8 6 P E R S P E C T I V E | J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 1
I got the call the day after Christmas. I'd never
before been called for work between the holidays,
so this film was already special. My good friend,
the phenomenally talented location manager
Stuart Neumann, had given my name to the
producer and star, Nnamdi Asomugha, for the film
Sylvie's Love.
I suspected some designer had dropped out. That
was not the case. They just wanted to move fast.
By the end of the next day, I'd talked with director
Eugene Ashe, shared my concept and the job was
mine. Moving fast was to become one of the themes
of this low-budget period piece.
Sylvie's Love is a love story, set against the backdrop
of the jazz world. The story takes place in 1957 and
1962 in Harlem and the Bronx, with a very small
amount in Detroit at the end of the film.
My concept was to romanticize and contrast colors
in a way that echoed the bold spontaneity of jazz.
C o l o r s o f J a z z
S Y L V I E ' S L O V E
B Y M A Y N E B E R K E , P R O D U C T I O N D E S I G N E R
A. RECORD STORE
EXTERIOR. PRODUCTION
STILL.
A
