LOS ANGELES, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 01/20/10 -- Paula Poundstone, award-winning comedian and author, has been tapped to host the 14th annual Art Directors Guild (ADG) awards, set for Saturday, February 13 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. In addition, Richard Chamberlain, Donald Faison and Gene Wilder are set to present, with others to be announced.

Nine ADG awards for Excellence in Production Design in categories for theatrical motion pictures, television, commercials and music videos, will be presented, along with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Production Designer Terence Marsh and a Cinematic Imagery Award for Warren Beatty. Production Designer Michael Baugh is also being presented with a Creative Leadership Award. In addition, three legendary Production Designers will be inducted into the ADG Hall of Fame: Malcolm F. Brown, Bob Keene and Ferdinando Scarfiotti. At the start of the awards ceremony, the ADG will debut a short film clip entitled "The Case of the Bad Production Designer," the theme of which is Production Design: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful.

Poundstone is currently one of the most popular panelists on National Public Radio's "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me," a weekly news quiz show featuring some of the country's leading pundits. In 2008, the show won a prestigious Peabody Award for Outstanding Achievement in Broadcasting. The show is heard in 50 states in over four million homes and consistently ranks on the iTunes "Today's Top Podcasts" list. She also appears on Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" on American Public Radio.

Last year, Poundstone released her first CD, "I Heart Jokes: Paula Tells Them in Maine." The CD was recorded at the world-famous Stone Mt. Arts Center in Maine, a favorite performance stage for Poundstone, and is chockfull of the acerbic, self-deprecating wit for which she has become well known. In 2007 Random House published Poundstone's first book, "There's Nothing In This Book That I Meant to Say," an autobiography that intertwines historical biographies with anecdotes from her own life. She is currently working on a second book for the same imprint.

Winner of several acclaimed awards, Poundstone has starred in hour comedy specials on HBO, and most recently, BRAVO. A spontaneous wit, she was the first woman to ever receive the Cable ACE Award for her HBO special "Cats, Cops and Stuff," and the first woman to perform for the President at the White House Correspondents Dinner in 1992. That same year, Poundstone forsook what she considered the 'staid' 5-minute standup set on late night talk-shows for something she thought more authentic with the audience: she filed spontaneous, memorable coverage, first of the 1992 Presidential Election for the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno," and then made a star turn at the Emmy Awards.

Soon came her own show on ABC, aptly named, "The Paula Poundstone Show." She went on to do two more comedy specials: "Paula Poundstone Goes to Harvard" (HBO, 1994) and "Paula Poundstone: Look What The Cat Dragged In" (BRAVO, 2007). Poundstone won another Cable ACE Award for Best Talk Show Host for her HBO late night series "The Paula Poundstone Show" (1992), an Emmy Award for her field reports on the PBS series "Life And Times" (2002), and an American Comedy Award for Funniest Comedian.

On stage, Paula manages to mix comedy about the world around us with her personal life. She even handles politics without provoking the pall of disapproval less artful comics have received. A single working mother with three teenaged children, 11 cats, a big misbehaving dog and a bearded dragon lizard, she tours regularly, performing her live show in Theatres and Performing Arts Centers across the country.

Poundstone was recently named The National Spokesperson for ALA's (American Library Association) Friends of Libraries, USA -- a national citizens support group with chapters throughout the USA that work toward raising funds and supporting their local libraries.

Nominations for the ADG Awards were announced on January 8 and can be accessed at http://www.adg.org/?content=cm&section=26. Deadline for final voting, which is done online, is February 11. Co-Producers for this year's ADG Awards are John Janavs and Dawn Snyder. Art Director John Sabato will design the ceremony using Swarovski crystals, in a multitude of different applications and styles.

Sponsors for the 14th Annual ADG awards are: Set and Décor Sponsor Swarovski; Marsh, Best & Associates; United Talent Agency; Fox Studios Production Services; Paramount; Astek Inc./On Air Designs; Montana Artists Agency; NBC Universal - Property, Drapery, Graphic and Sign Shop, Staff and Moulding Shop; and Warner Bros. Studio Facilities. Media sponsors are Below The Line, Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Tarin Wilson of plan A events is the event planner for this year's ADG awards.

About the Art Directors Guild:

The Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800) represents nearly 2,000 members who work throughout the United States, Canada and the rest of the world in film, television and theater as Production Designers, Art Directors, and Assistant Art Directors; Scenic, Title and Graphic Artists; Illustrators and Matte Artists; and Set Designers and Model Makers. Established in 1937, ADG's ongoing activities include a Film Society; an annual Awards Banquet, a creative/technology community (5D: The Future of Immersive Design) and Membership Directory; a bimonthly craft magazine (Perspective); and extensive technology-training programs, creative workshops and craft and art exhibitions. The Guild's Online Directory/Website Resource is at www.adg.org.

For an electronic image of Paula Poundstone, please contact Suzanne Parker at suzanne@publicity4all.com.

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