AACTA Award for Best Production Design

AACTA Award for
Best Production Design
AACTA Award for; Best Production Design
Country	Australia
Presented by	Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA)
First award	1976
Currently held by	Colin Gibson and Katie Sharrock, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
Website	http://www.aacta.org

The AACTA Award for Best Production Design is an accolade given by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), a non-profit organisation whose aim is to "identify, award, promote and celebrate Australia's greatest achievements in film and television."^[1] The award is handed out at the annual AACTA Awards, which rewards achievements in feature film, television, documentaries and short films.^[2] From 1976 to 2010, the category was presented by the Australian Film Institute (AFI), the academy's parent organisation, at the annual Australian Film Institute Awards (known as the AFI Awards).^[3] When the AFI launched the academy in 2011, it changed the annual ceremony to the AACTA Awards, with the current award being a continuum of the AFI Award for Best Production Design.^[3]

Best Production Design was first presented as Best Art Direction in 1977.^[4] The name changed to its current one in 1983.^[5] The award is presented to the production designer of a film that is Australian-made, or with a significant amount of Australian content.

Winners and nominees

In the following table, the years listed correspond to the year of film release; the ceremonies are usually held the same year.^[A] The films and production designers in bold and in yellow background have won are the winners. Those that are neither highlighted nor in bold are the nominees. When sorted chronologically, the table always lists the winning film first and then the other nominees.^[6]^[7]

Contents
AFI Awards (1977-2010) AACTA Awards (2011–present) 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s • 2010s

