Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1360111
3 2 SENIOR SET DESIGNER Martha Johnston's career as a Set Designer began the summer of 1976 as a summer job a er her third year of college at CSUN, where she was studying ne arts. Her father was a Set Designer at MGM on a feature called Comes a Horseman. Martha was brought into the Art Department to help build and decorate a dollhouse to be used in the movie. e Production Designer was George Jenkins. Martha's good fortune continued with her next job in the Universal Art Department under the tutelage of Hank Meyer. While there, she worked on various TV shows such as Quincy M.D. and Little Women. At the time, she was still continuing her studies at night. A er her rst stint at Universal, she worked with Chuck Rosen at Warner Bros. Studios on e Main Event. While there, she realized that she still had a lot to learn and eventually returned to Universal where, aside from working on various TV shows, she worked with John Corso on Xanadu and Psycho II, working her way up the Set Designer ladder. She also went back to MGM and worked on Pennies from Heaven with Ken Adam who called her "the girl." Still a junior at the beginning of the 1980s, Martha was hired on Poltergeist with Jim Spencer and Bill Matthews. She eventually earned the 9,000 hours required to become a Senior Set Designer and it was at that time that she got involved in a committee to eliminate the junior 'c' and senior 'b' categories in the union. Having learned her cra , she continued to work on various television shows and features with many talented Production Designers, while also getting married and having three children. e '80s were a blur and the '90s were busy balancing work, kids' school, hobbies and home. Staying in town to raise her children and working with people who value family was a priority. ere were two Production Designers who will always have a special place in her heart by allowing her to bring her infants to work: Bill Sandell on Generation and Ned Parsons on Hill Street Blues. Being a Set Designer allowed her to take breaks between shows and spend time with her children. H O N O R I N G MARTHA JOHNSTON SDMM LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD