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Winners of the 29th Art Directors Guild Awards Announced

Wicked, Conclave, and Nosferatu emerged as the primary winners at the 29th Annual Art Directors Guild Awards, also known as the Excellence in Production Design Awards, held at the InterContinental Ballroom in Los Angeles. The event was hosted by Rachael Harris, recognized for her performances in Lucifer, Goosebumps, and Unfrosted.

The Art Directors Guild categorizes its premier film awards into three distinct sections: Period, Contemporary, and Fantasy Feature categories. The top honors in these sections were awarded to the acclaimed production designers of Nosferatu, Conclave, and Wicked. Historically, winners in these categories have a strong track record at the Oscars, with 19 out of the last 28 years seeing the winner of one of these awards go on to receive the Academy Award for Best Art Direction/Production Design. Notably, in the last decade, this transition has occurred 10 times, including last year when Poor Things took home the Oscar. As the awards season progresses, these three films will compete against Dune: Part Two and The Brutalist for the Academy Award, with Wicked positioned as a leading contender.

Nosferatu received the accolade for Best Period Feature, competing against strong contenders such as A Complete Unknown, The Brutalist, Gladiator II, and Saturday Night. Wicked claimed victory in the Fantasy Feature category, overcoming films like Alien: Romulus, Beetlejuice, Dune: Part Two, and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Meanwhile, Conclave was honored as the Best Contemporary Feature, surpassing Civil War, Emilia Pérez, The Substance, and Twisters.

In the animated category, production designer Raymond Zibach won for The Wild Robot, which is viewed as a heavy favorite for the upcoming Oscars, competing against the artistic teams behind Flow, Inside Out 2, Moana 2, and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. The awards for television design recognized outstanding work in series like Shōgun, Squid Game, The Penguin, Fallout, What We Do in the Shadows, Saturday Night Live, Frasier, and the CBS special Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic.

This year’s Cinematic Imagery Award was given to acclaimed filmmaker Jason Reitman, known for his work on films like Juno, Up in the Air, and the recent release Saturday Night. The ADG also honored exemplary contributions in production design, awarding Lifetime Achievement Awards to scenic artist Lisa Frazza, set designer Barbara Mesney, storyboard artist Dan Sweetman, and production designer J. Dennis Washington. Additionally, legendary production designer Carl Jules Weyl was inducted into the ADG Hall of Fame.

Below are the winners of the 2025 Art Directors Guild Awards across all categories:

Best Period Feature Film
Nosferatu — production designer: Craig Lathrop

Best Fantasy Feature Film
Wicked — production designer: Nathan Crowley

Best Contemporary Feature Film
Conclave — production designer: Freyja Bardell

Best Animated Feature Film
The Wild Robot — production designer: Raymond Zibach

Best One-Hour Period Single-Camera Series
Shōgun: “Anjin” — production designer: Helen Jarvis

Best One-Hour Fantasy Single-Camera Series
Fallout: “The End” — production designer: Howard Cummings

Best One-Hour Contemporary Single-Camera Series
Squid Game: “Six Legs,” “O X” — production designer: Chae Kyoung-sun

Best Limited Series
The Penguin — production designer: Kalina Ivanov

Best Half-Hour Single-Camera Series
What We Do in the Shadows: “Headhunting” — production designer: Shayne Fox

Best Multi-Camera Series
Frasier: “All About Eve” — production designer: Glenda Rovello

Best Variety or Reality Series
Saturday Night Live: “Host: Ariana Grande, Musical Guest: Stevie Nicks” — production designers: Akira Yoshimura, Keith Ian Raywood, N. Joseph De Tullio

Best Variety Special
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic — production designers: James Yarnell, Steve Morden

Best Commercials
Apple Pay: “Plates” — production designer: François Audouy

Best Music Videos
Kendrick Lamar: “Not Like Us” — production designer: Freyja Bardell

Best Television Movie
Unfrosted — production designer: Clayton Hartley

Source
www.goldderby.com