Academy Award for Best Production Design facts for kids
The Academy Award for Best Production Design is a special prize given each year for the best art direction in film. It celebrates the amazing work that goes into creating the look and feel of a movie. This includes everything from the buildings and rooms (called "sets") to the small details that make a scene look real.
The award was first called Best Art Direction when it started in 1927. In 2012, for the 85th Academy Awards, its name changed to "Best Production Design." This happened because the group that gives out the awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), changed the name of its "Art Directors" group to the "Designers" group. Since 1947, the award has been shared between the production designer and the set decorators. They work together to create the perfect interior design for a film.
The movies listed below are shown with the year they were made. For example, the 2000 Academy Award for Best Art Direction was given to a film from 1999. In the lists, the movie that won the award for each year is shown first. After that, the other movies that were nominated are listed in alphabetical order.
Quick facts for kids Academy Award for Best Production Design |
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|---|---|
| Presented by | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) |
| Country | United States |
| First awarded | 1927 |
| Currently held by | James Price Shona Heath Poor Things (2023) |
Contents
Amazing Achievements in Production Design
This section highlights some of the most impressive records for this award.
| What Kind of Record? | Person's Name | The Record | Interesting Facts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most Awards Won | Cedric Gibbons | 11 awards | He won these awards from 39 nominations! |
| Most Nominations | 39 nominations | He was nominated 39 times and won 11 of them. | |
| Most Nominations (without ever winning) |
Roland Anderson | 15 nominations | He was nominated 15 times but never won an award. |
Award Winners and Nominees Through the Years
indicates the winner
Here are some of the films and the talented people who created their amazing looks, from the very first awards to more recent times.
Early Days: 1920s and 1930s
| Year | Film | Art director(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1927/28 (1st) |
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| The Dove | William Cameron Menzies | |
| Tempest | ||
| 7th Heaven | Harry Oliver | |
| Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans | Rochus Gliese | |
| 1928/29 (2nd) |
||
| The Bridge of San Luis Rey | Cedric Gibbons | |
| Alibi | William Cameron Menzies | |
| The Awakening | ||
| Dynamite | Mitchell Leisen | |
| The Patriot | Hans Dreier | |
| Street Angel | Harry Oliver |
| Year | Film | Art director(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1929/30 (3rd) |
||
| King of Jazz | Herman Rosse | |
| Bulldog Drummond | William Cameron Menzies | |
| The Love Parade | Hans Dreier | |
| Sally | Jack Okey | |
| The Vagabond King | Hans Dreier | |
| 1930/31 (4th) |
||
| Cimarron | Max Rée | |
| Just Imagine | Stephen Goosson and Ralph Hammeras | |
| Morocco | Hans Dreier | |
| Svengali | Anton Grot | |
| Whoopee! | Richard Day |
Mid-Century Magic: 1940s and 1950s
In the 1940s, the award started to be given to both the art director and the interior decorator, recognizing even more people for their work on film sets.
| Year | Film | Art director(s) | Interior decorator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 (13th) |
Black-and-White Films | ||
| Pride and Prejudice | Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse | — | |
| Arise, My Love | Hans Dreier and Robert Usher | — | |
| Rebecca | Lyle R. Wheeler | ||
| Color Films | |||
| The Thief of Bagdad | Vincent Korda | — | |
| 1941 (14th) |
Black-and-White Films | ||
| How Green Was My Valley | Richard Day and Nathan Juran | Thomas Little | |
| Citizen Kane | Perry Ferguson and Van Nest Polglase | A. Roland Fields and Darrell Silvera | |
| Color Films | |||
| Blossoms in the Dust | Cedric Gibbons and Urie McCleary | Edwin B. Willis | |
| 1950 (23rd) |
Black-and-White Films | ||
| Sunset Boulevard | Hans Dreier and John Meehan | Samuel M. Comer and Ray Moyer | |
| All About Eve | George W. Davis and Lyle R. Wheeler | Thomas Little and Walter M. Scott | |
| Color Films | |||
| Samson and Delilah | Hans Dreier and Walter H. Tyler | Samuel M. Comer and Ray Moyer | |
Modern Era: 2010s and 2020s
The award continued to recognize outstanding production design as filmmaking evolved.
| Year | Film | Production designer(s) | Set decorator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 (83rd) |
|||
| Alice in Wonderland | Robert Stromberg | Karen O'Hara | |
| Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 | Stuart Craig | Stephenie McMillan | |
| Inception | Guy Hendrix Dyas | Larry Dias and Doug Mowat | |
| The King's Speech | Eve Stewart | Judy Farr | |
| True Grit | Jess Gonchor | Nancy Haigh | |
| 2020 (93rd) |
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| Mank | Donald Graham Burt | Jan Pascale | |
| The Father | Peter Francis | Cathy Featherstone | |
| Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | Mark Ricker | Karen O'Hara and Diana Stoughton | |
| News of the World | David Crank | Elizabeth Keenan | |
| Tenet | Nathan Crowley | Kathy Lucas | |
| 2023 (96th) |
|||
| Poor Things | James Price and Shona Heath | Zsuzsa Mihalek | |
| Barbie | Sarah Greenwood | Katie Spencer | |
| Killers of the Flower Moon | Jack Fisk | Adam Willis | |
| Napoleon | Arthur Max | Elli Griff | |
| Oppenheimer | Ruth De Jong | Claire Kaufman |
See Also
In Spanish: Anexo:Óscar al mejor diseño de producción para niños
- BAFTA Award for Best Production Design
- Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Production Design
People with Many Wins
This list shows the individuals who have won the Academy Award for Best Production Design (or Best Art Direction) multiple times.
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