Jack Johnson, best known for his work on films such as Edward Scissorhands, Toys and Jurassic Park III, will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Art Directors Guild’s (ADG, IATSE Local 800) Illustrators and Matte Artists (IMG) Council at the 24th Annual “Excellence in Production Design” Awards. The 2020 ADG Awards will be held at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown in the Wilshire Grand Ballroom on Saturday, February 1, 2020. This is the final of four Lifetime Achievement Awards to be announced by the Art Directors Guild.
“Jack’s cinematic eye, combined with his amazing artistic talent, has been an integral part of over 60 critically acclaimed films in his over four decade career. We are thrilled to honor that legacy and his contributions to the craft as this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient,” said Tim Wilcox, ADG Illustrators & Matte Artists Council chair.
Johnson has worked in the motion picture industry as a production illustrator, conceptual artist or art director on more than 60 features including such hit films as Goonies, Edward Scissorhands, Toys, Jurassic Park III, Pleasantville, Big Fish, The Perfect Storm, Jerry Maguire, Independence Day, Beetlejuice, The Color Purple, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture, among others. He started his career as an advertising art director at Foote, Cone and Belding and J. Walter Thompson.
Johnson has also won national acclaim for his personal work and his paintings have been featured in traveling exhibitions throughout the United States. His artwork has won numerous awards in major exhibitions including the National Watercolor Society, American Watercolor Society, and California Art Club.
The ADG Lifetime Achievement Awards are presented to outstanding individuals in each of the guild’s four crafts. As previously announced, Joe Alves will receive the ADG Lifetime Achievement Award from the Art Directors Council (AD), Denis Olsen from the Scenic, Title and Graphic Artists Council (STG) and Stephen Myles Berger from the Set Designers and Model Makers (SDMM) Council. Previous ADG Lifetime Achievement honorees include AD: Jeannine Oppewall (2019), Norm Newberry (2018), René Lagler (2017); STG: Jim Fiorito (2019) John Moffitt (2018), Albert Obregon (2017), Bill Anderson (2016); SDMM: William F. Matthews (2019), James J. Murakami (2018), Cate Bangs (2017); and IMA: Ed Verreaux (2019), Marty Kline (2018), Joe Musso (2017).
The producer of this year’s ADG Awards (#ADGawards) is production designer Scott Moses, ADG. Online nomination voting will be held November 18–December 6, 2019. Nominations will be announced December 9, 2019. Online balloting will be held December 18, 2019–January 30, 2020 and winners will be announced at the dinner ceremony on Saturday, February 1, 2020. 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.
Additional honorees for Cinematic Imagery and new inductees into the Guild’s Hall of Fame will be announced at a later date.
“Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo named Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year
Cynthia Erivo, who is starring in the hit musical "Wicked," was named Tuesday as the 2025 Woman of the Year by Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.
The theater group, which dates to 1844 and claims to be the world's third-oldest still operating, said Erivo will receive her Pudding Pot award at a celebratory roast Feb. 5. Afterward, she will attend a performance of Hasty Pudding Theatricals' 176th production, "101 Damnations." Actor Jon Hamm, who came to fame starring as ad executive Don Draper on the AMC series "Mad Men," is the 2025 Man of the Year. He will receive his Pudding Pot Jan. 31.
"We are holding space for Cynthia Erivo's arrival," Man and Woman of the Year Events Coordinator Hannah Frazer said in a statement. "We're sweeping out our broomstick closets and prepping some wicked smart humor as we eagerly await her in February. Before she flies off with her Pudding Pot, she'll have to work a little magic to earn it."
Along with starirng in the smash hit musical, the British entertainer is a two-time Oscar nominee and an Emmy Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award winner.
Erivo burst onto the scene with her brilliant performance in the Broadway revival of "The Color Purple." winning her the 2016 Tony for best actress in a musical. She performed songs from the play on the "Today" show, earning the Daytime Emmy for outstanding music performance in a daytime program. And the show's soundtrack won best musical theater album at the 2017 Grammys.
Last year, Erivo starred in and produced "Drift," which follows a young Liberian refugee who has escaped her war-torn country to a Greek island. In 2021, Erivo was nominated for an Emmy for her portrayal of Aretha Franklin in the National Geographic series "Genius:... Read More