Decorating Pages: TV and Film Design

On this episode I am joined by Production Designer James Pearse Connelly and we discuss the nominated designs and the winners of the 2020 Emmys for Production Design. If you have listened to James and I recap before you know we don't’ hold back, and we drink! I’m super glad that he’s up for this and is able to go head to head discussing all of these celebrated TV shows. We talk about who we thought would win, not necessarily who we voted for. And.. we were mostly wrong. Which goes to show, you never know… even as insiders, he’s even on the Emmy committee, ya just never know. James also just won a Daytime Emmy in June for his design of the Kelly Clarkson show, so cheers to that! He currently is the designer for show that are filming during covid like “The Masked Singer”. We talk about how designing for covid has changed his designing style.

On this episode I am joined by storyboard artist Gabriel Hardman. I spoke to him in early July after seeing him in the documentary “Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Story”. A documentary about storyboard artist Harold Michelson and his wife Lillian Michelson, a film researcher. In the documentary they interview a current storyboard artist, Gabriel Hardamn. The documentary inspired me to track him down for this podcast. A storyboard artist is a position in the art department but as Gabriel explains they work more closely with the Director then the Production Designer. Gabriel’s resume is quite impressive. Huge films like Ford vs. Ferrari, Pirates of the Caribbean, Logan, Interstellar, The Dark Knight Rising, Inception, Angels and Demons, Tropic Thunder, The Siderman movies, The Austin Power movies. I definitely learned from this interview about specifics of the position and the imagination and talent it takes to be a storyboard artist.

On this episode I speak with Production Designer Jamie McCall. From her days of graphic designing on "House" to designing non stop for the past two years on "American Crime Story: Versace", "Pose", "The Politician" and the upcoming Netflix film "The Prom". We talk about her moving around the country to work in this industry, how other Production Designers have helped and influenced her, her work on "Banshee" and designing the Ryan Murphy world.

On this episode I speak with Set Decorator / Production Designer Matthew Flood Ferguson. Matthew is currently nominated for an Emmy for his work on the Netflix series “Hollywood” for Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Period or Fantasy Program. His career as a Set Decorator focused on films like "Running with Scissors", "Beautiful Creatures", "The Gift", "Battle of the Sexes" and more… but recently turning to a string of high end TV Dramas like "American Crime Story: Versace", and the upcoming "Ratched", he then moved to Production Designer for “Hollywood”. We talk about how we met on Versace, how he started his career in commercials, the ridiculous pace it takes to get a series like "Versace" and "Hollywood" made and if he’ll be sticking to Production Design. I also gush about my love for the film "Running with Scissors" and make him talk about all the good stuff.

On this episode I speak with Production Designer Monica Sotto. Monica is celebrating her nomination for Outstanding Production Design for Variety, Nonfiction, Reality or Reality-Competition Programming for “Drunk History”. She was also nominated in 2017 when she was the Art Director on "Drunk History". This past January, when we were still allow to party, Monica and her team also picked up an Art Director Guild award for "Drunk History". I met Monica on “Bones”, she was the art department coordinator. It was great to catch up with her and see what she's been up to since I last worked with her. A USC film school grad, Monica started as being an agents' assistant and then moved into the art department. She’s worked on some great shows like “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”, “Rizzoli & Isles (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1551632/?ref_=nm_flmg_ardp_9)”, the last season of “American Horror Story” and more.

This episode is very special to me because I speak with a Designer idol of mine Production Designer Jane Musky. The films that Jane has designed have influenced me more than I realized. Although I have seen almost all of her films, multiple times, when I refreshed and watched some again, it made me feel passion, excitement, and my love for making set decorating. Jane designed Raising Arizona, Young Guns, When Harry Met Sally, Ghost, Glengarry Glen Ross, City Hall, The Devil’s Own, Boomerang and even recently Hustlers. We talk about her start as a scenic designer, meeting up with the Cohen brothers to start her film career, giving great advice about the set atmosphere, her recent season of the Murphy Brown reboot, working with DP’s like Barry Sonnenefeld, Dante Spinotti. Discussing the recent film Hustlers, the classic and in depth dressing of Glengarry Glen Ross, and then I pull everything I can out of her about Raising Arizona.

