Decorating Pages

As a holiday present to my loyal listeners I’m giving away my top 5 tips for breaking into the business. I’m sharing the story of how I got into production and eventually a job in the art department. It is hands down the most asked question I get over the years. I’ve spent hours emailing people back the same story and the same tips. So this is my holiday gift to anyone looking to get into his crazy business. Happy Holidays!

In this episode I describe the structure of the Art, Set Decoration and Prop department. I’ve been in this business since 1999, and I know in describing all this to you I’m still not right. Every show it seems some positions do more or less then what you thought they did. Some people bring out the union handbook to prove they do or do not have to do something or that it is or isn’t coming out of their departments budget. Some people like the control of doing more then their position. I am going to be reading from the the local 44 union book and the Art Directors Guild of what their definitions of positions are and then trying to explain it in everyday use. My hope is to be as instructive as I can in helping you understand all the different positions it takes to make these amazing cinematic worlds come to life.

On this episode I speak with Production Designer Rose Lagace. She is also the creator of the successful Hollywood art department insider website Art Departmental. We spoke in mid august and we both were starting back to work at the time. We talk about her show “The Baroness Von Sketch Show”, which if you haven't checked it out, it’s pretty funny and a little dark. We discuss the ebb and flow of the work in Canada in the past decade, some of our tricks we used for getting into the business and her work designing many short films like Patient, Close your Eyes, Suffer, Plus One and so many more. She also describes how she came up with the successful website Art Departmental. Incredible how she is able to juggle working, keeping up with this site, interviewing Designers and Decorators.

On this episode I speak with Director, Producer, Writer, AD Jeff Rosenberg. I’ve worked with Jeff for a couple of years on different shows as our first AD and second AD and he’s great in both positions. In this past year Jeff finished the film “We Broke Up” which he wrote, produced and directed. I wanted to have him on the podcast because it’s so interesting to me to hear how someone can wear all the hats and have the passion to get a project completed. It took him years to get this together and while working long hours on productions like “The League” “VEEP”, “The Good Place” and films like “Wine Country”. He has an ADG award for “VEEP”, and wins and nominations for writing, production and directing his film Orenthal:The Musical which is now showing on Amazon Prime. And he won the Audience Award at the Friars Club Comedy Film Festival for it. We talk about how we both started in Hallmark movies… he excelled a lot quicker then I did, his story of getting into this business is unbelievable.

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

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

On this episode I speak with Set Decorator Brandi Kalish. Brandi was brave enough to take over HBO’s "Silicon Valley" season five and she jumped into massive new sets and continued that in season 6, its final season. We get into how she has a mentor in Production Designer Michael Wehstone, the massive sets she decorated for "Silicon Valley", and balancing a budget with help from product placement. Also, diving into her decorating decisions on the the popular Netflix show “Dead To Me”. In all her spare time she has just opened up a Prop house called Studio Arts (https://www.studioartsllc.com/) in downtown LA which focuses on rental of contemporary art. She has been nominated for her work on Silicon Valley with Emmy and ADG nominations and you can see her delightful decorating in the second season of the Netflix show "Dead To Me".

On this episode I speak with Production Designer / Set Decorator Tracy DIshman. I met Tracy on the NBC show Animal Practice, and unfortunately haven't been able to work with her again. Tracy is able to balance a career Production Designing independent films and still Set Decorating inbetween. Her recent credits include the Sundance film “Black Bear”, “Inherit the Viper”, James Franco’s “Zeroville” and the upcoming “Music” directed by Sia. We chat about budgeting the design of a project, salaries of Set Decorators, independent film making and more.

In this episode I speak with my friend, Production Designer Cory Lorenzen. Besides being the Designer for "The Goldbergs" and "Schooled" he also is an Art Director in Entertainment Design for Universal, Nickelodeon and others.Starting his career with the indy hit "Napoleon Dynamite" he’s been designing films and tv shows like "Greek", "The Paul Riser Show", "Breaking In", "Web Therapy" the period hits "The Goldbergs" and "Schooled".

In this episode I interview Production Designer Bob Shaw, known for his work on "The Irishman", "The Sopranos", "Boardwalk Empire", "Wolf of Wall Street" and so many more. His thoughts on working in New York City on period projects, thoughts on working in this Covid world an his upcoming work on "The Gilded Age" and the Sopranos prequel "The Many Saints of Newark".

In this episode I conclude my interview with production designer Eugenio Caballero. He speaks about a very unique design process in designing the film “Roma”. He has had some extraordinary experiences working on film sand he talks about those collaborations like with director Jim Jarmusch, working and traveling in this work with a family, and how releasing films on streaming verse in the theater.

On this episode I speak with Production Designer Eugenio Caballero. We discuss his current show “Cortes” shutting down for the pandemic. His passion about this subject and the personal relation he has to the project. He shares his journey of starting out designing music videos and set decorating then becoming a Production Designer. He also tells of his collaboration with Director Guillermo del Toro on "Pan’s Labyrinth", specifically the use of certain color pallets in the film to distinguish the fantasy scenes