​Vishal Arora’s professional skill has earned him significant cache in cinema’s most significant international centers. Working in both India’s Bollywood and California’s Hollywood, the Los Angeles-based actor has a vibrant, appealing attitude and outgoing demeanor which has led him through a series of very diverse roles and dramatic settings.​
 
From situation TV comedy to taut big screen suspense, Arora’s deft acting technique can successfully serve almost any role, and he recently explored a new career avenue, appearing as the lead character in a Punjabi pop music video by the famous singer Charanjeet Singh Sondhi.
 
“I was born in Northern India where the culture is very attracted to lively, loud pop music,” Arora said. “In Punjab, almost every kid sings and dreams of becoming a pop star. Punjabi pop style is all about being very open. It really doesn't care about having a message or anything except going with the flow and doing what you feel. Even if a song’s lyrics don't really make much sense, it's fun always and high energy.” 
 
Punjabi pop, with its infectious rhythms and exotic instrumentation, has become known worldwide, and songs like Punjabi MC’s remix of  “Mundian To Back Ke,” featuring famed rapper Jay Z, have crossed over to top the charts in multiple countries, even making the US Top 40 and has been featured on the soundtracks of numerous American films and TV shows. In India, Sondhi is one of the genre’s key proponents.
 
“It was pretty exciting how it came about,” Arora said. “I was doing a play and one night after the show, I met Sondhi, a very popular singer. He liked my acting, and said he was impressed by the feelings I expressed onstage and told me about this story for a particular music video that was coming up. Not long after, he discussed with me and played the song, ‘Kittiyan Kyun Bewafaayian,’ for me. I liked it and he finalized me for the shoot.” 


“Because I was always interested in movies or TV this was my first music video,” Arora said. “I’d never thought of even trying for one but when it came along by itself like that, I decided to go for it.” 
 
“The video is about a villager who falls in love but gets ditched by the girl,” he said. “I played the main part of the heart-broken lover, who suffers through that revelation and then sees her actually marrying the other guy.”
 
Filmed on location in the remote countryside, the job had some unexpected merits for Arora. “It was a great experience, as the shoot was in a small village with lots of very friendly people,” he said. “It's fun to go and explore the Indian countryside. And the people there give you so much affection—almost too much. There’s lots of love and lots of good food.”
 
“The director Dinesh Dubey was good, very chill to work with,” Arora said. “It took us two days to shoot the video and I liked the way he tried different things, so we’d have lot of options when it came to editing. I had to learn drive a tractor and that was a first for me. I took a few trial runs before the shoot, but there were definitely some fun moments learning that. I loved it.” 


The music video represented one more step forward in Arora’s fast-growing resume of notable achievement. “I really enjoyed the job,” Arora said. “And it is doing well, it was released by T-series, one of the best known music companies in India. It's a good song, and the people are loving it, especially out in villages where lot of guys in love get hurt just like that, and when they watch the video or listen to that song, it makes them feel better.”


Even for a role that some may have approached as a light weight gig, Arora’s involvement was typically intense. Having trained at the distinguished Lee Strasberg Theater & Film Institute, the actor completely inhabited the role with his own life experience.
“personally, I have been in just this kind of situation,” Arora said. “And it took a while for me to get out of the character, because I felt it so deeply. It’s tough when you use real sense memory to play a part like that. I finally came out of it—but it took a week.”
That kind of heartfelt commitment is what really sets Arora apart from many of his colleagues. Expect to hear a lot more from this young talent.

​For Australian hip hop metal artist KidCrusher it seems that out of the darkness came the light, or at least an incredibly successful career. Internationally regarded for his dark and diverse blend of rap, metal and hardcore.

Since he first began making music over a decade ago, KidCrusher has released 12 studio albums, toured extensively opening for Insane Clown Posse (ICP) and Tech N9ne, as well as headlined the release party for EB Games’ Grand Theft Auto V in South Australia. He’s even had his music featured on every ones favorite legal drama, “Law and Order.” Just like ICP has struck gold, and platinum, with the countless albums they’ve released over the years creating an unshakable empire on the basis of being “The most hated band in the world,” KidCrusher took societal ostracism and turned it into a golden throne of Horrorcore stardom. Juggalos around the world know him and they never fail to show their support.

