Production Designer Tamara Deverell on Building the Gothic Grandeur of Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein”

Guillermo del Toro became obsessed with Frankenstein at the age of seven, after seeing the 1931 Boris Karloff movie, and walked out of the theater with a new calling. “Gothic horror became my church,” Del Toro said in a statement, “and [Boris Karloff] became my messiah.”

Ever since that childhood epiphany, del Toro has dreamed of reanimating Mary Shelley’s famous monster for modern audiences. Now comes his Frankenstein (in theaters now,

“One Battle After Another” Production Designer Florencia Martin on Building PTA’s Three-Hour Action Thriller from the Ground Up

Paul Thomas Anderson’s action thriller One Battle After Another is loosely inspired by a section of Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel “Vineland,” but this three-hour epic is rooted in the present, a contemporary vision of a heightened clash between far-left and far-right, and, more intimately, a story about vengeance, desire, and family.

Pat Calhoun (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) are partners and active members of a far-left militant group,

“Hedda” Production Designer Cara Brower on Transforming a Stunning Estate for Tessa Thompson’s Rogue Heroine

To re-animate playwright Henrik Ibsen’s famously unhappy heroine Hedda Gabler, writer-director Nia DaCosta cast her longtime muse Tessa Thompson as the star of Hedda (opening Oct. 22). This vivid adaptation, featuring Nina Hoss in the gender-switched role of an ex-lover along with Imogen Poots, Tom Bateman and Nicholas Pinnock, takes place in 1950s England at a raucous party complicated by jealousy, existential angst, feminist fury,

The Invisible Architects: How Two Visionary Production Designers Launched a Global Movement

If a film’s visuals tickle the eye, scorch the heart, or linger in the consciousness long after the credits roll, you can thank the production designer. Whether the project is a blockbuster or a low-budget indie, the production designer is tasked with creating that elusive “look” of the film and translating the director’s vision into visual reality.

“A complaint often raised with production designers, like other ‘below the line’ [artisans],

“After the Hunt” Production Designer Stefano Baisi on Creating Three Generations of History in One Apartment

It’s no accident that Oscar-nominated Call Me by Your Name director Luca Guadagnino‘s movies look as elegant as they do. The Italian filmmaker has a side hustle as an interior designer. In 2017, he launched his eponymous studio and hired architect Stefano Baisi, who helped him design shops, hotels, Dior fashion shows, and luxury apartments. Last year, Baisi crossed over to film by conjuring a surreal 1950s Mexico City for Queer,

Getting Caught in “Kiss of the Spider Woman” Production Designer Scott Chambliss’s Perfect Web for Jennifer Lopez

Production designer Scott Chambliss is known in Hollywood for big tentpole movies— Star Trek, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Mission: Impossible III are a few of his films—so he was a bit shocked in 2023 when writer-director Bill Condon called him about revamping Kiss of the Spider Woman as an old-fashioned MGM movie musical. Chambliss knew exactly how to win over the man who made Dreamgirls and wrote the movie version of Chicago.

“The Conjuring: Last Rites” Production Designer John Frankish on Creating the Hellish Smurl House

Production designer John Frankish knew instantly that making the homes the dark heart of The Conjuring: Last Rites was the way to go. From there, everything else would fall into place.

Directed by Michael Chaves, the ninth installment in The Conjuring Universe finds Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga’s paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, taking on what could be their most insanely terrifying case yet—and that’s saying something.

From Stage to Screen for “SNL50”: How Production Designers & the Editing Team Shaped 5 Decades of Comedy

As the longest-running sketch comedy show in US television history, Saturday Night Live has not only shaped generations of comedians and cultural commentary, but it’s also become an institution for live performance. Some of its most iconic moments are when cast members can’t help but laugh themselves. But behind the humor is a bustling backdrop of production design, costumes, hair, makeup, lighting,

Crystal Vision: How “Superman” Production Designer Beth Mickle Built the Fortress of Solitude

Director James Gunn started small with his 2010 micro-budgeted indie film Super, followed by his acclaimed Guardians of the Galaxy films for Marvel. Now, he’s made a crowd-pleasing new version of Superman that’s raked in more than half a billion in global box office since its release earlier this summer. DC Comics’ original superhero returns in a big way, as Gunn’s universe-corraling reboot pits the title character (David Corenswet),

Decoding Deceptive Design With “Presumed Innocent” Production Designer John Paino & Set Decorator Amy Wells

In part one of our conversation about David E. Kelley’s rigorously intense and captivating courtroom drama, Presumed Innocent, production designer John Paino and set decorator Amy Wells talked about the elaborate courtroom set and what it was like to shoot the Chicago-set series entirely in Southern California.

