Decorating Pages

In this episode I describe the process that I take in preparing to get the words to screen. From getting the first call, budgeting, research, crewing and then decorating the sets there are many things that come up in prep. I give an overview of my process and examples from my experiences in starting up shows in TV and films.

In this episode I talk about the films, TV shows, magazines, books and social media that has inspired my path to becoming a Set Decorator and inspire my decorating now. From trips when I was young to Disney World to checking out the latest Instagram accounts, inspiration is everywhere. It's also about what keeps me inspired and keeps me getting up at an ungodly hour to work in this business.

In this episode I speak with Set Decorator William DeBiasio. His story is interesting because it goes to show it’s never too late in life to start in this business. With his desire and drive, coming from a retail background, he started at a prop house, then a set dresser,  continued to buyer and eventually a Set Decorator.  He had long stints on "The West Wing", "Alias", "Chuck", "Melrose Place", "Pretty Little Liars" and more. He currently is on the fifth season of “The Rookie '' which has its  season finale airing this week. WIlliam has extensive knowledge of Hollywood history and behind the scenes stories of some iconic shows and films like “I Love Lucy”, “Hello Dolly”, “My Fair Lady” and more. I never knew he had this talent!

This is part two of my interview with Director of Photography Simon Dennis. We deep dive into dorking out about our love for the film “The Conversation”. He talks about shooting “Peaky Blinders”and “Black Sails”, and the super cool set up he has on set to adjust color, and bring up references. I hope you caught last week's episode with him. We talked about how he got into being a DP, not knowing who Ryan Murphy was, then working together for five years on his project such as “Pose”, “Ratched”, “Hollywood”, ”American Crime Story: Impeachment”. You can watch his latest work "Candy" airing now on Hulu.

In this episode I speak with Director of Photography Simon Dennis. Simon has been working the last 5 years non stop in Ryan Murphy world and making it look stunning. Growing up outside of London, Simon was making films when he was young like a lot of us. He even admits to making his mom be the gaffer. Starting out making shorts, small films, and then springing into the mainstream with ”Dr. Who”, “Peaky Blinders”, “Pose”, “Politician”, “Hollywood”, “ACS: Versace”, ''Ratched". I worked with him on''ACS: Impeachment” and it was a delight. His new project is the limited series “Candy” which will air on May 9th on Hulu.

"Better Call Saul" - In this episode I chat with Set Decorator Ashley Michelle Marsh of "Better Call Saul". Originally from Oklahoma, Ashley Michelle March moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico to pursue a career in TV and film as a Set Decorator. Starting as an assistant on the film “Observe and Report”, then coordinating on the TV series like “In Plane Sight” and “The Client List” she moved over to Set Dec Buyer on “Better Call Saul”, “The Night Shift” and “Longmire”. Ashley began decorating and jumped into “Mr. Robot”, “The Girlfriend Experience” and films “El Camino”, “The Ultimate Playlist of Noise''. “Better Call Saul” is airing now and Ashley should be very proud of this final season.

In this episode I speak with Set Decorator Kimberly Leonard. Growing up in Los Angeles, and being inspired by her uncle, Donfeld, a costume designer, Kimberly studied design at Parsons and then hit the ground running on features, “Wheel of Fortune”, “Married with Children”, even working in a prop house till finding the set decoration buyer position. Kimberly mastered the position on shows like “Star Trek: Voyager”, "Star Trek: Enterprise’, “Boston Legal”, “Bones”, “Weeds” and more. Kimberly started Set Decorating on the Robin Williams comedy “The Crazy Ones”. Her Set Decorating credits include “Jane the Virgin”, “The Grinder”, “Blindspotting”, ”Counterpart”, “The Mosquito Coast”, and just recently Hulu’s “The Dropout”.

This is part two of my interview with Production Designer Marek Dobrowolski. His new film that has just been released is “I’ll find you” about A Catholic opera singer and Jewish violin virtuoso dream of performing together at the legendary Carnegie Hall in New York City, but the German invasion of Poland tears them apart. Shooting the whole film in his native Poland Marek was able to select historically accurate locations for scenes and give the film its period feel. We also talk about his start as a theater designer which led to a series of nine fairy tale TV movies in a year! We speak about his designs on “Mr. Mercedes”, “Last Action Hero”, “Under the Dome”, “Hitler: Rise of Evil” which he won an Emmy for his designs and more. He is also designing the last season of “The Walking Dead” which was in last week's episode.

In this episode I speak with Production Designer Marek Dobrowolski. Marek has designed a number of historically rich stories that have taken him to locations all around the world. After winning an Emmy for his work on “Hitler: Rise of Evil”, he continued his epic designs with Steven Spielberg’s “Into the West ' which he was also nominated for.His other designs include “The Craft”, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”, “Justified”, “World Without End”, ”The Company”, “Under the Dome”, “The Last Ship”, “Mr. Mercedes”, the current season of “The Walking Dead”. His latest film, “I’ll Find You”, is a wonderful story of love conquering all set in the Nazi background of World War 2. He shares that he got to go home to Poland for filming and was able to have a full Polish crew. He is a wonderful storyteller, as you will hear, sharing about his designs and research for each of these marvelous projects.

In this episode I talk about how to wrap up a show when you are finished shooting. From holding items to the next season, making inventory of your assets, to making it all disappear. The process differs from show to show, if the show is coming back or being wrapped out because it is ending, like a film. Tedious and time consuming for the Set Dec department on every show its a huge part of the job. I also break down the Oscars, and discuss the Oscar for Best Production Design “Dune”.

In this episode I speak with Oscar winning Set Decorator Shane Vieau. Shane’s work has a dynamic effect on screen which you can currently see in his Oscar nominated work on "Nightmare Alley". He has decorated huge films like “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”, “Crimson Peak”, “Suicide Squade”, “xXx: Return of Xander Cage”, “The Shape of Water”(Oscar) and “It: Chapter Two”, He also decorated 2015’s Best Picture “Spotlight”and that lil’ indy film “Juno”.

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".