This alumna will be honored with a lifetime achievement award after working on numerous
high-profile films and other projects.
CREATORS
For Jann Engel, thinking about what her career might be like was always fun, but few
things turned out the way she originally envisioned.
As it happens, that ride and all its unexpected steep turns and sharp corners, has
been even more enjoyable.
Now, looking back, Jann can realistically assess how her marvelous career has rolled
out since graduating from Texas Tech University with a bachelor’s degree from what is now known as the Huckabee College of Architecture.
“It was a big surprise that nothing happened how I thought it would happen,” she said.
And yet, here Jann is standing on the precipice of an accolade most can only dream
about regardless of profession: the 2026 Art Directors Guild’s Lifetime Achievement
Award for Excellence in Set Design, Art Direction. The presentation is scheduled to
take place in February 2026 at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown.
“I think it is the highest honor one can receive from your peers,” she said. “So,
it is still slowly sinking in, and I don’t think it has yet, but it’s a tremendous
compliment when your peers recognize you.”
The prestigious award recognizes her talent and devotion to her craft.
“Jann Engel’s remarkable career has left an indelible mark on the art of visual storytelling,”
Tim Croshaw, chair of the set designers and model makers council, said in a news release
announcing the honor. “Her work on some of the most ambitious and visually compelling
films of our time – ranging from award-winning dramas to epic blockbusters – reflects
a rare blend of creativity, precision and leadership.”
Jann’s work over the past three decades is nothing short of amazing. As a set designer
and art director in Hollywood, she has helped breathe life into some of the world’s
best-known movies, including “Memoirs of a Geisha,” “Legends of the Fall,” “Road to
Perdition,” “The Big Short,” “The Avengers,” “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers:
Endgame.”
Her career is a testimony to hard work and making the most of every opportunity in
a place where connections are everything. The first film Jann worked on, as a junior
set designer, was on the iconic “Batman Returns,” a Tim Burton-directed sequel to
the 1989 blockbuster “Batman.”
Rather than get caught up in the star power high-profile motion pictures attract,
Jann said the secret to her long success was pretty simple.
Jann Engel
(Photo Courtesy: Vic Rincon)
“If you want to keep working, you have to hit your deadlines as a set designer,” she
said. “That means getting drawings done in a timely fashion. When you’re working on
a project like that, you have a supervisor coming through every day checking your
progress, so having a lot of focus is actually paramount to doing a good job.”
While working as an architectural consultant for the Universal Studios Florida theme
park design/build, Jann shared office space with several set designers and saw their
contributions to the project.
“I want to do that,” she said. “That was when I first discovered set design.”
At that time, Jann’s primary job was with a landscape architecture firm, and she was
among a group of employees told they would be laid off at the end of December. She
surveyed her possibilities and remembered the business card of a contact from that
recent job at Universal Studios.
They talked, and, being familiar with her work, asked her to come in for an interview.
“They told me to bring my stuff I needed to go straight to work in case they hired
me,” she recalled with a smile.
Jann went to her office, packed up her stuff and left a sticky note on the owner’s
desk that informed the firm of her new career possibility.
Needless to say, it all worked out.
Hitting deadlines and meeting project expectations were qualities Jann had long mastered
thanks to her experiences as an undergraduate at Texas Tech. At the time, she may
not have known where her career would take her, but the faculty there prepared her
by demanding excellence.
Jann grew up in New Mexico and was drawn to Texas Tech because of the reputation of
the design program, calling it the best in Texas at that time.
“The program at Texas Tech covered everything,” she said. “I know there were other
university programs that focused on a specific emphasis, but Texas Tech’s program
was incredibly well-rounded. The classes and the professors were all outstanding.”
Jann said she also benefited from a black-and-white photography class and a film studies
class that spent a good chunk of time focusing on classic films like “Chinatown” and
“The Conversation.”
“Just the conversation and the instructor were excellent,” she recalled. “Having so
much exposure to urban planning and historic preservation was great, and there was
incredible attention to detail in the program, emphasizing collaboration between students.”
Jann also played the baritone horn in the low brass section of the Goin’ Band from Raiderland and was a resident assistant for several years in the Wall-Gates complex. Maybe most importantly, she soaked up the beautiful architecture of the Texas Tech campus and surrounding area.
Following graduation, her first project was working with John White, a former longtime professor in the college, in Death Valley, California. The job
called for documenting Scotty’s Castle as part of the Historic American Building Survey
(HABS).
“That was such an outstanding job because it covered historic preservation, and I
was there with one of my favorite professors,” she recalled. “I learned how to measure
existing conditions thoroughly because in that sun and that heat, if you don’t get
everything you need by 10 a.m., it meant you had to go back out in the afternoon when
the sun and heat were even more intense.”
For Jann, it was a great first job for several reasons. First, it was in California,
not far from the epicenter of the film industry, and second, she made professional
connections that would prove helpful when she was working on the film “Mars Attacks!”
“It was wonderful, and it prepared me for my career,” she said. “For ‘Mars Attacks!’
I was to draw the foyer of the White House, so I contacted HABS in Washington, D.C.
They sent prints, and I was able to recreate the foyer accurately for that movie.”
Jann now has worked on more than 80 movies, and she has expanded her repertoire to
include limited series as streaming services like Netflix have opened a new horizon
where she can showcase her talents.
“Jann’s contributions have helped shape the language of contemporary cinema, while
her mentorship, service and dedication to sustainability continue to elevate our community,”
Croshaw said. “It is a true honor to recognize her with the Art Directors Guild’s
Lifetime Achievement Award.”
One of Jann’s favorite projects was “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” a Clint
Eastwood-directed film in which she had the opportunity to work with Oscar-winning
production designer Henry Bumstead
“I had the chance to learn from some really talented people, and I think knowing your
skill set, what you’re strong at and not strong at as a set designer, is really important,”
she said. “It’s also important that you know how to be collaborative because this
is a collaborative industry.”
As Jann reflects on this surreal moment of recognition, she believes receiving a lifetime
achievement award doesn’t mean she’s anywhere near the end of her career. From her
vantage point, there is plenty more to accomplish.
“I don’t think you ever retire from anything you love,” she said.
When Jann first started in the business, the position (and her name) weren’t always
included in the film’s final credits that roll at the movie’s conclusion. Screen credits
have always been random for set designers as they are granted at the film producer’s
discretion.”
“The first time I saw my name in the credits, it was very exciting,” she said. “I
always stay at the end of movies to see all the credits.”