On this episode I speak with Jonathan Fischer who is an editor in unscripted reality television. Jonathan has been working on shows like Expedition Unknown, Little Woman:Dallas, Battlebots, American Guns, Ultimate Fighter, The Biggest Loser and more. He explains to me how the editing process begins, works and ends on a project. How the Tsunami in Japan in 2011 changed the editing industry forever. Who knew?? We discuss the ethical responsibility an editor has especially in reality television and how under current conditions working remotely is doable but not ideal. Also why he decided to change his career and focus on Virtual Reality.

On this episode I speak with Set Decorator Don Diers who’s passion for details in his sets and his choice for specific charter pieces are so wonderful to discover when you watch his work! Starting in film as an art director he quickly discovered his passion for creating the characters in dressing and switched paths to be a Set Decorator. Creating memorable sets on films like the picture perfect “Down with Love”, in TV the collage campus world of “Community” and even decorating for the “The Muppets” which he has an Art Directors Guild award for. He currently has the second season of Showtime’s “Kidding” under his belt and these sets are not to be missed.

On this episode I speak with the Production Design team of the final season of "The Good Place". Production Designer; Ian Phillips, Art Director; Adam Rowe, Prop Master; Gay Perello and Graphic Designer; Graham Radcliff watch the series finale of "The Good Place" together and reminisce how we all got it done. It was so nice to see each other, especially in this time. Watching the series finale together was special, we really appreciate each other's contributions to the look of the show. It was a fantastic series to be apart of. Many of us on the crew were also on Parks and Rec together and it’s like we say in this interview we all just click, and have a short hand of communication. Bonus! I also have made a video of this podcast accompanied by pictures of the sets and the props for you to view and listen at the same time! You can watch this on the www.decoratingpagespodcast.com website or the Decorating Pages Podcast YouTube channel. Today also starts Emmy voting, so I hope you will consider the series finale of "The Good Place" for Outstanding Production Design in half hour or less.

On this episode I speak with Production Designer Brain Stonestreet. Brian’s crater is jammed packed with huge live programs. Brian designs the stages for live evets like The Grammy’s, The Golden Globe Awards, The Soul Train Awards (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11182954/?ref_=nm_flmg_pdsg_3), The BET Hip-Hop Awards (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10950998/?ref_=nm_flmg_pdsg_4), The Billboard Music Awards (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9154620/?ref_=nm_flmg_pdsg_7), The Annual Academy of Country Music Awards (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8986084/?ref_=nm_flmg_pdsg_8) and more. He also has Production Designed The Kennedy Center Honors, Al Pacino and George Clooney An American Cinematheque Tribute (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0770712/?ref_=nm_flmg_pdsg_83)s, and more. He has Won 3 Primetime Emmy Awards, 2 Art Directors Guild Awards and another 26 nominations (https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm0832313/about?ref_=nm_awards_summary). So I knew that he did these shows but when I really looked at sets for the performances he has designed.. It’s incredible. Moving parts and coordinating the artist and the lighting… and it’s live! Just some ….SOME of the amazing performances he has designed for Luciano Pavarotti (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luciano_Pavarotti), Whitney Houston (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_Houston), Carlos Santana (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Santana), Elton John (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elton_John), Madonna - multiple times, Alicia Keys (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alicia_Keys), U (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U2)2, Prince (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_(musician)) and Beyoncé (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyonc%C3%A9), The White Stripes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_White_Stripes), Adele, Foo Fighters (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_Fighters), Sting (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sting_(musician)), James Brown (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown), Stevie Wonder (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevie_Wonder), Brian Wilson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Wilson), Amy Winehouse (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Winehouse), John Fogerty (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fogerty), John Legend (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Legend), John Mayer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mayer), Andrea Bocelli (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Bocelli), Lady Gaga (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Gaga), Mick Jagger (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mick_Jagger), Barbra Streisand (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbra_Streisand). And that’s just the ones I like! The design of his Kennedy Center Honors class include Leon Fleisher (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Fleisher), Steve Martin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Martin), Diana Ross (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Ross), Martin Scorsese (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Scorsese), and Brian Wilson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Wilson), Merle Haggard (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Haggard), Jerry Herman (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Herman), Bill T. Jones (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_T._Jones), Paul McCartney (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_McCartney), and Oprah Winfrey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey). This is a fascinating interview at least it was for me, I really learned a lot from this. We talk about his shows and what his designing challenges for these live shows will be for this Corona Viruse phase. In fact, the BET awards are this sunday, June 28th, so I’m intrigued to see what the design is of it.