Meet Marian Wood | Production Designer & Art Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marian Wood and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marian, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
I think it is so easy to idolize our work–how many jobs we have back-to-back and how much of ourselves we can put into them– and forget that we are actually capitalizing on our own creativity, a thing that necessitates being nourished outside our work-life. Yes, a large part of the being a Production Designer is problem solving sometimes not solely through design but logistics. In the end though, we are in the role to work creatively, artistically, and many times philosophically. I have realized how important it is to make space for that, to not hold the film projects I do as a production designer as the pinnacle to my creative fulfillment in life. To treat life and work like a conversation. Whether that’s writing a small poem at midnight before I go to bed, hunting down a new bookstore on a Thursday, or taking the extra 3o min to sketch a piece of architecture in a new city.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Production Design is a fun world to jump into without truly knowing the what you are doing. It takes a multitude of interests and skillsets and allows them to breath and grow in a physical space. With my background in architecture, I always felt something missing from the creative process and end product–maybe it was more sentimentality, more artistry. I look back at early Interior Design projects I created in Architecture school and all of them were more set-like than living in the “pure-ness” architecture. When one assignment asked us to make informative diagrams of a block of wood and the grain, I made a short film about the wood in different environments instead with the soundtrack from the movie ‘Her.’ Years later, after starting a wedding videography business and building window displays at home in Texas, I was lucky enough to attend AFI for Production Design bringing me to LA and into community with other filmmakers to learn from. I had finally found an art form, designing for film, that did not purely exist for aesthetic, but had that deeper sentimentality that I was searching for. As for approach to a film project as a Production Designer, I am always reminded of the quote that I once heard in an interview of Beck: “How do I evoke this world in five words?” Whether a larger budget commercial or a set for an indie film, I look at the 3-5 big design moves that need to happen for you to understand and set the tone for the people or characters within it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When friends come to town, I try to bring them to the highs and the lows. The mountains and the city, and the water. The highs–would the pinnacle of Los Angeles in my mind The Getty Center or better known as heaven on a hill. It was the first stop I made coming to LA for the first time and still takes my breath away moving in and out of the buildings with iconic art to the most beautiful views of the city. One of the low places, is a literal basement restaurant/bar in Koreatown called “The Prince” and has to be my favorite for its food and cocktails. The spicy boneless chicken with mozza and kimchi pancakes are unmatched. Chinatown is one of my favorite areas to wander in the middle of the day and shop around. I feel as though I am walking through a set that has been standing for years and years. Some of the larger flea markets are a fun day event like the PCC. Skylight Books Art Annex and Hennessey + Ingalls are the best bookstores to spend the morning in with a coffee. A bit further out, if there’s not time to go up to Ojai mountain town vibe, a stop at Topanga Canyon’s “Hidden Treasures” is a spot that I love and reminds me of all the good antique thrifting finds in the south. Malibu and a ride along the PCH to Point Dume or a hike the Backbone Trail are also a must.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are many specific pockets of time that I attribute placing me into this world of film. All of them would not have been so determining without the nudges of generosity from the people in them. The one that stands out to me the most, was in a world outside of film that honed in my hard-skill of creativity. Post-grad of Architecture school, I moved home not having a clue what the next step toward my known dream of becoming a Production Designer. I fell into a retail job at the store Anthropologie. There I met Aspen Vanhooser, the full-time store designer. In the back there was an art room, not much bigger than a small office with the full setup of a wood-mill. There she built and sculpted, strung all the decor for the windows and store. After hanging out there enough, I assisted her and eventually took over for her for a period of time. So many hours in that little room or out in the store at 5am doing large installs before customers arrived, learning to bring ideas to life through craft. I cannot be more thankful for the trust she had in me and the time she took to teach. It brought me out of the very pure cerebral to the actual creative.

Website: https://www.marianwooddesign.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_marianwood/

Image Credits
stills: IZZY SPEARS – ‘BAD NEWS’ music video / ‘THE COWBOY PECAN PIE’ short film