by FilmInk Staff
The Australian Production Design Guild celebrated the 2026 APDG Awards on Saturday, August 22, with the fabulous host Alex Papps at the Meat Market, in Melbourne.
The red-carpet event began with the Lifetime Achievement Award which was presented to milliner Phillip Rhodes, who famously said ‘A hat is nothing if it does not fit: does not fit the head, does not fit the brief, does not fit the personality; does not fit the times.’
In film, The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Bring Her Back were the big winners of the evening.
Bring Her Back’s Vanessa Cerne took home the Production Design for a Feature Film Award and Nic Nicolou, Paul Katte, Rebcca Buratto and Larry Duyhoven the Make-Up, Prosthetic Make-Up Or Hair Design Award.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North winners were Beverley Dunn winning the Set Decoration for a Feature Film or Television Award and Anna McEwan the Graphic Design Award.
Heather Wallace won the Costume Design for a Feature Film Award for Wolfram and the brand-new Costume Supervision for a Feature Film or Television Production went to Rachel Nott for The Bluff.
Big winners in television were Nicholas Dare who claimed the Production Design for a Television Production Award with The Artful Dodger (Season 2) and Gypsy Taylor who won the Costume Design for a Television Production Award with All Her Fault.
Callum Webster picked up the Art Direction for a Feature Film or Television Production Award for The Last of Us (Season 2). Daniel J Burns won the Concept Art Award for Star Trek: Strange New worlds (Season 3).
Steven Jones-Evans claimed the Design for a Commercial Award for Telstra ‘The Girl and the Ghost’. Nathan Andrew Evans claimed the Design for a Short Form Screen Production Award with Collect Call.
Winners of the emerging categories were Tegal Gupta for the Emerging Designer for a Screen Production Award for Mirror of the Evening and Ella Wilkinson for the Emerging Designer for Live Performance Award with Peter Pan.
In live performance, Keerthi Subramanyam won the Set Design for a Live Performance or Event Award for the second year running with The Wrong Gods. Paul Jackson won the Lighting for Live Performance or Event Award for the third year running with Troy. Eamon D’Arcy collected the Multi-Discipline Design for A Live Performance or Event Award for Chasing the Sun.
Jennnifer Irwin APDG took home the Jennie Tate Costume Design for a Live Performance or Event Award for Unungkati Yantatja – One with the Other and Susie Henderson won the Video Design for a Live Performance or Event Award for Endling.
The grand finale was the presentation of the Cameron’s Management Outstanding Contribution to Design Award, which saw multi-award winner Aphrodite Kondos taking the trophy for costume design and production design. While her achievements are too great to list, Aphrodite’s impressive career has spanned over fifty years. Highlights include The Blue Lagoon, Road Games, Patrick and The Sound of One Hand Clapping.
To see a full list of winners visit: https://apdg.org.au/awards/nominees-winners
Image: Production Design winner Nicholas Dare with his team. Credit: James Oorloff