Last year KidCrusher’s most recent album “Metal Murder 3D” took home Metal Album of the Year at the Faygoluvers Music Awards. For the award, which is determined by public vote, KidCrusher was up against other international heavy weights in the metal genre including Mushroomhead, Cannibal Corpse and Hed PE, but KidCrusher’s fans spoke the loudest.

Earlier on in his career KidCrusher’s song ‘F**ked Up’ was featured on the Tunnel Runners compilation released by Psychopathic Records, one of ICP’s labels, which debuted on the Billboard Rap Charts at #21.

In addition to writing and performing all of his own material, KidCrusher creates the majority of the beats and plays most of the instruments heard on his tracks; and he continues to come up with new and innovative material. Anyone who has seen some of the music videos that he has released to date, whether they are fans of metal or not, will agree hands down that KidCrusher has a unique talent for creating videos that powerfully support his music. From videos like “Meet The Monstors” and “Alice In Zombieland” it’s easy to see that he knows how to effectively deliver intense visual stories that often make viewers feel as though they are watching a horror film.

His impressive skill in that regard has definitely not gone unnoticed in the film industry either. Over the last few years KidCrusher has been tapped to lend his musical genius to films like the 2015 post-apocalyptic Australian flick “From Parts Unknown: Fight Like A Girl,” for which he composed an intense and original metal score in addition to handling the film’s sound design. He also did the sound design and composed the score for the upcoming film “Sheborg Massacre.

To find out more about KidCrusher make sure to check out our interview below!

You can also check out his music and find out about upcoming releases through his website: http://kidcrusher.com/

And follow him on social media at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kidcrusher666
Instagram: @KidCrusher666
Twitter: @AustralianAlien



Where are you from? What was it like growing up there?

KC: I was born and raised in Adelaide, South Australia. I grew up in a suburban town with my mother and two siblings, sadly my father passed away when I was only 6 months old. Throughout my childhood and high school years I was labeled as an outcast therefor I spent a lot of time on my own. I’ve always loved Adelaide though, can’t seem to stay away longer than a week without getting home sick.

How and when did you get into music?

KC: With so much free time on my hands, I fell into creativity and entertainment with movies and music. I was attracted to creating music at a very young age inspired by hardcore hip hop as it was so restricted for me to listen to, that did nothing but power my urge to want it even more. I started my first rap group at the age of 12 and released 2 albums on cassette tape (around 1998), when I reached high school I was introduced to metal music and assembled my own cover band but everything kept falling apart due to the lack of commitment from other members. At this time I wanted to go solo when I discovered a breed of darker hip hop that was mixed with death metal, two genres I was fascinated with. When I released my first single, the music video went viral and it really gave me the drive to do it professionally. Not long after that I gained a massive following internationally online and that was back in 2005.

How many instruments do you play and how long have you been playing each?

KC: I’ve played guitar, bass, programmed drums, piano and vocals for all about the same amount of time since, pretty much since I started back in 1998, but I am more focused on vocals, guitar and sound engineering. I do a lot of production work on my albums, along with the help of various other producers on some occasions. I have recorded all of my albums since 2007 in a home studio I call “The kCave.” I studied music and sound engineering at Tafe SA and worked under two different recording studios before building my own.

What does music do for you?

KC: I still remember the first time I recorded a track to mp3 and burnt it onto a CD and listened to it on my sound system, it was almost like giving birth to a child and it became so addicting and exciting. I became my own biggest fan in a way, I wasn’t concerned about having fans or playing shows, I just wanted to make music for my own entertainment and then I shot my own music videos to begin with in my backyard. I honestly never thought it would go any further than that. Music is and was my way of ventilation. That’s how I feel a lot of my fans have connected in some ways more than others, because I let out a lot of personal feelings as well as fictional entertainment for those who want some fun.

Why are you passionate about playing music?

KC: Music has always been like my best friend forever, I connect so well with it that to me, music is my life, career, and the past, present and future of me. Every time I finish an album I say to myself “I’ll take a mini-break and relax for a bit” and it never happens, it pulls me back in. I feel so separated without it. I don’t know if it’s boredom or the drive for that amazing feeling of creating a masterpiece. Ever since I gained a following, I feel like I owe them everything for everything they’ve done for me, I still feel like I haven’t given back enough, even with 12 albums under my belt, they always ask me for more and I feel guilty it takes so long to release albums in the present time of my career, because I always look at my last album and want to do better than that because I know I can and I’ll refuse to rush an album for the sake of releasing an album these days. Overall I’d say my music is an artwork, a symbol, a decade of my life and one of the most amazing rides I feel so privileged to be a part of. It will always be somewhere that feels like home to me.

