Anne D. McCulley Receives Lifetime Achievement Award At 32nd Annual SDSA Luncheon

Each year, the Set Decorators Society of America holds an annual luncheon where outstanding members of the SDSA community are recognized and honored.  Marking their 23^rd annual event, this year’s sold out affair will be taking place on April 10^th at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Downtown LA.  The SDSA recently announced Emmy Award®-winning set decorator, Anne D. McCulley SDSA will receive the covetted Earl Cooperman Lifetime Achievement Award during its 23rd Annual Awards Luncheon.

A Tennessee native, McCulley began her career in the Universal Studios prop department in the early 1970s. Facing challenges common to women at the time, she worked her way to being hired as the first female Leadperson for the television series COLUMBO under set decorator and mentor Jerry Adams. She became the first woman to emerge as a set decorator from the property department for the TV series KOJAK. McCulley went on to win an Emmy® Award for Outstanding Art Direction Or Scenic Design For A Dramatic Special for ABC’s Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years, shared the award with Production Designer Jan Scott. Her continued work in television earned her four more Emmy Award® nominations.

McCulley’s first feature film as a set decorator was the comedy classic “Airplane!”. Her career flourished with acclaimed films including NINE TO FIVE, PURPLE RAIN, SILVERADO, RUTHLESS PEOPLE, NUTS, THE WAR OF THE ROSES, ANTWONE FISHER, NATIONAL TREASURE, ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS and many more.

Her eye for the playful and whimsical made her an inspired choice as set decorator for comedies like BIG TOP PEE WEE and THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN, but her sense of character and place brought much to films like THE CLIENT and ABSOLUTE POWER. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Television Academy, and the American Society of Interior Designers. She continues to “dabble in design” from her Dallas-area home.

Happening simultaneously with the luncheon is the extremely art auction with proceeds benefiting the charity Inner City Arts. SDSA members donate their original works of art for the highly anticipated SDSA Art Auction. It will benefit this year’s SDSA Charitable Recipient: Inner-City Arts. A special section of the auction, the Kate Sheeley Outreach, benefits the Motion Picture Television Fund. Art Auction bidders must pre-register prior to the event date. Register at www.setdecorators.org <http://www.setdecorators.org> .

Attendees at the SDSA Luncheon are also able to participate in a raffle.  This year’s raffle includes items ranging from vendor discounts or $200 gift cards to an iPhone 6S. Tickets are $5 each and the winner need not be present to win. Tickets for the raffle and additional information about the SDSA Awards Luncheon are available at www.setdecorators.org