Decorating Pages: TV and Film Design

On this episode I speak with Production Designer Ethan Tobman. Ethan is nominated for and ADG award this year for his design of Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” in Short Format: Web Series or Music Video. He won the ADG award last year for “Black is King” in the Variety Special category. Ethan studied at NYU where he wrote, directed and production designed a short film at the age of 19 that went to Cannes Film Festival. From there he worked his way up on film to a Production Designer for films, TV  and music videos. Currently airing now on Hulu, Ethan Tobman also Production Designed “Pam and Tommy”. His other projects also include “Free Guy”, Beyonce’s “Lemonade” and “Formation”, multiple videos with Taylor Swift, “The Report”, and the chilling story “Room”.

On this episode I speak with Set Decorator Amber Richards. Amber is a Set Decorator in New Zealand and is nominated for an Oscar this year for her work on “The Power of the Dog”. This film was shoot in New Zealand for Montana by director Jane Campion and is stunning in it's period decor. As I spoke with Amber I got a better sense of how crews work in New Zealand compared to the US. We talk about how the responsibilities of the Set Decorator reach to different decor like wallpaper and hardware in her department. Amber was nominated for an ADG award last year for her work on “Mulan”, a huge scope of sets in that period film also. We discuss how Set Decorators have pieces fabricated for set as she did for “Mulan” and “The Meg”. Amber started as a set dresser on some of the biggest films of our time including “The Lord of the Rings” series, “The Last Samurai”, “King Kong”, “The Chronicles of Narnia”, “Mission Impossible: Fallout”. Amber is currently jumping in on “Sweet Tooth” season 2 on Netflix!

On this episode, I speak to Production Designer Steve Olson, Set Decorator Jerie Kelter and Art Director Raf Lydon. These three are now nominated for an ADG award for their work on “Live in Front of a Studio Audience: “The Facts of Life” and Diff’erent Strokes”. Exciting to hear how these three collaborated to make these iconic sets come back to life. From the linoleum floors, the moldings, and matching furniture to a T! Steve, Raf, Jerie and their crews brought these classic sets back to life and made us remember the design of minicams in the 80’s.

In part two of this interview with director Craig Zisk we speak about how he decides to shoot a scene, and gives a great example of the one-er (scene shot in one take) he did on the show “Smash”. We talk about guest directors being visitors on long running shows and how he works in that environment. The importance of the Tone Meeting with the showrunner. We discuss “Cop Rocks”, “The Larry Sanders Show”, “Brave New World” and “The Looming Tower”. He has been directing for 30 years, and is still excited about every project …I hope I get to work with him again soon.

On this episode I speak with Director, Producer Craig Zisk. Craig has directed over 96 shows in his career jumping back from drama to comedy. He's directed shows like "NYPD Blue", "Alias", "Scrubs", "The Office", "Parks and Rec", "Brooklyn Nine-Nine", "Weeds", "New Girl", "Fear the Walking Dead", "This is Us", "Wu-Tang:An American Saga" and many more. He talks about his college days at USC while being a PA on "Family Ties". An incredible story of how passion and hard work prevail in this industry.

On this episode I’m talking with Set Decorator Sarah McMillan who is Emmy nominated for her work on the riveting limited series “Mare of Easttown”. Sarah’s resume has some real hidden gems like AMC’s “Dispatch’s from Elsewhere”, Netflix’s “Living with Yourself”, the period film “Kill Your Darlings”, and her first Set Decorating job was on Gus Van Sant’s "Last Days". In starting out she set dressed on “The Royal Tenenbaums”! Sarah and I talk about the home town vibes she created in absolute perfect detail in capturing the look of Easttown, a fictional town outside of Philadelphia.

Ryan Garton is a Set Designer who has worked on shows TV shows like “Banshee”, “Sleepy Hollow” and “Scorpion”, his work can recently be seen in the film “The Prom” and I’ve been working with him for the past year on “American Crime Story: Impeachment”.  Ryan has a gift for creating gorgeous virtual renderings of the sets he designs. These days with our schedules being so tight and revisions constantly coming at you, a Set Designers job has become more demanding. Ryan and I also have a deep love for the Real Housewives franchises. We talk some gossip and rate the homes and decor of some of the Real Housewives.

On this episode I speak with Director Michael Uppendahl. Michael has an very interesting story of how he got into directing that intertwines passion, talent and good old fashion luck. He is an award winning theater director and has been directing hugely acclaimed TV series like "Walking Dead", "Madmen", "Turn", "Legion", "Castle Rock", "Hunters", "Hollywood", "Ratched", "Fargo" and I am currently working with Michael on "American Crime Story: Impeachment". I was just delighted when I learned he had directed an episode in this past season of "Fargo" that was shot in black and white. It's a beautiful hour of television. With Emmy voting going on till June 30th please consider Michael’s work on "Fargo", "Ratched" and "Hollywood".

On this episode I speak with Production Designer Kalina Ivanov about her design of the 50's noir series "Lovecraft Country". Studying theater at NYU lead Kalina to storyboarding for films such as "Silence of the Lambs", "Quiz Show", "Sleepers" and more. Kalina transitioned to Production Designing films that range from comedies like "The Best Man", "Uptown Girls", and "Long Shot", to the TV musical "Smash", dramas such as "Rabbit Hole", "The Conspirator", the series "Kings", and Netflix's "Seven Seconds". Kalina's Production Design also won an Emmy award for HBO's "Grey Gardens".

On this episode I am airing an interview I did last month with my alma mater Jefferson University. They have a great online series of webinars of how-to's from some of their alumni in their speciality fields. You can check out other webinars on their website jefferson.edu. In this webinar give tips on staging your home for selling from a set decorators design eye. Very grateful that I was considered for the series and hope that it was helpful. If you would like to watch the slide show for this episode you can find it on the Jefferson University YouTube channel and soon on the Decorating Pages YouTube channel.