Herman Zimmerman to Receive Art Directors Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award

Herman Zimmerman, the four-time Emmy-nominated production designer and art director, will be honored by the Art Directors Guild with its Lifetime Achievement Award at the Guild’s 17th Annual Excellence in Production Design Awards on Feb. 2 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

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Zimmerman is best known for his work on various Star Trek projects. His contributions to Deep Space Nine earned him the Excellence in Production Design Award for Television at the First Annual Art Directors Guild Awards in 1997. He also earned four Emmy nominations for Outstanding Art Direction for a Series in 1993, 1997, 1998 and 1999.

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Zimmerman, who began his career in 1965 working for NBC as assistant art director on Days of Our Lives, went on to work on more than 35 television series and theatrical films throughout his 47 years in the industry. Joining the Paramount Pictures’ Star Trek franchise as production designer and original set designer in 1987 with Star Trek: The Next Generation. He worked on six of the Star Trek feature films: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991),Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), as well as the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999) and Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2002) TV series. He wrote the introduction for the 1995 reference book The Art of Star Trek, and co-wrote the 1998 reference book Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual, as well as being featured as himself in many Star Trek documentaries.

While also producing and directing numerous TV commercials, Zimmerman has worked alongside the Paramount Parks Design and Entertainment team when they acquired the five Great America theme parks. He was the consulting designer on the Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton.

His many other credits include: Happy Days (1984), Cheers (1983-1986), Land of the Lost (1974-1976), Joanie Loves Chachi (1982), A Rumor of War (1980), The Ellen Burstyn Show (1986), The Burning Bed (1984), Brothers (1984-1986), All I Want for Christmas (1991), One Crazy Summer (1986), Black Rain (1989), Better Off Dead... (1985) and Webster (1985-1988).

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“Herman’s many achievements are an inspiration to us all. Just like the many voyages of the Star Ship Enterprise, throughout his career he has boldly gone to and excelled at furthering his commitment to design excellence within many disparate forms of our profession,” Thomas A. Walsh, ADG chairman, said in announcing the honor. “Whether it was for features, television, cable, exhibition or themed architecture, Herman has done it all and with great style, passion and perfection.”

For the first time, the Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award will be designed by DesignworksUSA, a subsidiary of the BMW Group. Paula Poundstone will host the awards ceremony for the fourth consecutive year.

Nominations for this year’s ADG Awards will be announced Jan. 3. The ADG will honor winners in nine competitive categories for theatrical films, television productions, commercials and music videos. Paula Poundstone will host this year’s ADG Awards for the fourth consecutive year.