Two-time Oscar®-winning filmmaker, director, producer, animator and writer Brad Bird, whose films have consistently reflected the highest quality of production design, will receive the prestigious Cinematic Imagery Award from the Art Directors Guild (ADG) at its 21st Annual Art Directors Guild’s Excellence in Production Design Awards. The announcement was made by ADG Council chair Marcia Hinds and awards producers Thomas Wilkins and Thomas Walsh. The awards ceremony celebrating “Return to Hollywood” will be held Saturday, February 11, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood and Highland and will honor the spectrum of Bird’s extraordinary award-winning work.
The ADG’s Cinematic Imagery Award is given to those whose body of work in the film industry has richly enhanced the visual aspects of the movie-going experience. Previous recipients have been David O. Russell, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, the production designers behind the James Bond franchise, the principal team behind the Harry Potter films, Bill Taylor, Syd Dutton, Warren Beatty, Allen Daviau, Clint Eastwood, Blake Edwards, Terry Gilliam, Ray Harryhausen, Norman Jewison, John Lasseter, George Lucas, Frank Oz, Steven Spielberg, Robert S. Wise and Zhang Yimou.
Said ADG president Nelson Coates, “The ADG is thrilled to recognize the amazing contributions Brad Bird has made to narrative design, while so adeptly creating a visual cinematic legacy for generations to come. The amazing ways Brad and his teams have elevated the production design of animation, and live action, have raised and continue to raise the bar for all visual storytellers.”
Bird is the director of the Academy® Award-winning films Ratatouille and The Incredibles, from Pixar Animation Studios. Bird was also part of Pixar’s sr. creative team working on such animated features as Up, Wall-E, Inside Out and Toy Story 3, among others.
Bird began his first animated film at the age of 11, and finished it nearly three years later. The film brought him to the attention of Walt Disney Studios where, at age 14, he was mentored by Milt Kahl, one of a distinguished group of Disney’s legendary animators known as the “Nine Old Men.” Bird eventually worked as an animator at Disney and other studios.
Prior to joining Pixar, Bird wrote and directed the critically acclaimed 1999 animated feature, The Iron Giant, which won the International Animated Film Society’s Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Theatrical Feature.
Bird’s credits include acting as executive consultant on The Simpsons and King of the Hill, the two longest running and most celebrated animated series on television. He also created, wrote, directed and co-produced the “Family Dog” episode of Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories, and co-wrote the screenplay for the live-action feature Batteries Not Included.
Bird also directed the live-action films Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol for Paramount Pictures which became the highest-grossing and best-reviewed film of its franchise. His latest film, Tomorrowland, starring George Clooney, was released in May 2015. His next project The Incredibles 2 is set for release on June 15, 2018.
As previously announced, Gene Allen, the Oscar®-winning production designer behind My Fair Lady, A Star is Born and Les Girls, will be inducted into the Art Directors Guild (ADG) Hall of Fame. ADG will also present four Lifetime Achievement Awards to Emmy®-winning production designer René Lagler, scenic artist Albert Obregon, Emmy-nominated set designer Cate Bangs and sr. illustrator Joseph Musso.
Final online balloting for this year's ADG Awards began January 9 and runs through February 9, and winners will be announced at the dinner ceremony on Feb. 11. ADG Awards are open only to productions, when made within the U.S., by producers signatory to the IATSE agreement. Foreign entries are acceptable without restrictions.
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