Thanks to Jake Gyllenhaal’s nuanced, Emmy-nominated performance, Rusty’s culpability on the grisly murder of his fellow prosecutor and lover,

“Jurassic World: Rebirth” Production Designer James Clyne on Creating Killer Labs and Animalistic Architecture

Production designer James Clyne recreates and modernizes the dinosaur playground gone wrong that first blew our minds in Steven Spielberg‘s 1993 classic Jurassic Park. Back then, that playground—or theme park, to be more accurate—was the brainchild of John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), and like all children, it had a mind and personality of its own, determined to become something other than its parents’ fervent wish. In Jurassic World: Rebirth,

How “Presumed Innocent” Production Designer John Paino & Set Decorator Amy Wells Brought Chicago to Los Angeles

Shot mostly in Pasadena and around Los Angeles, Presumed Innocent, showrunner David E. Kelley’s twisty and riveting courtroom psychological thriller, was able to do so largely thanks to the $12 million in California tax incentives allocated to the prestige drama from Apple TV+. “The crew we have here is the best I’ve worked with all over the world. They’re an incredible bunch of people; you’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with,” production designer John Paino says,

“Murderbot” Production Designer Sue Chan on Building the Brilliant World Around Alexander Skarsgård’s Conflicted Robot

Growing up in New Jersey with immigrant parents who ran a Chinese restaurant, Murderbot production designer Sue Chan didn’t even know the job existed when she first laid eyes on the futuristic movie that would inspire her journey into show business. “I basically decided to be an architect after going to see Blade Runner,” she recalls. “When I walked out of that movie theater with my family, I was like,

“Duster” Production Designer Jonah Markowitz Brings 1970s Arizona to 2025 New Mexico

The moment writer-director-producer J.J. Abrams saw actor Josh Holloway pull up to a pay phone in a vintage mini-muscle car, he knew what his next show would be. Duster, co-created with LaToya Morgan and streaming on HBO through July 3, casts Holloway, revered for his role in Abrams’ ABC hit Lost, as fast-driving rogue Jim Ellis, whose entanglement with drug dealers in 1972 Phoenix warrants the attention of Rachel Bilson’s Phoenix FBI Agent Dana Hayes.

Inside the Bone Temple: How Designers Carson McColl & Gareth Pugh Crafted the Pagan-Apocalyptic World of “28 Years Later”

Serving as both production designers and costume designers for director Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later was a groundbreaking career moment for Carson McColl and Gareth Pugh.

Not only is the post-apocalyptic coming-of-age horror film the first film they have worked on, but the married couple, known as Hard and Shiny, is best known for their high fashion and for having worked with such icons as Beyoncé and Lady Gaga.

How “F1” Production Designer Ben Munro Built Real Racing Garages That Traveled the World

Architect-turned-director Joseph Kosinski knows how to build action movies modeled, more than most, on analog reality. Following on Top Gun: Maverick, Kosinski has re-teamed with producer Jerry Bruckheimer to put Brad Pitt in the driver’s seat for F-1 (now in theaters). The filmmakers, deploying cinematographer Claudio Miranda’s ingenious camera rigs, worked with producer/ex-driver James Lewis to secure cooperation from the Formula One organization so that Pitt and co-star Damon Idris could get behind the wheels of real cars in front of actual crowds and speed down raceways in UK,

Building the First “Black Mirror” Sequel: How Production Designer Miranda Jones Upgraded the USS Callister Universe

Back in Season 4 of Black Mirror, an enthusiastic programmer, Nanette (Cristin Milioti), gets trapped in a virtual-reality game by its creator and her boss, Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons). Shy and self-minimizing in real life, Nanette’s in-game clone is creative and confident enough to lead the rest of her colleagues, also trapped as crew by Daly on the starship USS Callister, out through a wormhole. Black Mirror picks up the thread with a sequel in Season 7,

Crafting Continental Studios: How Julie Berghoff Built Seth Rogen’s Fictional Production Powerhouse in “The Studio”

In The Studio, the fast-talking movie executives who make and sell motion pictures to mass audiences might use “on the nose” as a pejorative. But sometimes, the obvious solution can’t be denied. For show creators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, there was only one place to set their behind-the-scenes look at how cinematic sausage gets made: Warner Bros. Studios.

The Burbank, California backlot serves as headquarters for the fictional Continental Studios.

Designing Dance: Production Designer Bill Groom’s Meticulous Ballet World-Building in “Étoile”

In the world of ballet as dramatized in Étoile, prickly personalities throw tantrums one minute and dance with exquisite grace the next. Created by former dancer Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Dan Palladino, the Amazon Prime series (now streaming) follows imagines a contentious talent swap between New York and Parisian dance companies desperate to create buzz about their new seasons.   

It doesn’t go well.

The quarrelsome characters include Cheyanne (Lou De Laâge) the world’s best ballet dancer and eco-activist who publicly denounces the company’s billionaire arms-dealer benefactor;

“Sinners” Production Designer Hannah Beachler on Conjuring Ryan Coogler’s Supernatural Stunner

Warning: Contains spoilers

Ryan Coogler’s latest film, Sinners, made history with a second-weekend box office tally only six percent lower than its opening weekend. Just past its fourth weekend, it crossed the $200 million mark at the domestic box office. Both audiences and critics adore this Southern Gothic vampire thriller, starring Michael B. Jordan as identical twins Smoke and Stack. The pair has just returned to the Mississippi Delta after fighting in World War I and then getting involved with the Chicago mob,