Nelson Coates is an American production designer and set designer for film, television, and theater. He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1994 for his art direction of the miniseries The Stand,[1] for which he designed all 225 sets.[2] Coates is a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He was named Abilene Christian University's Outstanding Young Alumnus of the Year in 1996 and was recipient of the ACU Department of Journalism/Mass Communications Gutenberg Award. Coates was named Film Professional of the Year (2008) by Cambridge Who's Who in America.
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The son of two Abilene Christian University education professors, Drs. Ed and Jane Coates, Nelson Coates became interested in the arts from a young age, creating costumes and scenery for school and community productions. He learned to create sculptures from natural fibers with the help of a book given to him at age 14 by his parents.[3] He began acting in regional theatre at the age of 6. During high school, he became involved in gymnastics, a skill set he used years later when planning escape routes for Wesley Snipes' character in Murder at 1600.[4] Coates went on to attend the college where his parents taught, changing majors from pre-med to mass communications and graduating magna cum laude with a BA in Journalism/Mass Communications with an emphasis in design.[4] Coates has acted in and designed for numerous theatres throughout the U.S. While in college, Coates was a part of the acting company of the Dallas Shakespeare Festival, where he met Morgan Freeman. Coates later designed "Kiss the Girls"and "The Code", both of which star Freeman.
After graduating from college, Coates moved to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, where he exhibited his sculptures,[3] acted in regional theater and television,[5] and began his career in theatrical and feature film design.[6][7][8][9]
The Stand is Coates' only television miniseries to date. In addition to designing all sets for the project, he took responsibility for other aspects of creating a realistic Nebraska setting for the Utah-based production. Faced with prices of $40 per stalk for New York-made fake corn, Coates opted instead to grow 3,250 corn stalks as a cost-cutting measure; when a winter storm hit Utah, the reproduction of a cornfield became complicated by the fact that the harsh weather did not allow the corn crop to grow taller than 4 feet.[2]
His films include 1995's Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, 1997's Kiss the Girls and Murder at 1600, 1998's Disturbing Behavior and Living Out Loud, and 1999's Stir of Echoes. Other films include Don't Say a Word (2001), Frailty (2001), the science-fiction film Impostor (2001), Antwone Fisher (2002), Runaway Jury (2003), School for Scoundrels (2006), The Express (2008), The Proposal (2009), and The Last Song (2010). He recently designed the Miley Cyrus music video, "When I Look At You."
  | Awards and nominations for Nelson Coates - Nelson Coates - Awards |
| | "Movie Minds: Nelson Coates" - ACU Today - Fall 1998 "Movie Minds" |
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