Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1542693
J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 6 | P E R S P E C T I V E 1 1 Southwell became a union Illustrator while working on The Muppet Movie, contributing set illustrations, storyboards, on-screen graphics and advertising art. He later created illuminated manuscript artwork for the title sequence of In God We Trust, joining the Scenic and Title Artists union in the process. In 1980, he was elected to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, sponsored by Dean Tavoularis and Lawrence G. Paull. A landmark moment in his career occurred when Larry Paull and David L. Snyder brought him onto Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, where Scott's own background as an Illustrator fostered a highly visual and dynamic collaboration. Southwell's subsequent credits include Annie, Buckaroo Banzai, Romancing the Stone and The Woman in Red, for which he created storyboards, murals, billboards and company logo art. His work continued with films such as The Goonies, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Adventures in Babysitting. Projects including Navy Seals and Arachnophobia led him to City Slickers, where he formed a long-lasting creative partnership with director Ron Underwood on films such as Heart and Souls, Speechless and Mighty Joe Young. Southwell contributed key storyboards to Mission: Impossible, notably visualizing the iconic helicopter-in-the-Chunnel sequence. He later served as visual effects Art Director for Executive Decision, designing action sequences involving real aircraft. His transition into Production Design began with HBO's Black Cat Run, directed by D.J. Caruso, who later hired him to design The Salton Sea. Additional Production Design credits include Taking Lives, Two for the Money and Disturbia. After a 60-year career marked by major studio films, television productions, commercial work and visual development for numerous projects, Tom Southwell retired in 2018, leaving behind a substantial and influential body of work. A D G L I F E T I M E A C H I E V E M E N T AWA R D T O M S O U T H W E L L D. BLADE RUNNER (1982) BILLBOARD ART. E. IN GOD WE TRUST (1980) ILLUSTRATON. F. WINTER PEOPLE (1989) ILLUSTRATION. D E F