Over twenty Carnegie Mellon alumni are represented across 13 nominated productions at the 25th Annual Art Directors Guild (ADG, IATSE Local 800) Excellence in Production Design Awards on April 10.
Academy Award® and Emmy®-winning Production Designer Stuart Wurtzel (A ‘62, ‘67), best known for his work on Hannah and Her Sisters and Angels in America, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.
(Photo Credit: Greg Doherty) RENOWNED PRODUCTION DESIGNER STUART WURTZEL TO RECEIVE A LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD AT THE 25th ANNUAL ART DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS, April 10, 2021
“From his Oscar nominated design for Hannah and Her Sisters to his iconic evocation of New York during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s in Angels in America, Stuart Wurtzel’s contribution to the art of Production Design stands alone,” said Mark Worthington, Art Directors Council Chair, in an earlier statement.
As a prolific production designer, Wurtzel has become the go-to professional at HBO and has won numerous awards for his work there. These include “Wit” and “Angels in America,” which garnered him both an Emmy and an Art Directors Guild Award in 2004. More recently he was nominated for an Emmy and an ADG Award for “Empire Falls.” He received another Emmy nomination for “Little Gloria…Happy at Last.” His most recent work on “The Loudest Voice” can be seen on Showtime.
In addition to his film and television work, Wurtzel has designed numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway productions including “Henry IV, Part I” for the New York Shakespeare Festival, “Summer Brave,” “Unexpected Guests,” “Tiny Alice,” “A Flea in Her Ear,” “Wally’s Café,” and “Sorrows of Stephen,” for which he won the Joseph Maharam Award for Stage Design.
Among the ADG Award-nominated productions, Carnegie Mellon alumni credited as production designers are Jessica Kender (CFA ‘97) for Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere,” John Shaffner (CFA ‘76, HON ‘19) for CBS’ “Bob Hearts Abishola,” Mark Worthington (CFA ‘91) for “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet,” David Crank (CFA ‘85) for “News of the World,” Eugene Lee (CFA ‘62) for “Saturday Night Live,” and Steve Arnold (CFA ‘89) for “Utopia.”
Additional alumni, comprised of established professionals and early career alum, are credited as well. These include set designers, digital set designers, graphic artists, art directors, and assistant art directors. Sarah Benedict (CFA ’16) and Nathan Brown (CFA ’16) served as art department coordinators on “The Prom” and “Mulan” respectively.
ADG Awards Nominees (partial list)
Contemporary Feature Film “The Prom”
– Tom Frohling (CFA ‘94) – Supervising Art Director
– Bryan Lane (CFA ‘92) – Digital Set Designer
Half Hour Single-Camera Series “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet”
– Mark Worthington (CFA ‘91) – Production Designer
Half Hour Single-Camera Series “Space Force”
– Chikako Suzuki – Set Designer
Multi-Camera Series “Bob Hearts Abishola”
– John Shaffner (CFA 76, HON ‘19) – Production Designer
One Hour Contemporary Single-Camera Series “Utopia”
– Steve Arnold (CFA ‘89) – Production Designer
– Lindsay Coda (CFA ‘16) – Set Designer
One Hour Period or Fantasy Single-Camera Series “The Mandalorian”
– Michael Epstein (CFA ‘12) – Graphic Artist
Period Feature Film “Mulan”
– Bryan Lane (CFA 92) – Set Designer
– David Peters (CFA ‘14) – Assistant Art Director
Short Format: Webseries, Music Video or Commercial “Apple-Vertical Cinema”
– Jared Gerbig (CFA ‘16) – Set Designer
Television Movie or Limited Series “Little Fires Everywhere”
– Jessica Kender (CFA ‘97) – Production Designer
– Arthur Chadwick (CFA ‘97) – Set Designer
– Brian Grego (CFA ‘10) – Art Director
– AJ Cisneros (CFA ‘17) – Assistant Art Director
– Shengxin Jin (CFA ‘16) – Assistant Art Director
Variety Special “The Oscars”
– Alana Billingsley (CFA ‘04) – Art Director
– John Zuiker (CFA ‘11) – Art Director
Variety, Reality or Competition Series “Saturday Night Live”
– Eugene Lee (CFA ‘62) – Production Designer
For a full list of nominees: https://adg.org/awards/adg/nominees/2021/
The ADG Awards will be presented streamed through a digital platform on Saturday, April 10 with a pre-show set for 3:00 PM PST and Awards show at 4:00 PM PST. For more information please visit https://adg.org/awards/.
Established in 1937, the Art Directors Guild represents 2,900 members who work throughout the world in film, television and theater as Production Designers and Art Directors; Scenic, Title and Graphic Artists; Set Designers and Model Makers; and Illustrators and Matte Artists.