Who are some of your music influences, and how have they influenced you?

KC: SPICE1 was the first rapper that brought me into the dark side of rap, it was when I heard the “Tales from the Hood” soundtrack in primary school. Prior to that Slipknot, Korn, Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit for their emotional and personal connection with music as well as the rap-metal influence. System of a Down, Mudvayne, Fear Factory and Marilyn Manson are some more metal influences, as well as a strong inspiration from the Australian industrial grind group The Berzerker for motivation of getting music done with or without anybody, and of course for their extreme brutality and character. I would have to say Insane Clown Posse and Twiztid are probably my biggest influences for pursuing my dream and creating KidCrusher as I never felt so connected with any other music, it made me want to represent their following and become a part of their world.

How would you describe your personal music style?

KC: It’s hard to put my entire catalogue into one genre, as I love to venture out into several styles. So my album can go from straight hip hop, to metal rap, to death metal, to Dubstep, to industrial, to comedy skits. Overall people would consider me apart of the Horrorcore genre and a Juggalo rapper.

Have you played on or written any songs used for film, television or commercial projects— if so, can you tell me which songs and which projects they have been used in?

KC: My song “A Dirty Fuckin Murder” alongside the music video was featured on TV’s “Law and Order” in the episode “Steel-eyed Death,” which I made headlines in magazines such as the New York Times for. The episode was based on the Farmville murders killer “Sam McCroskey” who was a fan of my music in real life.

I created an original musical score and did the sound design for two Australian films by Strongman Pictures entitled “From Parts Unknown: Fight Like A Girl” and the upcoming release “Sheborg Massacre.” They also produced several of my music videos including “Back To The KidCrusher” and “Alice In Zombieland.”

Alice In Zombieland was a short film for a KidCrusher song with the same name, which screened in cinemas around Australia during the Monster Fest Trasharama.

Can you tell us about some of the music videos you’ve released so far

KC: ‘A Dirty Fuckin Murder’ was the first music video I ever shot for my band, KidCrusher, and the song is featured on the album “Light to Dark and Life to Death.”

‘Meet The Monstors’ was the first professional KidCrusher music video I did and it was produced by Strongman Pictures. The video came together after I requested to produce a song for the soundtrack of a film they were developing. It was shot inside Aradale Mental Asylum in the outback of Melbourne, Australia. The theme of the video/song was that of the script of the movie (Love, Lobotomy and Zombies). Fangoria Magazine also covered the production. The song is featured on the album “Cannibal Clown.”

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​‘The Naughty List’ is the second KidCrusher music video produced by Strongman Pictures; with my spin-off side Christmas project based on the movie “Dr. Suess’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas” with Jim Carrey. The video brings in more of a serial killer tone than the original; the song alone is about killing evil people in my home town on Christmas eve.

​‘Heavily Medicated’ was another video for my band that was produced by Strongman Pictures. We shot the video in an abandoned building and the song is about my struggle with depression over not being able to perform for my fans in the United States and being treated like an animal and drowning in the past. The song was released as a single and given away free online.

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For the music video for the KidCrusher song ‘Alice In Zombieland’ Strongman Pictures came to me with an idea about shooting a short film/music video inside a role playing zombie factory based on Alice in Wonderland. The song for the movie was also featured on my album “Metal Murder 3D” and the video also screened in cinemas for Monster Fest / Trasharama.
The music video for ‘Back To The KidCrusher,’ produced by Strongman Pictures, was created to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of starting my career as KidCrusher. It also happened to synchronize with “Back To The Future Day” October 21, 2015. Back to the Future is my all-time favorite movie so I wanted to theme a music video towards the film and time travelling back to “2005” when I started KidCrusher to remix my first single “A Dirty Fuckin Murder”. We also had a DeLorean in the video and special effects. After the music video features a 30 minute documentary entitled “Ten Years Of KidCrusher” which highlights the albums and moments in my career.

