Nelson Coates has been re-elected president of the Art Directors Guild, defeating challenger Joe Musso in a do-over of last year’s election mandated by the U.S. Department of Labor. The DOL ordered a rerun of last December’s officer elections after it found flaws in the way the electronic balloting was handled.
Art Directors Guild
Twenty-year guild member Coates and his slate of incumbent candidates won all but one of the officer seats up for grabs: Tom Wilkins was re-elected secretary, defeating challenger Patricia Klawoon, and Oana Bogdan was re-elected treasurer, beating Cate Bangs.
The only member of Musso’s slate to win was Jim Wallis, who defeated incumbent vice president Patrick DeGreve. Musso, however, was elected to the guild’s Illustrators and Matte Artists Council, and Klawoon was elected to the Art Directors Council.
Musso and his slate had been outspoken critics of Scott Roth, who was voted out as the guild’s longtime executive director earlier this year in another DOL-mandated election. Musso, who was named a lifetime achievement award recipient, has said that he will not be on hand to receive it at the guild’s upcoming awards dinner in protest of an award being given to Roth.
Others elected to the Art Directors Council were Judy Cosgrove, Joseph Garrity, John Iacovelli, Vincent Jefferds, Rachel Robb Kondrath, and Dina Lipton. Elected to the Scenic, Title and Graphic Artists Council were Cristina Colissimo, Michael Denering, Russell Dunn, Lockie Koon and Timothy Swope. Elected to the Set Designers and Model Makers Council were John P. Bruce, Adriana Dardas, Mark Haber, Karl Martin, and Jim O’Donnell. Others elected to the Illustrators and Matte Artists Council were Tim Burgard and Benton Jew.
A member of the guild since 1996, Coates has been designing features, TV and commercials for more than 25 years. Known for such films as Flight (2012), The Proposal (2009) and Runaway Jury (2003), he was nominated for an Emmy for his production design on the ABC miniseries Stephen King’s The Stand in 1994. His most recent work includes this year’s Hot Pursuit and Secret in Their Eyes.
