Emmy-Winning Comedian Patton Oswalt Set To Host The 21st Annual Art Directors Guild's Excellence In Production Design Awards

Oscar-Winning Director Brad Bird, Emmy-winning Production Designer René Lagler and late Production Designer Gene Allen will be honored at the Feb. 11 ceremony

Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017

Award-winning comedian, actor, and writer, Patton Oswalt

LOS ANGELES

--(SPW)--

Emmy®-winning comedian Patton Oswalt will host the 21st Annual Art Directors Guild's Excellence in Production Design Awards (IATSE Local 800), announced today by ADG Council Chair Marcia Hinds and Awards Producers Thomas Wilkins and Thomas Walsh. The Awards, celebrating Return to Hollywood, will be held Saturday, February 11, 2017 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood and Highland.

Award-winning comedian, actor, and writer, Patton Oswalt continues to find success in all areas of entertainment. From his Grammy®-nominated comedy specials to his many memorable film roles and guest appearances on his favorite TV shows (including Parks and Recreation, for which he received a TV Critics Choice Award), Oswalt continues to choose work that inspires him and entertain audiences.

Oswalt recently won an Emmy for 'Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special for his sixth comedy special Talking for Clapping (Netflix) and was nominated for a Grammy Award for his comedy album of the same name. He is currently on the Netflix show Lady Dynamite, starring fellow comedian Maria Bamford, and on HBOs Veep. Oswalt will next be seen on the big screen this April in the film adaptation of Dave Eggers novel The Circle, alongside Tom Hanks and Emma Watson.

Oswalt has appeared in many films including The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty with Ben Stiller, Steven Soderberghs The Informant alongside Seth Rogen, Observe and Report, Magnolia, Zoolander, Starsky and Hutch, and Reno 911!: Miami, among many others.

Oswalt was nominated for a Critics Choice Award for his performance in Jason Reitmans film Young Adult, starring opposite Charlize Theron. In 2009, he also received critical acclaim for his performance in Robert Siegels Big Fan; the film was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and Oswalt earned a Gotham Award nomination for his performance.

He also provided the voice for Remy, the rat, in Pixars Oscar-winning Ratatouille, and has voiced characters on TV shows such as Archer, BoJack Horseman, The Simpsons, Bobs Burgers, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and WordGirl. He is also the narrator on ABCs hit comedy The Goldbergs.

Oswalts television credits include The Heart, She Holler, Showtimes United States of Tara, Caprica, and many guest roles on Veep, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Parks and Recreation, Justified, Two and a Half Men, Portlandia, Bored to Death, Flight of the Conchords, The Sarah Silverman Program, Tim and Erics Awesome Show, and Seinfeld, among others. He is also very well known for playing Spence on The King of Queens for nine seasons.

As a comedian, Oswalt has shot six TV specials and released five critically acclaimed albums, including his Grammy-nominated Talking for Clapping (which the one-hour special of the same name earned him an Emmy) and Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time that debuted in 2014. Finest Hour also received a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album, as well as a Showtime one-hour special of the same name. In 2009, Patton received his first Grammy nomination for his album My Weakness Is Strong (Warner Brothers Records).

As previously announced, Oscar-winning director Brad Bird (The Incredibles 2, Tomorrowland) will receive the prestigious Cinematic Imagery Award. 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 Senior Illustrator Joseph Musso. 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.

Nominees in 11 categories of Production Design for theatrical motion pictures, television, commercials and music videos were announced on January 5, 2017. For the full list of nominees, visit http://www.adg.org/?art=21-adg-award-nominees . Final online balloting will end on February 9, and winners will be announced at the dinner ceremony on Saturday, February 11, 2017.

Producers of this year's ADG Awards (#ADGawards) are Production Designers Tom Wilkins and Tom Walsh. 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.

Media sponsors for the ADG Awards are The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and SHOOTonline.

About THE ART DIRECTORS GUILD
The Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800) represents 2,500 members who work throughout the United States, Canada and the rest of 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 and Model Makers; and Previs Artists. Established in 1937, the ADGs ongoing activities include a Film Society, an annual Awards Banquet, a creative/technology community (5D: The Future of Immersive Design), a bimonthly craft magazine (Perspective); and extensive technology-training programs, figure drawing and other creative workshops and year-round Gallery 800 art exhibitions. The Guild's Online Directory/Website Resource is at www.adg.org. For more info about the awards, please go to adg.org. Connect with the Art Directors Guild and #ADGawards on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.