I also released the music video ‘Ka Boom Boom’ with my band KcaveMen featuring Todd Hansen the drummer of The Berzerker, a band which I always looked up to. ‘Rectal Birth’ is another music video I released with my other side project, Penetration off the album “The Nothing”; and I play all the instruments in this industrial metal band. The album and video were based on the storm from the movie “The Neverending Story” and they focused on depression, destruction and betrayal. The clip was shot entirely on green screen as me as every member of the band, and I have future releases from this project coming into the mix in 2017.

What do you think separates you from other musicians? What makes you good at what you do?

KC: Not to be completely cocky about it, but I believe I’m one of the hardest working, and most successful independent underground musicians in Australia. What other artist has done 12 studio albums in 10 years, and produced movie grade music videos and scores for films? Has toured with major artists and did it all without management, a label, or basically buying their way on stage or into promotions. I’ve done everything with nobody but me, my music and my fans to get me there and I’ve done all of it from bottom of The Underground of the Industry. I’ve never had commercial radio play or major promotion, I’ve written recorded and released and distributed everything from my own CDs, DVDs, MP3s and a clothing line all myself and have the determination to take it even further. 

America has had hype building for me since 2008, I feel like I’m that animal in a cage, waiting for be given my chance to be with my fans and really give the world what I have got. Just in Australia I’ve played by request for Insane Clown Posse, Tech N9ne, Hed(pe), Mushroomhead, Hopsin and more. I’m the outcast of hip hop and metal, I’m the underdog that succeeded by being rejected by the world and taken to an underworld of music. In the tunnels we run and you will find me, under the ground. 

How do you feel when you’re playing on stage? Was it something you had to get used to, or were you immediately comfortable in front of the crowd?

KC: I still have stage fright from time to time, it’s kind of like, you snap out of character and start to think, and that’s the point I slow down - the normal stage you just flow with the music and you’re on pure adrenaline, that’s what I love. It’s definitely something I had to prepare for physically as well, as I’m not very fit, as I was never planning on performing live when I first started so to this day, I need a few months to prepare for a tour. Most of my songs are too difficult to perform live as well so there is only a small list that works. The more I’ve performed over the years, I’ve definitely progressed and I feel more powerful than ever up there today. It’s something that’s become an addiction like the production of my albums.

Aside from playing music in the bands you play with, do you write any of the music or lyrics—if so please tell me about some of the songs where you had the biggest role in that aspect/ where you got your inspiration/ what the collaboration process was like?

KC: I write all of my music, usually the beats as well. Inspiration comes from various things in most cases when I first started KidCrusher, I studied a lot of serial killers and cannibals through documentaries and online. Not because I love or support it in anyway, but because of the shock factor in entertainment. I wanted to produce a horror movie on stage / or / in your mind. My albums are designed the way a movie soundtrack is put together, there’s sounds you’d usually hear from movie scores, intros intermissions outros, as well as the amount of skits and samples I use. Other inspirations come from real life situations or movies which I twist into an original tale.

What do you hope to achieve in your career as a musician?

KC: Continue to have a die-hard fan base and of course touring the world and making music full time. I have conquered a few of my goals already, which was to share the stage with a few of my influences; Insane Clown Posse, Tech N9ne and The Berzerker..

Actress Davina Cole is one of the fiercest female performers to make her mark on the international entertainment industry in recent years.

With work that includes everything from taking on the starring roles of Sandra in Rodney V. Williams' film Therapy Sessions and Soalaih Ez in multi-award winning director Francoise Ellong's film When Soukhina Disappeared, to the high profile theatrical productions "Women on Wine," "The Wright Brothers," and "Wilberforce Bell," Coles' acting prowess clearly spans the gamut.
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Over the years she has managed to immerse herself in a wide range of roles giving knock out performances that make it almost impossible to recognize her from one character to the next. Regardless of the genre or the medium, this actress has a way of pulling us in and leaving an unforgettable impression.

While Cole's seasoned skill and unique look undoubtedly makes her stands out in a cast, what is even more astonishing is her ability to single handedly command an audiences attention-- something she proved with her performance as Salimatu in the one-woman show "All the Colours," which debuted at the Lord Stanley Theatre in London. Not only did Cole write and star in the production, but her performance earned her an award nomination for Best Actress at the 7th annual SOLO Festival of One Man Shows in 2014.

