The Art Directors Guild Recognizes Excellence in Production Design

Beginning in 1996, the Art Directors Guild Awards have been presented during a Beverly Hills ceremony each February to works that demonstrate excellence in production design. Everything from how well the aesthetics set a mood to the historical accuracy of props are evaluated by the Art Directors Guild when choosing award winners.

History

Since its founding, the Art Directors Guild Awards have grown in scope. The first awards recognized winners in only two categories: Excellence in Production Design for a Feature Film and Excellence in Production Design for a Television Series ("The English Patient" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," respectively). In addition, three achievement awards were given to industry heavyweights.

Award Categories and Winners

Currently, feature films are eligible to win for excellence in production design in one of three categories: contemporary, period and fantasy. Winners in these categories tend to follow the Oscars, or at least be films that have received high critical praise. For example, winners of the "Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Feature Film" have included "No Country for Old Men," "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Mystic River."

Television award categories are broken down by the length of the episode and number of cameras used in filming. These awards are given to both 30- and 60-minute shows in single and multiple camera categories. The "Excellence in Production Design for an Episode of a Half-Hour Single Camera Television Series" 2008 award went to "Weeds" after the major redesign of the show in a new location.

Television movies and mini-series have a separate category, as do commercials, PSAs and music videos. The Art Directors Guild also gives an award for the best special or awards show, which is often won by the Academy Awards show. Any number of lifetime achievement or career awards may be given out.

What Makes the Art Directors Guild Awards Unique

Because the emphasis for an Art Directors Guild Award is on production value, everything from commercials to other award shows is eligible to win the same honors as sweeping epics. This makes for some odd pairings within award categories. In 2008, the Academy Awards and "Saturday Night Live" both vied for a win in the "Excellence in Production Design for an Awards Show, Variety, Music Special or Non-Fiction" category.

Because the feature film categories are broken down by genre, this opens up a range of possibilities for types of nominees that get ignored by the Oscars. Giving fantasy its own category and separating period pieces from contemporary films levels the playing field, so films as different as "Gladiator" and "Chocolat" may win top honors in the same year.

Resources:

Art Directors Guild website: http://www.artdirectors.org

"Art Directors Guild names its award nominees" Susan King, L.A. Times, January 10, 2009. http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/10/entertainment/et-awards10