“Rick Carter’s work as a production designer is among the best in the history of our profession,” said John Shaffner, ADG council chairman. “He personifies all the qualities of an artist and is the guild’s perfect choice this year to join the ranks of our lifetime achievers.”
Carter’s work has earned him two Oscar wins for Lincoln (shared with Jim Erikson) and for Avatar (shared with Robert Stromberg). He received the Art Directors Guild’s excellence in production design award for Avatar in 2010, the BAFTA Film Award for best production design for Avatar as well as Saturn Awards for best production design for Avatar and Lincoln.
Carter’s first experience in production design was in 1976 on the set of Bound for Glory. He has had a long association with Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis, working on films such as The Goonies (1985), the Back to the Future trilogy, the Jurassic Park franchise, Amistad (1997), Cast Away (2000), The Polar Express (2004) and War of the Worlds (2005). Carter graduated UCSC in 1974 with a B.A. in Art.
“Production designers create everything that audiences don’t think about when they watch a movie,” Carter said. “Our job is to create the spirit of the place.”
Nominations for this year’s ADG excellence in production design awards will be announced Jan. 9. The ADG will present winners in 10 competitive categories for theatrical films, television productions, commercials and music videos on Feb. 8. A recipient for the guild’s outstanding contribution to cinematic imagery award and three new inductees into its hall of fame will be announced soon.
Previous recipients of the ADG lifetime achievement award are production designers Ken Adam, Robert Boyle, Albert Brenner, Henry Bumstead, Roy Christopher, Stuart Craig, Bill Creber, John Mansbridge, Terence Marsh, Harold Michelson, Jan Scott, Paul Sylbert, Dean Tavoularis, Tony Walton and Herman Zimmerman.