Aside from the upcoming tour of "All The Colours," which is slated to begin later this year, audiences will also be able to catch Davina Cole in My Church and Family, a new series that's expected to be released this summer on Sky Living.

To find out more about this incredibly powerful actress make sure to check out our interview below!


Where are you from? 

DC: My name is Davina Cole and I have been performing as an actress in the UK for many years.  I was born and raised in southeast London, but my parents are from Sierra Leone in West Africa. My African heritage is very dear to me.

When and how did you get into acting?

DC: I have performed in various films, theatre productions, commercials, voiceovers and radio. I loved watching old movies including African films with my dad on the weekends and always wondered how I could get into performing. Whilst attending an after school club I saw a poster about drama and dance classes.  I attended one and from then I was hooked. I then started performing at the age of 13 in local theatre productions. I also toured within the UK with the girl band Catz in my teens.

Can you tell us about some of the film projects you’ve done?

DC: I played the role of Sandra, a therapist, in the film Therapy Sessions. I really enjoyed playing this role. Sandra is a powerful woman in her field of work and is very cool, calm, collected and very much in control. In the film we see her lose control when her family becomes under threat and she loses it quite dramatically. It was very challenging playing the many dimensions of this character. Sandra was a pivotal role in the film as she was the link to all the characters in the drama and key to the twist at the end

I worked with director Rodney V. Williams on Therapy Sessions, and he is the director of the film Hold Me, which was featured in Cannes Court Metrage of the Cannes Film Festival. He also directed the award winning film The Runaway Whore.
I also played the role Soalaih Ez in film When Soukhina Disappeared, a film based on the disappearance of a young girl. Soalaih Ez was one of the last people to see the missing girl and she gives her account of how she touched her life. It was an emotional piece and I really enjoyed playing a character with so many layers. Soaliah was key to getting an account of the final movements of Soukhinas, the girl who disappeared, life. It was such an honor to play this role in such a moving piece of drama.

On this film I worked with award winning director Francoise Ellong whose film W.A.K.A. picked up awards such as the Special Jury Prize at the 17th edition of the Festival Du Cinéma Africain De Khouribga in Morocco, and the Dikalo Award for Best First Feature at the Festival International Du Film Panafricain De Cannes in France. It was also selected for the Hollywood Film Festival.

I played the role of Susan a sassy news reporter in the action horror film Cyborg Ninja vs Vampires directed by Simon Gedney from Copper Key Productions. I also worked alongside Nathan Powell from Pirates of the Caribbean 4 on the film. I really enjoy playing a role that was very different from the roles I usually get cast for; and, having the opportunity to do some action sequences and kick some butt felt very empowering.

How about television projects?

DC: I was in the documentary television series Sinister Ministers, a miniseries that aired on the Discovery Channel in the US. On the series I played the role of Donna, a congregation member and close friend to the reverend, and a key role in the production. I thoroughly enjoyed playing this inquisitive nosey humorous lady. The series was was directed by the great James Cookson who has directed and made many successful films for Firecraker Films.

They are all very different, what made you choose to participate in these projects?

DC: I enjoy playing characters with many layers to them-- the meatier the role the better. I tend to go for strong women roles with a bit of vulnerability. I also like pieces that give a strong message. I like undertaking roles that take you on a journey.

Do you feel that you get cast to play a certain type of character more than others?

DC: Because of my physique, stage and screen presence I tend to get cast in headstrong, authoritative and professional women roles.

Can you tell us about some of the theatre productions you've participated in up until now?

DC: I worked with Rodney V. Williams on the comedy hit stage drama "Women on Wine" at the Above the Stage Theatre in Central London in 2010. I was a co-star playing the role of the uppity, takes herself too seriously, Ebony, who is preparing to marry her childhood sweetheart. We see Ebony’s insecurities come to the surface as the play progresses when she becomes stressed and the group overindulges in wine. This was such an amazing experience working with a group of talented women including the star of the "Jesus Christ Superstar," Renee Castle. It was a challenge playing a truthful, credible character whilst at the same time being drunk.