Winner

Year	Film	Production designer(s)
AFI Awards
1977	The Picture Show Man	David Copping
	Break of Day	Wendy Dickson
	Oz	Robbie Perkins
	Storm Boy	David Copping
1978	Newsfront	Lissa Coote
	The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith	Wendy Dickson
	The Getting of Wisdom	John Stoddart and Richard D. Kent
	The Mango Tree	Leslie Binns
1979	My Brilliant Career	Luciana Arrighi
	The Last Of The Knucklemen	Leslie Binns
	Mad Max	Jon Dowding
	Money Movers	David Copping
1980s
1980	Breaker Morant	David Copping
	The Chain Reaction	Graham 'Grace' Walker
	Harlequin	Bernard Hides
	Stir	Lee Whitmore
1981	Gallipoli	Herbert Pinter and Wendy Stites
	Fatty Finn	Lissa Coote
	Grendel Grendel Grendel	Alex Stitt
	The Survivor	Bernard Hides
	Winter of Our Dreams	Lee Whitmore
1982	Mad Max 2	Graham 'Grace' Walker
	The Return of Captain Invincible	David Copping
	Squizzy Taylor	Logan Brewer
	Starstruck	Brian Thomson
1983	Careful, He Might Hear You	John Stoddart
	Undercover	Herbert Pinter
	The Wild Duck	Darrell Lass
	The Year of Living Dangerously	Herbert Pinter and Wendy Stites
1984	Strikebound	Tracy Watt, Harry Zettel, MacGregor Knox and Neil Angwin
	Razorback	Bryce Walmsley
	Silver City	Igor Nay
	Street Hero	Brian Thomson
1985	Rebel	Brian Thomson
	Bliss	Owen Paterson and Wendy Dickson
	The Coca-Cola Kid	Graham 'Grace' Walker
	Frog Dreaming	Jon Dowding
1986	Playing Beatie Bow	George Liddle
	Dead End Drive-In	Lawrence Eastwood
	For Love Alone	John Stoddart
	The Right-Hand Man	Neil Angwin
1987	Ground Zero	Brian Thomson
	Bullseye	George Liddle
	The Place at the Coast	Owen Paterson
	To Market To Market	Virginia Rouse
1988	The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey	Sally Campbell
	Dangerous Game	Igor Nay
	Incident at Raven's Gate	Judith Russell
	Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds	Sean Callinan
1989	Ghosts... of the Civil Dead	Chris Kennedy
	Dead Calm	Graham 'Grace' Walker
	Georgia	Jon Dowding
	Island	Neil Angwin
1990s
1990	Flirting	Roger Ford
	The Big Steal	Paddy Reardon
	Blood Oath	Bernard Hides
	Weekend with Kate	Lawrence Eastwood
1991	Spotswood	Chris Kennedy
	Aya	Jennie Tate
	Deadly	Peta Lawson
	Isabelle Eberhardt	Bryce Perrin and Geoffroy Larcher
1992	Strictly Ballroom	Catherine Martin
	The Last Days of Chez Nous	Janet Patterson
	Love in Limbo	David McKay
	Romper Stomper	Steven Jones-Evans
1993	The Piano	Andrew McAlpine
	Broken Highway	Lesley Crawford
	Resistance	MacGregor Knox
	Say a Little Prayer	Chris Kennedy
1994	The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert	Owen Paterson
	Gino	Chris Kennedy
	Muriel's Wedding	Paddy Reardon
	Traps	Michael Philips
1995	Metal Skin	Steven Jones-Evans
	All Men Are Liars	Murray Pope
	Mushrooms	George Liddle
	That Eye, the Sky	Chris Kennedy
1996	Children of the Revolution	Roger Ford
	Love Serenade	Steven Jones-Evans
	Shine	Vicki Niehus
	To Have & to Hold	Chris Kennedy
1997	The Well	Michael Philips
	Doing Time for Patsy Cline	Roger Ford
	Idiot Box	Kerith Holmes
	Thank God He Met Lizzie	Clarissa Patterson
1998	Oscar and Lucinda	Luciana Arrighi
	Dead Letter Office	Chris Kennedy
	The Interview	Richard Bell
	Radiance	Sarah Stollman
1999	Passion	Murray Picknett
	In a Savage Land	Nicholas McCallum
	Praise	Michael Philips
	Siam Sunset	Steven Jones-Evans
2000s
2000	Bootmen	Murray Picknett
	Better Than Sex	Tara Kamath
	Chopper	Paddy Reardon
	Looking for Alibrandi	Stephen Curtis
2001	Moulin Rouge!	Catherine Martin
	The Bank	Luigi Pittorino
	Lantana	Kim Buddee
	La Spagnola	Dee Molineaux
2002	Dirty Deeds	Chris Kennedy
	Garage Days	Michael Philips
	Rabbit-Proof Fence	Roger Ford
	Swimming Upstream	Roger Ford
2003	Ned Kelly	Steven Jones-Evans
	Gettin' Square	Nicholas McCallum
	Japanese Story	Paddy Reardon
	The Night We Called It a Day	Michael Philips
2004	Somersault	Melinda Doring
	Love's Brother	Paul Heath
	One Perfect Day	MacGregor Knox, Patrick Bennet and Joseph Keily
	Tom White	Dan Potra
2005	The Proposition	Chris Kennedy
	Little Fish	Luigi Pittorino
	Look Both Ways	Rita Zanchetta
	Three Dollars	Luigi Pittorino
2006	Macbeth	David McKay
	Candy	Robert Cousins
	Suburban Mayhem	Nell Hanson
	Ten Canoes	Beverley Freeman
2007	The Home Song Stories	Melinda Doring
	Clubland	Nell Hanson
	Noise	Paddy Reardon
	Romulus, My Father	Robert Cousins
2008	Death Defying Acts	Gemma Jackson
	The Children of Huang Shi	Steven Jones-Evans
	The Tender Hook	Pete Baxter
	Unfinished Sky	Laurie Faen
2009	Australia	Catherine Martin, Ian Gracie, Karen Murphy and Beverley Dunn
	Balibo	Robert Cousins
	Mao's Last Dancer	Herbert Pinter
	Mary and Max	Adam Elliot
2010s
2010	Bright Star	Janet Patterson
	Animal Kingdom	Josephine Ford
	Beneath Hill 60	Clayton Jauncey
	Tomorrow, When the War Began	Robert Webb, Michelle McGahey, Damien Drew and Beverley Dunn
AACTA Awards
2011 (1st)	The Eye of the Storm	Melinda Doring
	The Hunter	Steven Jones-Evans
	Red Dog	Ian Gracie
	Sleeping Beauty	Annie Beauchamp
2012 (2nd)	The Sapphires	Melinda Doring
	Burning Man	Steven Jones-Evans
	Killer Elite	Michelle McGahey
	Lore	Silke Fischer
2013 (3rd)	The Great Gatsby	Catherine Martin, Ian Gracie, Karen Murphy and Beverley Dunn
	Adoration	Annie Beauchamp
	Goddess	Annie Beauchamp
	The Rocket	Pete Baxter
2014 (4th)	Predestination	Matthew Putland
	The Babadook	Alex Holmes
	The Rover	Josephine Ford
	The Water Diviner	Chris Kennedy
2015 (5th)	Mad Max: Fury Road	Colin Gibson
	Cut Snake	Josephine Ford
	The Dressmaker	Roger Ford
	Partisan	Steven Jones-Evans and Sarah Cyngler
2016 (6th)	Hacksaw Ridge	Barry Robison
	The Daughter	Steven Jones-Evans
	Girl Asleep	Jonathon Oxlade
	Goldstone	Matt Putland
2017 (7th)	Lion	Chris Kennedy
	Berlin Syndrome	Melinda Doring
	The Death and Life of Otto Bloom	Ben Morieson
	Jasper Jones	Herbert Pinter
2018 (8th)	Peter Rabbit	Roger Ford and Lisa Thompson
	Cargo	Jo Ford
	Upgrade	Felicity Abbott and Katie Sharrock
	Winchester	Vanessa Cerne and Matthew Putland
2019 (9th)	The King	Fiona Crombie and Alice Felton
	Hotel Mumbai	Steven Jones-Evans
	Judy and Punch	Jo Ford
	The Nightingale	Alex Holmes
2020s
2020 (10th)	True History of the Kelly Gang	Karen Murphy and Rebecca Cohen
	Babyteeth	Sherree Philips
	I Am Woman	Michael Turner and Richie Dehne
	The Invisible Man	Alex Holmes and Katie Sharrock
	Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears	Robert Perkins
2021 (11th)	Mortal Kombat	Naaman Marshall
	2067	Jacinta Leong
	Nitram	Alice Babidge
	Penguin Bloom	Annie Beauchamp
	Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway	Roger Ford
2022 (12th)	Elvis	Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy and Beverley Dunn
	The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson	Sam Hobbs
	Interceptor	George Liddle
	The Stranger	Leah Popple
	Three Thousand Years of Longing	Roger Ford
2023 (13th)	The New Boy	Amy Baker
	Carmen	Steven Jones-Evans
	The Portable Door	Matthew Putland
	Scarygirl	Nathan Jurevicius
	True Spirit	Michelle McGahey, Bill Booth and Gillian Butler
2024 (14th)	Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga	Colin Gibson and Katie Sharrock
	Better Man	Joel Chang and Lisa Brennan
	How to Make Gravy	Benjamin Fountain and Peter Kodicek
	Late Night with the Devil	Otello Stolfo
	Memoir of a Snail	Adam Elliot

