Nelson Coates is an American production designer for film, television, and theater. He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1994 for his production design of the miniseries The Stand, for which he designed all 225 sets. In 2012 he was nominated for an ADG Excellence in Production Design Award (Best Contemporary Feature Design) for his work on Robert Zemeckis’ Flight, starring Denzel Washington. Coates has twice been elected president of the Art Directors Guild and 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 a recipient of the ACU Department of Journalism/Mass Communications’ Gutenberg Award. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Laguna College of Art and Design. Coates’ recent film work includes the two sequels to Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, produced simultaneously over the course of 120 shooting days in ten cities and three countries. The dual productions required more than 160 sets and locations. Christian Grey’s lavish penthouse depicted in the films was not a location, but a stage set. Coates also completed production on the 2018 releases On the Basis of Sex and Crazy Rich Asians.