I played the role of Mami Sanami in the iconic West African comedy drama play "Wilberforce Bell," which was presented by the Kabaslot Theatre at the popular central London Catford Broadway theatre. For this production I worked with the Kabaslot Theatre, a well-known theatre in Africa, UK and US, under the safe hands of director Dwight Short. This play really took me out my comfort zone, as I had to learn different elements of my home language Krio.

I played the role of Narrator in the sold out love comedy "The Wright Brothers" directed by Tyrone-Lee Davis under his co-owned theatre company, Opus Entertainment, who have had their projects commissioned by ITV. This was a fun but challenging role as I held the play together appearing throughout and creating a persona to keep the story going and uplifted at all time. It is also set to return in 2016 and I am looking forward to reprising this role.

Out of all your productions both in the theatre and on screen, what has been your favorite project, or projects, so far?

DC: I really enjoy playing strong women roles. My favorite role to date was the role of Delilah in the play "1867."  This was based on the life of Madame CJ Walker, America's first black female millionaire.  It was such an honor to play such a prominent figure and it was very inspirational and really pushed me as an actress. She was such a strong black women in a time when black women were regularly looked down upon. To have that the success during that period of time is truly amazing. As a character she had many layers and I was really able to explore the role. I hope to play more roles similar to this in the future.

What has been your most challenging role?

DC: My most challenging role had to be the role of Salimatu in my one-woman show, "All The Colours." It is a piece that I wrote and performed both here in the UK and in the US, and it was an extremely emotional play. I felt this role took me to another level in my performance skills, however it was very draining at times playing a mother who had lost so much. Not being a mother myself made it hard to relate to, but having been through my own personal experience of loss and heartache, I was able to bring that to my performance and give a truthful performance.

What is your favorite genre to work in as an actor?

DC: My favorite genre definitely has to be drama. This genre tends to have roles with hidden depths, and they are quite exciting to research and to play.

What separates you from other actors?

DC: I feel what separates from other actors is what I bring on a personal level to each and every role I play. I feel all my life experiences, both good and bad, have helped me grow as an actress; and it has helped me bring that element of truth to many roles.

You've been nominated for several awards over the course of your career- can you tell us about the award nominations and how it felt being recognized for your work?
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DC: My biggest achievement so far is the success I've received from my one-woman show "All the Colours." I wrote it myself and I was nominated for a Best Actress Award at the 7th SOLO Festival of One Man Shows in the UK in 2014, which was was held at the Lord Stanley Theatre in central London. I then went on to be selected as a finalist at the prestigious 22nd Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival. It was amazing to be selected to perform alongside amazingly talented women from all around the world. The subject matter is very dear to me as it centers on Sierra Leone and the civil war, which affected thousands including my family. It was great to let people know some of what happened back then through performing the show.

​​What are your plans for the future?

DC: I have started filming a new British TV series to be shown on Sky TV.  I am very excited about the character as she's very out outspoken, feisty and very witty. She's a character with many different sides to her and I can’t wait to play her. I plan to write more including a piece I am currently writing on the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone, which I want to make into a screenplay. I also plan to make my one-woman show into a web series and by popular demand I will be taking my one-woman show on tour, which is really exciting!

What do you hope to achieve in your career as an actor?

DC: I hope to get meatier roles, which will push me further as an artist. I really admire the body of work and talent of Angela Bassett and Viola Davis and I would love to work them. To work with such talented women would be amazing.

What kind of training have you done?

DC: I did a postgraduate degree in performance at the prestigious Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, one of the top 10 drama schools in the UK. The training was rigorous and laid the foundation for me to become the actress that I am today.

Why is acting your passion and chosen profession?
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DC: From a young age I remember watching classic old black and white movies on a Saturday afternoon and I was memorized by performances from actresses such as Grace Kelly, Julie Andrews, Marilyn Monroe, Sofia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn. I often used to dream of being on screen too. That enticed me to start going to classes, which eventually led to me apply for drama school and the rest is history.

From designing sets for films and television series to commercials and music videos, Production Designer Hank Mann's work spans the gamut. With massive commercial campaigns for global companies like Ford, Audi, Crayola, Crystal Geyser, Converse, and Dannon, music videos for multi-award winning artists Nickelback and Sarah McLachlan, and the films Repeater, Kill Kill Faster Faster and Nova Zembla under his belt, Mann has carved out an unparalleled place for himself in the entertainment industry as an internationally renowned production designer.