Notes

A^ : From 1958-2010, the awards were held during the year of the films release. However, from 2012, onwards, awards are handed out for films of the previous year.^[8]^[9]

References

^ "AACTA – The Academy". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Archived from the original on 24 June 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
^ "AACTA – The Academy – The Awards". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 3 June 2012.
^ ^a ^b "AACTA – The Academy – Background". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 3 June 2012.
^ "AFI-AACTA - Winners & Nominees - 1977". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 24 August 2016.
^ "AFI-AACTA - Winners & Nominees - 1983". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 24 August 2016.
^ "AFI/AACTA – Winners & Nominees". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 4 June 2012. Note: User must select years listed on page to view winners of that decade/year.
^
Additional winners and nominees references:
- French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009). Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute. Australian Teachers of Media. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-876467-20-3.
- French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009). Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute. Australian Teachers of Media. p. 166. ISBN 978-1-876467-20-3.
- French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009). Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute. Australian Teachers of Media. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-876467-20-3.
- French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009). Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute. Australian Teachers of Media. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-876467-20-3.
^ "AACTA – Past Winners – 1970–1979 – 1974–1975". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 3 June 2012.
^ Bodey, Michael (8 November 2011). "Industry academy announces new awards". The Australian. News Limited (News Corporation). Retrieved 5 June 2012.

[1] "AACTA – The Academy". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Archived from the original on 24 June 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2012.

[2] "AACTA – The Academy – The Awards". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 3 June 2012.

[background-3] "AACTA – The Academy – Background". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 3 June 2012.

[4] "AFI-AACTA - Winners & Nominees - 1977". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 24 August 2016.

[5] "AFI-AACTA - Winners & Nominees - 1983". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 24 August 2016.

[Winners-6] "AFI/AACTA – Winners & Nominees". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 4 June 2012. Note: User must select years listed on page to view winners of that decade/year.

[Extra-7] Additional winners and nominees references:
French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009). Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute. Australian Teachers of Media. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-876467-20-3.

French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009). Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute. Australian Teachers of Media. p. 166. ISBN 978-1-876467-20-3.

French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009). Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute. Australian Teachers of Media. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-876467-20-3.

French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009). Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute. Australian Teachers of Media. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-876467-20-3.

[8] French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009). Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute. Australian Teachers of Media. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-876467-20-3.

[9] French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009). Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute. Australian Teachers of Media. p. 166. ISBN 978-1-876467-20-3.

[10] French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009). Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute. Australian Teachers of Media. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-876467-20-3.

[11] French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009). Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute. Australian Teachers of Media. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-876467-20-3.

[8] "AACTA – Past Winners – 1970–1979 – 1974–1975". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). Retrieved 3 June 2012.

[9] Bodey, Michael (8 November 2011). "Industry academy announces new awards". The Australian. News Limited (News Corporation). Retrieved 5 June 2012.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

Winners and nominees

Further reading

Notes

References