I was in the final week doing 3D Design at the Royal College of Art and Stuart Craig, who had been at the RCA 10 years earlier, put up a note asking if anybody wanted to Design Props for a science fiction film. Stuart was starting his first Production Design role on ‘Saturn 3’.
A career in films was never mentioned as any sort of realistic possibility but fortunately Stuart took me on, and I stayed with him on ‘History of the World Part 1’, ‘The Elephant Man’, ‘Cry Freedom’ and eventually becoming an Art Director on ‘Dangerous Liaisons’. Stuart also recommended me to Norman Reynolds for ‘Return of the Jedi’, and then on to ‘Return to Oz’, ‘Young Sherlock Holmes’ and ‘Empire of the Sun’. Stuart and Norman were my two main mentors and although I didn’t quite get to their level, it has been fun trying!
After 10 years, I became a Production Designer on the ‘Young Indiana Jones Chronicles’ with George Lucas again. That led to George and Rick McCallum asking me to join the three`Star Wars’ prequels’, and then moving forward, working with Directors like Steven Soderbergh, Tim Burton, Brian Singer, Morten Tyldum, Louis Letteriere, and now Joe and Anthony Russo.
There are too many people to thank but all the help I was given is fully appreciated. I have worked on amazing projects, in different countries, often with the family traveling with me. And the truth is they deserve a ‘Life Achievement Award’ themselves for supporting me through all those adventures!
