Marjo Bernay to Receive Special Service Award From ADG

Marjo Bernay, a veteran entertainment IATSE activist for over four decades, will be honored with a special Service Award from the Art Directors Guild (ADG, IATSE Local 800) at its 23^rd Annual “Excellence in Production Design Awards.”  The ADG Service Award is given to exemplary employees or members with a long history of work for the Guild. The black-tie gala, themed “Landscape of the Imagination,” will be held Saturday, February 2, 2019 at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown. The announcement was made today by president Nelson Coates ADG and awards producer Scott Moses ADG.

Trailblazer, pioneer, groundbreaker, innovator, feminist and labor activist are all labels that could be aptly applied to Marjo Bernay, a 40-year veteran from three IATSE Locals. Marjo followed in her father, Josef Bernay’s, footsteps when she joined IATSE’s Illustrators & Matte Artists (Local 790); Set Designers & Model Makers (Local 847); and later Art Directors Guild (Local 800). She was a leader in the unions as a business agent of Local 790 and Local 847 until they merged with the ADG (Local 800) in 2008. Bernay retired from the Art Directors Guild as manager, awards and events in 2013, and remains active on the ADG Board.

Bernay was a member of numerous organizations promoting the entertainment industry, including the California Film Commission, the Los Angeles Film Development Committee and the L.A. County Film Commission. She was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plans and the first woman from the labor side to chair the Health Plan. In addition, she was Vice President and a member of the Executive Council of the California State Theatrical Federation and Chairman of the Environmental Allocations Committee of the Permanent Charities Committee of the Entertainment Industry. She was a member of the Executive Committee of IATSE District 2 and first Chairperson of the District’s Women’s Caucus.

As previously announced, Rob Marshall (Mary Poppins Returns), the Oscar®-nominated and Emmy®-winning filmmaker, producer, theater director and choreographer whose films have consistently reflected the highest quality of production design, will receive the prestigious ADG Cinematic Imagery Award. British production designer and set decorator Anthony Masters, nominated for an Academy Award® for the film “2001: A Space Odyssey,” and Benjamin Carré, best known for his work on The Phantom of the Opera and The Wizard of Oz, will be inducted into the ADG Hall of Fame. Lifetime Achievement Awards will be presented to Oscar®-nominated production designer Jeannine Oppewall, senior illustrator and production designer Ed Verreaux,  scenic artist Jim Fiorito and set designer and art director William F. Matthews.

Producer of this year’s ADG Awards (#ADGawards) is production designer Scott Moses ADG. Final online balloting starts January 8^th and ends January 31, 2019 and winners will be announced at the dinner ceremony on Saturday, February 2, 2019.