Meet Jere Sallee | Production Designer

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

Hi Jere, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I pursued an artistic career because I was drawn to it. I’ve always had a creative mind and I have always loved story telling. As a kid I could play by myself the entire day using my imagination and my toys and it wasn’t just random. I often had story lines for the toys I was playing with. I hadn’t thought before about how that probably laid a foundation for my current career until now. Constantly learning I suppose. When I was 13 years of age we moved to Salem, Oregon and I met a kid named Jesse. His parents were Stained Glass Artists and that was my first real exposure to seeing an artists life in full swing. For the next 13 years I would grow to truly appreciate the life style and the creative environment surrounding me. It fueled my desire to constantly be creating. When I was 22 I got a job at a video store called, “American Family Video”. I worked there for 2 years and during this time I stopped watching movies and I started studying them. At that time I discovered a website called, “Drew’s Script O’Rama”. I would print a script and watch the movie to read along so I could see how the content transferred from page to screen. Once I had an understanding of that process I started writing my own scripts. My relationship with movies and story telling grew into a passionate love affair. It was all I could think about but I had no connection to the industry. My friends and I started making our own videos for fun and I started taking it really seriously. When my energy and desire surpassed my peers and I had to make a move.

I did construction work on and off during this time as well and one day I was digging holes for a fence posts and suddenly I had the overwhelming urge to stop and pursue my passion. I went home and signed up for film school that night. I enrolled at Montana State University where I attended classes for 2 years. My first day at school I found the Equipment Check-Out area. I walked up to the window and I asked if I could work there and they gave me a job. I’ve always struggled with academics and film school was no different. I learned more working at Check-Out than I ever did in a classroom and they were paying me to work there. After two years I had had enough and I wanted to start being on set. I had a connection in Arizona that was working on set so I moved there. I got on my first movie 3 weeks after landing in Phoenix and I’ve been a freelancer ever since. That was 18 years ago now. I worked my way up from Production Assistant to Production Designer and I learned everything I needed to know by doing it and observing it being done. I pursued this career because I wanted to be an artist and a story teller at the same time.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As a Production Designer it’s my responsibility to serve the script firstly. The script is the blue print for the work I need to preform. From there I work with the Director and the Producers to bring the story to life on screen. I with my team create the environments that the actors use to deliver their lines and performance. I’m always leveraging the locations for the highest production value attainable. Sometimes we build sets from scratch on stages to accommodate filming needs. These builds are the most satisfying for me simply because it’s incredibly cool to stand back when it’s complete and say, “we built that”. I think I’m most proud of a built set we created in Kentucky on a sound stage. It was a New York studio apartment in a high rise building. It started as a napkin layout and became one of the best sets I’ve ever been a part of creating.
I approach challenges head on. My brain has the ability to see different paths and out comes quickly. This helps me decide what the best course of action is per each problem or challenge. I don’t like saying the word problem because I am solution orientated but its a common term for me. I attribute this skill to my years of being a, “jack of all trades, master of non”. I know enough about a lot of things.

I was able to progress from a Production Assistant to a Production Designer because of relationships I made along the way. It took me a decent amount of time and it was not easy by any means. But generally things that are easy are not as rewarding in my experience. I overcame the challenges by keeping my eye on my goal and I found strength in knowing that ever step of the way I have done things the way I wanted to do it.

The biggest lessons I’ve learned along my journey are that you can never know too many people. Networking is a big part of being successful in Freelance. I am the product I’m selling. My brain, my attitude, my work ethic and my ability to collaborate with the client to create what we want. I love it. I live and breath my projects.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If a friend was to visit me from out of town, I would first take them to the beach. My favorite is Leo Carrillo’s dog beach. I would then bring them to the beautiful thrift stores in Topanga canyon, stopping of course to see the lookout on Mulholland Drive. Favorite and memorable restaurants are Kura Sushi, and Honda-Ya in Tustin (very much worth the drive). Huntington Gardens is one of my favorite places to drink coffee on a sunny day. But honestly, my favorite thing to do is explore LA and find new spots.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Oh gosh there are so many. I think the first person I would give a shout out to is Chris Mangano. He gave me the job at equipment check out in film school and if it wasn’t for that I’m not sure I would have continued on this path. I would also like the thank Kevin Smith for making Clerks. When I saw that movie in the art house theater in Salem, Salem Cinemas, I got so pumped up by it. It showed me that if you had a story and a camera that magic can happen. Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction got me going pretty good too. And lastly I’d like to thank Bruce Campbell for his autobiography. Learning all the stories behind Evil Dead and how they were just a group of friends that wanted to make movies really inspired me.

Website: https://www.jeresalleeproductiondesign.com

Instagram: @jeresallee

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