Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1517535
6 P E R S P E C T I V E | M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 2 4 N E W S Art Stars by Tom Lisowski B Y D AV I D M O R O N G , E D I T O R "The most valuable tool you have is being creative and there are not that many people who are. Our job is never going away because people want ideas. No one is going to replace the idea." -Nathan Crowley Production Designer and ADG member Tom Lisowski has just authored a new book titled Art Stars: Legends of Production Design. Based on his blog by the same name, www.artstars.us, Lisowski has gathered interviews with 31 international Production Designers and compiled them into one volume. It would take the whole page to list all the artists he has included in the book, and unfair to name just a few. Suffice it to say, each one is highly accomplished and has both experience and insight into the art form. Most of the book is arranged as conversations between Lisowski and his subjects, touching on their path into the profession, their approach to material and how they work with collaborators. This leads to not just an insight into the design process, but reveals how some of the great filmmakers of our time communicate and interact with their design teams, and so extends into something of a masterclass on working with directors, DPs, set decorators, VXF supervisors and all the other artists a Production Designer joins forces with on a project. Each interview in the book starts with a brief outline of the career of the designer before settling into the conversation, which can start with their path into the profession; some detail of a current project, or some curious question Lisowski poses to start off the dialog. Each interview runs from around 8 to 16 pages, and the designers are encouraged to talk at length with minimal interruption. Dividing the interviews are short segments called "Excerpts," where the designers chime in on common questions. What do you do after you receive a script? Should design be invisible? The book's focus stays on design, but is really about filmmaking from a designer's perspective, and would be of interest not just to those in the Art Department, but to anyone who collaborates with them as well. "Lazy people shouldn't go into Production Design. Lazy people shouldn't think about doing any job in the Art Department! You have to be a bit crazy to do it. You need a bit of insanity as well!" -Patrice Vermette A. ART STARS BOOK COVER. B. ART STARS DESIGNER PORTRAITS (L-R): DANTE FERRETTI, JACK FISK, HANNAH BEACHLER, KK BARRETT AND SARAH GREENWOOD. B A