Freakily Asked Questions

1: How did you get started in movies?



I've been asked this so much that I've stopped telling the real story because it's too long. When I was working on Minority Report, Sammy Steward and I were approached by a reporter who asked us about working on the Speilberg project. His article described our "studied non-chalance" and "casual mastery".

Hey buddy, I don't have to study nonchalance- I've got it down. As for casual mastery, when you're in the art department, people can ask you for anything. I've had directors ask if I have a streetlight. The casualness I've mastered is in not looking suprised, not stammerring, and not spitting out a profanity-laden sarcasm bomb.

2: What exactly do you do?

It's like a game show- the rules are that someone can ask you for anything, and you have to figure out how, when and where to aquire, find, steal, alter, construct, fabricate or do without the items in question. It's also yourjob to know how much it would cost, and how many days you'll need to complete the list.

I get tired of the easy ones, like making a school look like a school. Plane crash on water is much more fun....


or Revolutionary War battle scene, complete with smoldering ruins...



3: Do you meet/ party with/ hang out with the stars?

Star avoidance is a keen art. They're called stars for a reason- get too close, you'll get sucked into their gravity and burn up. Best to view them like everyone elso, in a darkened theatre. Actors are trying to do a job, a difficult one at that, and don't need more distractions.

We'll discuss this further at another time...