Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546606
2 0 P E R S P E C T I V E S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 2 6 Before I think about architecture, wallpaper or the color of a front door, I ask myself a much simpler question: Who lives here? How do they move through their home? What have they collected over the years? What do they treasure? What have they repaired instead of replacing? What have they stopped noticing because they've walked past it every day for decades? Those answers become the foundation of every design decision that follows. By the time I begin thinking about finishes, furniture or color palettes, I'm no longer decorating a set. I'm building a life. That question became the starting point for every conversation we had while creating The 'Burbs. Colonial Street is one of the most recognizable backlots in Hollywood. It carries decades of collective memory, and with that comes a unique responsibility. We weren't interested in borrowing that nostalgia. We wanted audiences to feel they were discovering a neighborhood they had never seen before—one that somehow already felt familiar. Very early in the process, our conversations stopped being about houses. They became conversations about tone. The 'Burbs constantly walks a delicate line between comedy and unease, and the neighborhood had to do exactly the same. Push too far toward perfection and the world risks becoming parody. Lean too heavily into darkness and the humor falls flat. Every architectural decision, every paint color, every piece of furniture, every planted flower bed became part of maintaining that balance. For me, Production Design never starts with place. It starts with people. I n t e r r u p t e d L i v e s T H E ' B U R B S B Y S U S I E M A N C I N I , P R O D U C T I O N D E S I G N E R A. VICTORIAN HOUSE EXTERIOR. SCREEN CAPTURE. COPYRIGHT PEACOCK TV, NBCU. B. VICTORIAN HOUSE BEFORE. COLONIAL STREET ON UNIVERSAL BACKLOT. C. VICTORIAN HOUSE EXTERIOR. VECTORWORKS MODEL BY SAM RASHBA. D. VICTORIAN HOUSE. SET PHOTO. A