Special effects maestro Brian Cox and producer and costume designer Catherine Martin were both honoured at the Australian Production Design Guild Awards on Sunday.
Cox, whose 40-year career has included credits such as The Matrix and Moulin Rouge, was awarded the Canal Road Artisan Lifetime Achievement Award, while Martin -Australia’s most prolific Academy Award winner – was recognised with the Cameron Creswell Outstanding Contribution to Design Award.
The awards, which celebrated their 10th anniversary, also marked the end of an era as APDG president and founder George Liddle announced he was stepping down after more than a decade at the helm.
Speaking at the virtual event, he said the future looked positive for the guild.
“Technological advances change the way we work, but they are mere tools,” he said.
“The creative design mind remains. That means design practitioners will remain an essential part of all successful productions in the live performance, screen and events industries.”
In the feature film categories, Karen Murphy took home the award for production design for True History of the Kelly Gang, while Damien Drew and Ian Gracie accepted the art direction or set decoration award for Mulan.
The animation design award was won by Nicholas Tory and his team for the short film Lifeblood, while Terri Lamera won the costume design category for H is for Happiness.
Glenn Melenhorst won 3D design for a digital production or performance award for The Witches and Nikki Gooley received the make-up, prosthetic make-up or hair design award for I Am Woman.
Operation Buffalo was a multiple winner in the television categories, with Justine Dunn winning art direction or set decoration, and Wendy Cork taking out costume design.
Melinda Doring took home the television production design gong for her work on Stateless.
Melbourne designers picked up the two short-form categories with Celeste Veldze winning the production design for a short film, music video or web series for Henry Needs a New Home, and Valentina Serebrennikova winning the costume design for a short film, music video, or web series award for I Want to Make a Film About Women.
Courtney Westbrook and Ara Nuri Steel were announced as winners of the AFTRS emerging designer for a screen production award for their short film CNUT.
Comedian Steph Tisdell hosted the awards from Brisbane.
The full list of winners are as follows:
STORM FX ANIMATION DESIGN AWARD
Lifeblood
Nicholas Tory
Design Team: Jonathan Nix – Art Director/Key Compositor/Animator/Designer, Oliver Abbott – Art Director/Compositor/Animator/Designer, Christian Heinrich – Artist/Animator/Designer, Jelena Sinik – Designer/Artist/Animator, Bryce Pemberton – Artist/Designer/Animator
STANMART FILM SERVICES ART DIRECTION OR SET DECORATION FOR A TELEVISION PRODUCTION AWARD
Operation Buffalo
Justine Dunn
Design Team: Colin Gibson – Production Designer, Nicholas Dare – Art Director, Marty Williams – Buyer, Pete Malatesta – Props Master, Kate Rawlins – Set Designer
DOCKLANDS STUDIOS MELBOURNE ART DIRECTION OR SET DECORATION FOR A FEATURE FILM AWARD
Mulan
Ian Gracie APDG and Damien Drew APDG
Design Team: Grant Major – Production Designer, Jill Cormack – Art Director, Mark Robins – Art Director
FILM CARS CONCEPT ART AWARD
Pandalappi Muntjinggar (Coorong’s Milky Way)
Casey Van Sebille
CATHERINE MARTIN COSTUME DESIGN FOR A SHORT FILM, MUSIC VIDEO OR WEB SERIES AWARD
I Want to Make a Film About Women
Valentina Serebrennikova
LISA MANN CREATIVE MANAGEMENT COSTUME DESIGN ON A TELEVISION PRODUCTION AWARD
Operation Buffalo
Wendy Cork APDG
PHOTOPLAY DESIGN FOR A COMMERCIAL AWARD
BRAWL STARRS – Star Park
Steven Jones-Evans APDG
Design Team: Loretta Cosgrove – Art Director, Bethany Ryan – Set Decorator, Ed Cotton – Set Designer, Simon Cowell – Concept Illustrator, Brian Carlin – Graphic Designer
WYSIWYG 3D DESIGN FOR A DIGITAL PRODUCTION OR PERFORMANCE AWARD
The Witches
Glenn Melenhorst
NEXT PRINTING GRAPHIC AND TITLE DESIGN AWARD
TEDxSydney 2020: REAL
Scott Geersen
Design Team:Alex North – Managing Partner, Ambrose Yu – Composer
JMC ACADEMY PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR A SHORT FILM, MUSIC VIDEO OR WEB SERIES AWARD
Henry Needs A New Home
Celeste Veldze
Design Team: Frank Veldze – Head of Construction, Hannah Passmore – Costume Designer/Art Department Assistant
HARLEQUIN FLOORS PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR A TELEVISION PRODUCTION AWARD
Stateless
Melinda Doring
Design Team: Mandi Bialek Wester – Art Director, Lauren Richards – Set Decorator, Sarah Hooper – Assistant Art Director/Set Designer
JMB FX STUDIO MAKE-UP, PROSTHETIC MAKE-UP OR HAIR DESIGN AWARD
I Am Woman
Nikki Gooley
HLA MANAGEMENT COSTUME DESIGN FOR A LIVE PERFORMANCE OR EVENT AWARD
Knowledge Ground Exhibition
Jennifer Irwin APDG
CREATIVE CRUNCHERS DESIGN COLLABORATION FOR A LIVE PERFORMANCE OR EVENT AWARD
Knowledge Ground (Exhibition)
Peter England APDG
Design Team: Jake Nash – Set Design, Jennifer Irwin APDG – Costume Design, Nick Schlieper APDG – Lighting Design, Steve Francis – Sound Design
DESIGN AWARDS LIGHTING DESIGN FOR A LIVE PERFORMANCE OR EVENT AWARD
Solaris
Paul Jackson APDG
RESENE PAINT SET DESIGN FOR A LIVE PERFORMANCE AWARD
The Planet – A Lament
Anna Tregloan APDG
TECHNICAL DIRECTION COMPANY VIDEO DESIGN FOR A LIVE PERFORMANCE AWARD
Avoidable Perils
Craig Wilkinson
Design Team: Sean Dowling – Co-Devisor/Illustrator, Nathan Sibthorpe – Co-Devisor/Illustrator, Sarah Winter – Co-Devisor, Mike Willmett – Co-Devisor/Sound Designer, Christine Felmingham – Co-Devisor
NIDA FOUNDATION TRUST EMERGING DESIGNER FOR A LIVE PERFORMANCE AWARD
Ghosts
Morgan Moroney
AFTRS EMERGING DESIGNER FOR A SCREEN PRODUCTION AWARD
CNUT
Courtney Westbrook & Ara Nuri Steel – Production Designers, Miniatures and Animation
HERO FROCK HIRE COSTUME DESIGN FOR A FEATURE FILM AWARD
H is for Happiness
Terri Lamera
Design Team: Amy Clark – Costume Supervisor
DOCKLANDS STUDIO MELBOURNE PRODUCTION DESIGN ON A FEATURE FILM AWARD
True History of the Kelly Gang
Karen Murphy
Design Team: Rebecca Cohen – Set Decorator, Janie Parker – Art Director
CAMERON CRESWELL OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO DESIGN AWARD
Catherine Martin