ADG Nominees

by Nathaniel R

The Art Directors Guild have named their film nominees in four categories (Period, Fantasy, Contemporay, and Animated). While the nominations are of note themselves, of course, they are also key tells in the tale of the year's Oscar race as the Best Production Design ogenerally come from a combo of three of those four categories; Sadly Oscar's branch members have never honored an animated film in the category, even a stop motion film which of course built actual sets with set decoration, just like live-action movies do...

PERIOD FEATURE FILM

• “All Quiet on the Western Front” (Production Designer: Christian M. Goldbeck)
• “Babylon” (Production Designer: Florencia Martin)
• “Elvis” (Production Designers: Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy
• “The Fabelmans” (Production Designer: Rick Carter)
• “White Noise” (Production Designer: Jess Gonchor)

Wonderful (if surprising) to see White Noise here, since guild members typically default to films in the hunt for Best Picture nominations. But that film's esthetic is very well-developed. Some key misses here that would have fit right in include The Wonder, The Northman, and Living.

FANTASY FEATURE FILM

• “Avatar: The Way of Water” (Production Designers: Dylan Cole, Ben Procter)
• “The Batman” (Production Designer: James Chinlund)
• “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Production Designer: Hannah Beachler)
• “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (Production Designer: Jason Kisvarday)
• “Nope” (Production Designer: Ruth De Jong)

A fairly strong batch here though it's disappointing not to see After Yang's brilliant near-future designs. We're rooting hardest for Nope to land a long shot Oscar nomination since its two main sets (Jupiter's Hollow and the Haywood Ranch) are so distinct and well realized that they feel as three dimensional as the characters themselves.

Some key misses here: 3000 Years of Longing, and Crimes of the Future

CONTEMPORARY FEATURE FILM

• “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” (Production Designer: Eugenio Caballero)
• “Bullet Train” (Production Designer: David Scheunemann)
• “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Production Designer: Rick Heinrichs)
• “Tár” (Production Designer: Marco Bittner Rosser)
• “Top Gun: Maverick” (Production Designer: Jeremy Hindle)

Contemporary nominations are where the limits of what guild voters actually watch are often most apparent (given the default to Best Picture contenders) since a lot of contemporary set films without major Oscar ambitions can sometimes have brilliant work in the craft categories. But we do have one curlicue with Bullet Train, a fun addition. 

Two key misses here were The Menu and Decision to Leave which, in terms of Production Design, weren't they more impressive accomplishments than say Top Gun?

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

• “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (Production Designers: Guy Davis, Curt Enderle)
• “Lightyear” (Production Designer: Tim Evatt)
• “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” (Production Designer: Liz Toonkel)
• “Puss In Boots: The Last Wish” (Production Designer: Nate Wragg)
• “Turning Red” (Production Designer: Rona Liu )

One day the Academy will honor an animated film in their own Production Design honors. We will rejoice when that finally happens. Could Pinocchio (FINALLY) be the one to break that glass ceiling?

NOMINEES FOR TELEVISION:

ONE-HOUR PERIOD SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES

• “The Crown: Ipatiev House” (Production Designer: Martin Childs)
• “The Gilded Age: Never the New” (Production Designer: Bob Shaw)
• “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Maisel vs. Lennon: The Cut Contest, How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?” (Production Designer: Bill Groom)
• “Pachinko: Chapter One” (Production Designer: Mara LePere-Schloop)
• Peaky Blinders: Black Day” (Production Designer: Nicole Northridge)

ONE-HOUR FANTASY SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES

• “Andor: Rix Road” (Production Designer: Luke Hull)
• “House of the Dragon: The Heirs of the Dragon” (Production Designer: Jim Clay)
• “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Adar” (Production Designer: Ramsey Avery)
• “Stranger Things: “Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab” (Production Designer: Chris Trujillo)
• “Wednesday: Woe is the Loneliest Number” (Production Designer: Mark Scruton)

Wednesday!

