- Ed Verreaux began his film career working for the legendary animation director Chuck Jones after graduating from the San Francisco Art Institute with Honors and working on underground comics in the Bay area. Verreaux was surrounded by some of the great animators and film designers from the ‘Golden Age’ of animation. Verreaux joined Robert Abel & Associates where he was assigned as one of the earliest designers on the Star Trek project. He worked on many Spielberg films including Jurassic Park lll, Jurassic World, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Poltergeist, Empire of the Sun, The Color Purple and E.T. In addition, Verreaux worked for a year in Australia on George Miller’s Mad Max Beyond Thunderdrome. He continued to work with Spielberg and other major directors including Clint Eastwood and Robert Zemeckis. His other notable films include Honey I Blew Up the Kid, Back to the Future Part ll and Part lll, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, X-Men: The Last Stand and his most recent film Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
- James Fiorito moved to Southern California from Chicago as a young boy and earned a B.A. in theater with a minor in art from UCLA. He has taught scenic art and scenery construction at UCLA & Santa Monica College. His work as a Scenic Artist creating television and motion picture backdrops has taken him to all three major television networks, Triangle Scenery Co. and Pyramid Scenic at Paramount Pictures. These backdrops can be seen in the Star Trek Films, Patriot Games, The Right Stuff and TV Series’ Married With Children, among others. Fiorito’s work has also been featured in live theater for the Center Theater Group, The Civic Light Opera and other legitimate theater productions. In Paris, his fine art has been shown at Madam Volpe's Galerie Des Ambassadeurs and exhibited at the Palais Luxembourg as a member of Les Societe Sur-Independants of France. He had a one man show at the Wexler-Weiss gallery in Encino. Fiorito joined Local 816 in 1974 and continues as a member of the Art Director's Guild Local 800.
- William F. Matthews, a union member for 34 years, is best known for his work on Cheaper by the Dozen, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the ABC’s Lost, among many others. He has worked on set design for all the major studios including ABC, NBC, HBO, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Columbia and Universal Pictures. William designed for some of the early Spielberg films including Poltergeist, E.T., Gremlins and Innerspace. For its last three seasons, Matthews was Production Designer for Beverly Hills, 90210. His theater designs credits include Hamlet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, Guys and Dolls, among others including his recent Off-Broadway show Moonchildren. He has worked with many great Art Directors including Robert Boyle, Rick Carter, Jim Bissell, Chuck Parker and Nelson Coates and the late great Jan Scott. Matthews received his master’s degree at Carnegie Mellon University and is currently a faculty member teaching scenic design. He continues to work on such shows as Netflix’s Godless. Between shows he pursues his passion as a personal artist in painting, collage and assemblage, exhibiting in galleries throughout Southern California.
- As previously released, four-time Academy Award -nominated Production Designer Jeannine Oppewall (L.A. Confidential, Pleasantville, Seabiscuit and The Good Shepherd) will be honored by the Art Directors Council with their Lifetime Achievement Award. This is a remarkable accomplishment for someone who has concentrated on films set in the 20thcentury. Other memorable films she designed include Wonder Boys, Rules Don’t Apply, Snow Falling on Cedars, Catch Me if You Can and Bridges of Madison County. In all, Jeannine has designed more than 40 films.
The producer of this year's ADG Awards (#ADGawards) is Production Designer Scott Moses ADG. Online nomination voting will be held December 5, 2018– January 4, 2019 and nominees announced on Monday, January 7, 2019. Final online balloting will be held January 8 –31, and winners will be announced at the dinner ceremony on Saturday, February 2, 2019. 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: Established in 1937, the Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800) represents 2,700 members who work throughout 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, Model Makers and Previs Artists. The ADG’s ongoing activities include a Film Society screening series, annual “Excellence in Production Design Awards” gala, bimonthly craft magazine (Perspective), figure drawing and other creative workshops, Production Apprentice (PA) Trainee program, extensive technology-training programs and year-round Gallery 800 art exhibitions. The Guild’s online directory and website resources are at www.adg.org. Connect with the Art Directors Guild on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
