Art Directors Guild Honors ‘Hugo,’ ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Dragon Tattoo’

The Art Directors Guild announced the winners of the 16th annual Excellence in Production Design Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Feb. 4.

The most watched category was for best production design in a period film, won by Hugo, which bested fellow best picture nominees The Artist and The Help. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and the overlooked Shakespearean thriller Anonymous were the other two nominees.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 won in the fantasy film category. The film has also been nominated for an Oscar in the achievement in art direction category. It competed against Captain America: The First Avenger; Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Cowboys & Aliens and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo won for best contemporary film, despite not receiving an Oscar nomination for art direction or best picture. The other nominees included best picture nominees Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and The Descendants. Also nominated were Drive and Bridesmaids.

Mildred Pierce won for TV movie or miniseries topping Cinema Verite, Too Big to Fail, The Hour and Bling Ring. Presenter Ed Asner received a loud ovation when he came on stage, which caused the eighty-three-year old actor to quip, “He’s alive.” 

Boardwalk Empire won for one-hour single camera television series. The winner for best half-hour, single-camera TV series was Modern Family, which took home the award in the same category last year. Saturday Night Live won for best multi-camera, variety or unscripted series. 

The 83rd Annual Academy Awards won in the awards, music, or game show category. Max Greenfield, one of the stars of the new Fox comedy New Girl, presented the award. Before the ceremony, Greenfield told The Hollywood Reporter he was especially happy to be presenting an award since his aunt was an art director. 

Production designer Tony Walton received a Lifetime Achievement Award. His ex-wife Julie Andrews recorded a tribute for him. The pair met on the set of Mary Poppins, for which both received Oscar nominations.

Production designers Robert Boyle, William Darling and Alfred Junge were inducted into the ADG’s Hall of Fame. The Guild’s Cinematic Imagery Award was presented to the filmmaking team behind the Harry Potter films. 

Paula Poundstone hosted the ADG’s awards gala and Ben Vereen was the musical guest.

This year also marks the 75th anniversary of the Guild, which was founded in 1924 as the Cinemagundi Club before becoming the Society of Motion Picture Art Directors in 1937. Harkening back to the Guild’s origins, the ceremony began with a silent film comedic short about the preparations for the ceremony. 

See the full list of nominees with the winners in red below:

NOMINEES FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR A FEATURE FILM IN 2011:

Period Film:

THE ARTIST                                                      Production Designer:  Laurence Bennett        

HUGO                                                                 Production Designer:   Dante Ferretti

THE HELP                                                          Production Designer:Mark Ricker

ANONYMOUS                                                   Production Designer: Sebastian Krawinkel

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY                     Production Designer: Maria Djurkovic

           

Fantasy Film:

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY

HALLOWS PART 2                                            Production Designer:Stuart Craig

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE

FIRST AVENGER                                              Production Designer: Rick Heinrichs

THE ADVENTURES OF TIN TIN:

THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN                   Production Designer:  Kim Sinclair

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN:

ON STRANGER TIDES                                     Production Designer: John Myhre

COWBOYS & ALIENS                                       Production Designer: Scott Chambliss

 

Contemporary Film:

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO        Production Designer: Donald Graham Burt

THE DESCENDANTS                                          Production Designer: Jane Anne Stewart

EXTREMELY LOUD &                                           

INCREDIBLY CLOSE                                          Production Designer:  K.K. Barrett

DRIVE                                                                     Production Designer:  Beth Mickle

BRIDESMAIDS                                                      Production Designer:  Jefferson Sage

 

NOMINEES FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRODUCTION DESIGN IN TELEVISION FOR 2010:

One-Hour Single Camera Television Series“

BOARDWALK EMPIRE

Episode:          21                                                    Production Designer:  Bill Groom

GAME OF THRONES

Episode:  A Golden Crown                                   Production Designer:  Gemma Jackson

AMERICAN HORROR STORY

Episode:  Murder House                                      Production Designer:  Mark Worthington     

THE PLAYBOY CLUB

Episode: The Scarlet Bunny                                Production Designer:  Scott P. Murphy

PAN AM

Episode:  Pilot                                                       Production Designer:   Bob Shaw

Television Movie or Mini-Series:

MILDRED PIERCE                                            Production Designer:  Mark Friedberg

CINEMA VERITE                                               Production Designer:   Patti Podesta  

TOO BIG TO FAIL                                              Production Designer:  Bob Shaw

THE HOUR                                                         Production Designer:  Eve Stewart

BLING RING                                                       Production Designer:  Robb Wilson King

 

Episode of a Half Hour Single-Camera Television Series“

MODERN FAMILY

Episode:  Express Christmas                              Production Designer:  Richard Berg

30 ROCK

Episode:  Double-Edged Sword                         Production Designer:  Keith Ian Raywood                                                                                                                Teresa Mastropierro           

WEEDS

Episode:  Game-Played                                      Production Designer:  Joseph P. Lucky

CALIFORNICATION

Episode:  Monkey Business                               Production Designer:  Michael Wylie

NEW GIRL

Episode:  Pilot                                                     Production Designer:  Jefferson D. Sage

 

Episode of a Multi-Camera, Variety, or Unscripted Series:

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

Episode:  Host Justin Timberlake,                    Production Designer:  Keith Ian Raywood, Eugene                

And Musical Guest – Lady Gaga                      Lee, Leo Yoshimura, N. Joseph De Tullio

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER

Episode:  Ducky Tie                                           Production Designer:  Stephan Olson

2 BROKE GIRLS

Episode:  And The Rich Peoples                    Production Designer:  Glenda Rovello

                Problems

AMERICAN IDOL

Episode:   Top 12 Boys Perform                      Production Designer:   James Yarnell

DANCING WITH THE STARS

Episode:  Round One                                        Production Designer:  James Yarnell

 

Awards, Music, or Game Shows:

83rd ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS                       Production Designer:  Steve Bass

68th ANNUAL GOLDEN GLOBES                           Production Designer:  Brian Stonestreet

2011 MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS                        Production Designer:  Florian Wieder

63rd ANNUAL EMMY AWARDS                               Production Designer:  Steve Bass

IT’S WORTH WHAT? 

            Best Buds                                                           Production Designer:  John Ivo Gilles

 

NOMINEES FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR

COMMERCIALS AND MUSIC VIDEOS FOR 2011:

ACTIVISION: CALL OF DUTY

Episode: Modern Warfare 3                                  Production Designer: Neil Spisak

VICTORIA’S SECRET

Episode:  Red                                                          Production Designer:  Jeffrey Beecroft

AUDI A8

Episode:  The Art of Progress                               Production Designer:  Marcos Lutyens

CHEVY VOLT

Episode:  Discovery                                                Production Designer:  Jeremy Reed

JIM BEAM

Episode: Parallels                                                  Production Designer:  Christopher Glass