ONE-HOUR CONTEMPORARY SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES

• “Better Call Saul: Wine and Roses,Nippy” (Production Designer: Denise Pizzini)
• “Euphoria: You Who Cannot See, Think of Those Who Can, The Theater and Its Double, All My Life, My Heart Has Yearned for a Thing I Cannot Name” (Production Designer: Jason Baldwin Stewart)
• “Ozark: The Beginning of the End, Let the Great World Spin, City on the Make” (Production Designer: David Bomba)
• “Severance: Good News About Hell” Production Designer: Jeremy Hindle
• “The White Lotus: Ciao” (Production Designer: Cristina Onori)

TELEVISION MOVIE OR LIMITED SERIES

• “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities” (Production Designer: Tamara Deverell)
• “Moon Knight” (Production Designer: Stefania Cella)
• “Obi-Wan Kenobi” (Production Designers: Todd Cherniawsky, Doug Chiang)
• “Pinocchio” (Production Designers: Doug Chiang, Stefan Dechant)
• “Station 11” (Production Designer: Ruth Ammon)

Station 11 !

HALF HOUR SINGLE-CAMERA SERIES

• “Emily In Paris: What’s It All About…, How to Lose a Designer in 10 Days” (Production Designer: Anne Seibel)
• “Hacks: Trust the Process” (Production Designer: Alec Contestabile)
• “Only Murders in the Building: Framed” (Production Designer: Patrick Howe)
• “Our Flag Means Death: Pilot” (Production Designer: Ra Vincent)
• “What We Do in the Shadows: The Grand Opening, The Night Market, Pine Barrens” (Production Designer: Shayne Fox)

Fun mostly worthy nominations here

MULTI-CAMERA SERIES

• “Bob Abishola: Inner Boss Bitch, Two Rusty Tractors, Estee Lauder and Goat Meat” (Production Designer: Francoise Cherry-Cohen)
• “The Conners: Sex, Lies, and House Hunting, The Best Laid Plans, A Contrabassoon and A Sinking Feeling” (Production Designer: Jerry Dunn)
• “How I Met Your Father: Pilot” (Production Designer: Glenda Rovello)
• “The Neighborhood: Welcome to the Remodel” (Production Designer: Wendell Johnson)
• “United States of Al: Kiss/Maach, Divorce/Talaq, Sock/Jeraab” (Production Designer: Daren Janes)

VARIETY, REALITY OR COMPETITION SERIES

• “A Black Lady Sketch Show: Anybody Have Something I Can Flog Myself With? Bounce Them Coochies, Y’All! Peaches and Eggplants for Errbody!” (Production Designers: Cindy Chao, Michelle Yu)
• “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls: HBCYOU Band” (Production Designer: James McGowan)
• “RuPaul’s Drag Race: Catwalk, 60’s Girl Groups, Daytona Wind” (Production Designer: Gianna Costa)
• “Saturday Night Live: Jack Harlow Hosts Season 48 Episode 4, Jack Harlow Musical Guest” (Production Designers: Keith Raywood, Eugene Lee, Akira Yoshimura, N. Joseph De Tullio)
• “Waffles + Mochi’s Restaurant: Honey” (Production Designer: Darcy E. Prevost)

VARIETY SPECIAL

• “64th Annual Grammy Awards” (Supervising Art Director: Kristen Merlino)
• “94th Annual Oscars” (Production Designer: David Korins)
• “Hasan Minhaj: The King’s Jester” (Production Designer: Scott Pask)
• “Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party” (Production Designer: Keith Raywood)
• “Trevor Noah: I Wish You Would” (Production Designer: Star Theodos Kahn)

Miley's New Year's Eve Party! How's that for recency in voting?

COMMERCIALS

• “American Horror Stories: Dollhouse” Promo (Production Designer: Marc Benacerraf)
• Bud Light Seltzer: “Land Of Loud Flavors” (Production Designer: François Audouy)
• “Just Eat & Katy Perry: Did Somebody Say” (Production Designer: François Audouy)
• “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Title Announcement” (Production Designer: Brian Branstetter)
• Paramount+: “Wildlife Promo” (Production Designer: Maia Javan)

SHORT FORMAT: MUSIC VIDEO OR WEBSERIES

• Adele “I Drink Wine” (Production Designer: Liam Moore)
• Coldplay x Selena Gomez “Let Somebody Go” (Production Designer: François Audouy)
• Kendrick Lamar “Rich Spirit” (Production Designer: Scott Falconer)
• Taylor Swift “Anti-Hero” (Production Designer: Ethan Tobman)
• Taylor Swift “Bejeweled” (Production Designer: Ethan Tobman)

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