Andrew Clement Serkis is an English actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his motion capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation and voice work for computer-generated characters such as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003) and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), King Kong in the eponymous 2005 film, Caesar in the Planet of the Apes reboot series (2011–2017), Captain Haddock / Sir Francis Haddock in Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin (2011), Baloo in his self-directed film Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018) and Supreme Leader Snoke in the Star Wars sequel trilogy filmsThe Force Awakens (2015) and The Last Jedi (2017), also portraying Kino Loy in the Star Wars Disney+ series Andor (2022).
In film and television, production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Working directly with the director, cinematographer, and producer, production designers have a key creative role in the creation of motion pictures and television. The term production designer was coined by William Cameron Menzies while he was working on the film Gone with the Wind. Production designers are commonly confused with art directors as the roles have similar responsibilities. Production designers decide the visual concept and deal with the many and varied logistics of filmmaking including, schedules, budgets, and staffing. Art directors manage the process of making the visuals, which is done by concept artists, graphic designers, set designers, costume designers, lighting designers, etc. The production designer and the art director lead a team of individuals to assist with the visual component of the film. Depending on the size of the production the rest of the team can include runners, graphic designers, drafts people, props makers, and set builders. Productions Designers create a framework for the visual aesthetic of a project and work in partnership and collaboration with the Set Decorator & Set Decorating department to execute the desired look.
Nelson Alexander Ross is an American comic book writer and artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries Marvels, on which he collaborated with writer Kurt Busiek for Marvel Comics. He has since done a variety of projects for both Marvel and DC Comics, such as the 1996 miniseries Kingdom Come, which he also cowrote. Since then he has done covers and character designs for Busiek's series Astro City, and various projects for Dynamite Entertainment. His feature film work includes concept and narrative art for Spider-Man (2002) and Spider-Man 2 (2004), and DVD packaging art for the M. Night Shyamalan film Unbreakable (2000). He has done covers for TV Guide, promotional artwork for the Academy Awards, posters and packaging design for video games, and his renditions of superheroes have been merchandised as action figures.
The Helicarrier is a fictional airborne aircraft carrier appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the aircraft first appeared in Strange Tales #135.
The AFI Conservatory is a private non-profit graduate film school in the Hollywood Hills district of Los Angeles. Students learn from the masters in a collaborative, hands-on production environment with an emphasis on storytelling. The Conservatory is a program of the American Film Institute founded in 1969.
Jim Krueger is an American comic book writer, novelist, and filmmaker.
Alexandra Byrne is an English costume designer and set designer. Much of her career has focused on creating costumes for period dramas. These films include Persuasion (1995), Hamlet (1996), Elizabeth (1998), Finding Neverland (2004), The Phantom of the Opera (2004), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), Mary Queen of Scots (2018), The Aeronauts (2019), and Emma. (2020). She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design six times, winning once for Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
Matt Reeves is an American filmmaker who first gained recognition for the WB drama series Felicity (1998–2002), which he co-created with J. J. Abrams. Reeves came to widespread attention for directing the hit monster film Cloverfield (2008). He also directed the vampire drama Let Me In (2010), and the critically acclaimed science fiction sequels Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017). He directed the superhero film The Batman (2022), which stars Robert Pattinson as the title character.
Hot Toys Limited is a Hong Kong production house for designing, developing, and manufacturing highly detailed collectible merchandise to worldwide markets. They are known for their high end 1/6th scale figurines of licensed properties, like Marvel and Star Wars, which must be preordered. Hot Toys collectibles are primarily available to purchase from secondary retailers, like Sideshow.
Planet of the Apes is a science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a post-apocalyptic world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control as the dominant species. The franchise started with French author Pierre Boulle's 1963 novel La Planète des singes, translated into English as Planet of the Apes or Monkey Planet. Its 1968 film adaptation, Planet of the Apes, was a critical and commercial hit, initiating a series of sequels, tie-ins, and derivative works. Arthur P. Jacobs produced the first five Apes films through APJAC Productions for distributor 20th Century Fox; following his death in 1973, Fox controlled the franchise, before its acquisition by Disney in 2019.
Jordu Schell is an American sculptor and concept artist who has been working in the film and television industries for over twenty years.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a 2011 American science fiction action film directed by Rupert Wyatt and written by the writing team of Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. It is a reboot of the Planet of the Apes film series and is the seventh installment overall and the first in the reboot series. The film stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, and Andy Serkis. In the film, Caesar (Serkis), a chimpanzee genetically enhanced and raised by chemist Will Rodman (Franco), goes from living in captivity to eventually leading an ape uprising against humanity.
Lego Super Heroes is a theme and product range of the Lego construction toy, introduced in 2011, owned by The Lego Group and licensed from DC Entertainment, Marvel Entertainment, Warner Bros., The Walt Disney Company and Pixar.
War for the Planet of the Apes is a 2017 American science fiction action film directed by Matt Reeves, who co-wrote it with Mark Bomback. The sequel to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), it is the third installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot film series and the ninth film overall. It stars Andy Serkis as Caesar, alongside Woody Harrelson and Steve Zahn. The film takes place two years after the events of Dawn and follows the conflict between apes and humans as it has escalated into full war, while Caesar sets out to avenge those he has lost.
Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame are American superhero films based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. They are the sequels to The Avengers (2012) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), and respectively serve as the 19th and 22nd films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Both films were directed by Anthony and Joe Russo from screenplays by the writing team of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. They feature an ensemble cast composed of many previous MCU actors, headlined by Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Josh Brolin. In Infinity War, the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy fail to prevent Thanos from collecting the six all-powerful Infinity Stones and he uses them to kill half of all life in the universe. In Endgame, the surviving Avengers and their allies attempt to reverse Thanos's actions.
The Batman is a 2022 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman. Directed by Matt Reeves from a screenplay he wrote with Peter Craig, it is a reboot of the Batman film franchise produced by DC Films. Robert Pattinson stars as Bruce Wayne / Batman alongside Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell. The film sees Batman, in his second year fighting crime in Gotham City, uncover corruption with ties to his own family while pursuing the Riddler (Dano), a mysterious serial killer targeting the city's elite.
The 19th Art Directors Guild Awards, which were given on January 31, 2015, honored the best production designers of 2014.
The 22nd Art Directors Guild Excellence in Production Design Awards, took place on January 27, 2018, at the Hollywood & Highland Center Ray Dolby Ballroom in Hollywood, honoring the best production designers of 2017. Nominations were announced on January 4.
The 24th Art Directors Guild Excellence in Production Design Awards took place on February 1, 2020, at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown, honoring the best production designers of 2019. The nominations were announced on December 9, 2019.
