The Grand Budapest Hotel, Guardians of the Galaxy and Birdman took the top prizes at the Art Directors Guild’s 19th annual Excellence in Production Design Awards, which were held Saturday at the Beverly Hilton.
The Grand Budapest Hotel, with production design by Adam Stockhausen, was the winner in the Period Film category, while Guardians of the Galaxy, with production design by Charles Wood, was cited in the Fantasy Film category and Birdman, with production design by Kevin Thompson, was the victor in the Contemporary Film category. Of the three films, the most unexpected win probably was that of Guardians — it was up against such nominees as Interstellar and Into the Woods — and Wood said in his acceptance, “I really, truly wasn’t expecting this tonight.”
Television winners included Game of Thrones, True Detective, American Horror Story: Freak Show, Silicon Valley and The Big Bang Theory.
Anne Hathaway presented director Christopher Nolan with the Guild’s Cinematic Imagery Award, remarking, “He directs with a cool head and a fiery heart. He makes it cool to have fun and obsess about every detail.” Accepting the award, Nolan said, “The art department gets to carry the torch for the aspirations of the project. It’s there in the word ‘art.’ It’s really the aspect of film that has to be most carefully protected. I’ve once or twice had the pleasure of mistaking the art department’s work for reality. I said, ‘Well, why the hell didn’t we scout that place?’ “
The Guild presented Lifetime Achievement Awards to production designer Jim Bissell, senior illustrator Camille Abbott, senior set designer John P. Bruce and scenic artist Will Ferrell. It also inducted John Gabriel Beckman, Charles Lisanby and Walter Tyler into its Hall of Fame.
Presenting the award to Bissell, George Clooney, with whom Bissell has frequently worked, noted that one of the films they made together, Good Night, and Good Luck, cost just $6.5 million. Clooney joked, it was “the lest expensive film ever to be nominated for production design. So what I’m trying to say is, Jim isn’t just the best, he’s cheap.”
The complete winners list follows:
Period Film
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Production Designer: Adam Stockhausen
Fantasy Film
Guardians of the Galaxy
Production Designer: Charles Wood
Contemporary Film
Birdman
Production Designer: Kevin Thompson
One-Hour Period or Fantasty Single-Camera Television Series
Game of Thrones: The Laws of Gods and Men,” “The Mountain and the Viper”
Production Designer: Deborah Riley
One-Hour Contemporary Single-Camera Television Series
True Detective: “The Locked Room,” “Form and Void”
Production Designer: Alex DiGerlando
Television Movie or Miniseries
American Horror Story: Freak Show: “Massacres and Matinees”
Production Designer: Mark Worthington
Half-Hour Single-Camera Television Series
Silicon Valley: “Articles of Incorporation,” “Signaling Risk,” “Optimal Tip-to-Tip Efficiency”
Production Designer: Richard Toyon
Multicamera Television Series
The Big Bang Theory: “The Locomotive Manipulation,” “The Convention Conundrum,” “The Status Quo Combustion”
?Production Designer: John Shaffner
Awards or Event Special
86th Annual Academy Awards
Production designer: Derek McLane
Variety, Competition, Reality, or Game Show Series
Portlandia: “Celery”
?Production Designer: Tyler B. Robinson
Short Format: Web Series, Music Video or Commercial
Apple: “Perspective”?
Production Designer: Sean Hargreaves
