland) and J. Michael Riva (Iron Man, Spider-Man, Lethal Weapon, The Color Purple). Members of the three late inductees’ families were present at the ceremony.
In accepting the Cinematic Imagery Award, Scorsese praised the stellar production designers/art directors he has worked with over the years, including Dante Ferretti, Bob Shaw (an Art Directors Guild nominee this year for The Wolf of Wall Street) and the late Henry Bumstead and Boris Leven. Scorsese noted that he has done nine films with Ferretti and they recently wrapped a scouting session for what will likely be a 10th. Scorsese told the Art Directors Guild Awards gathering at the Beverly Hilton that when he has a creative vision for a film, “you’re the ones I look to [in order] to get there.” He affirmed that he relies heavily on art directors to put pictures on the screen and “you have never let me down.”