While the creative side of Mann's job as a production designer, at its most basic level, could be compared to an interior designer in overdrive as they have to liaise with clients (and the director) to make sure everyone's vision is represented while also bringing in their own creative spin, the managerial side of his work is a whole different can of worms.

When it comes to film crews, the production designer heads up one of the most overworked crews on any production, the art department. From building practically every set we see in a production, often from scratch, to striking the sets under incredible pressure from time constraints and little room for L & D (lost and damaged items), the production designer not only has to communicate his vision and ensure that all of the right items have been picked up and put in their proper place for the shoot, but they have to manage their crew so effectively that everyone is ready to move onto the next set so the production doesn't stall. Oh, and then there's the budget. The production designer is responsible for overseeing that their department doesn't go over budget, an easy misstep when considering that many of today's filmmakers want to go over the top with their production, but a misstep that Mann is careful not to make.

Mann is most well known in the industry for his work as a production designer for commercials and anyone who knows his work doesn’t have to question why-- they know the answer, and it's because he's downright incredible. Having designed over 200 commercials over the course of his career, even viewers who think they haven't seen Mann's work, probably have, they just might not have realized that he was the man behind the man. If you can recall a highly popular, over four million views on YouTube caliber of popular, Go Daddy commercial starring none other than Jean-Claude Van Damme or Discovery Channel's Primetime Emmy nominated series Before We Ruled the Earth, then you've definitely seen his work on screen.

To find out more about Hank Mann's work as a leading production designer in the industry, as well as some of the most important tools of the trade, make sure to check out our interview below. You can also find out more about him and watch a few clips of his work through his page on the Sesler website, the agency that currently manages him.
 
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

HM: I was born in Perth, Australia, but my parents are from England, and we moved to Canada when I was 5. I grew up in the suburbs of Toronto. For school homework I would sometimes make Super 8 stop motion animation films. Unfortunately, my teachers were not too impressed receiving a 2 ½ minute film of Mr. Bill and Spot explaining the history of Canada instead of a written research project!

So how did you first get into production design and what led you to this path?

HM: In high school I was always involved in theatre, both as a performer and a technician. This carried on into university where I studied film theory and sociology (communications), yet also did several theatre and film production classes and extra-curricular projects. I focused a lot both in and out of class on set design for theatre, and after graduating with my BA from Queen’s University, I moved to Vancouver to pursue a career in film and television.

After five years climbing the ladder working as everything including a production assistant, locations p.a., ALM, TAD, 3rd AD, 2nd cam assist, dresser, buyer, props assist, and a decorator, I was offered my first job as a production designer / art director on a commercial with a UK director for the Ford Mondeo, starring David Duchovny. The commercial required me to design, and manage the building of, an American style diner on the side of the highway in the middle of “nowhere”. The trick was that it needed to be designed with a retractable roof to allow for the crane to move up and out the front window and out onto the road. Needless to say, I learned a lot very quickly about being a production designer on my first job as one!

Can you tell us about how you approach your project from the time you're hired on to design a production through the time of filming? What elements do you consider when coming up with the overall design of a project?

HM: It depends on the project. Every job has it’s own unique structure that is revealed as soon as I read the treatment and script. For example, the L’Oreal spot with Evangeline Lilly required a large modern set where the camera and actor could move about freely. I set about to design a modular set with abstract pieces on wheels, so that throughout the shoot we were able to recreate the background, giving us lots of different looks. My approach was to dive right in and build a computer 3d model, which I then could work with the DOP, directors, agency and client to show the countless alternate ways our set could be filmed.

Conversely, the Go Daddy spots with Jean Claude Van Damme required authenticity. For the bakery and florist sets my initial approach was to research as much as possible, visiting real locations and reviewing online sources and then extracting the most interesting and iconic bits to then combine into our stage set builds. Following that, I then had to accommodate for the stunt wire rigs to be hung over the entire sets and run through the ceiling. It was only after all this initial research and sketches did I then start the 3D render process.

What did your work entail as the production designer of the films Revisited, Kill Kill Faster Faster, and Repeaters?

HM: Kill Kill Faster Faster and Repeaters were both challenges as my budgets for each of those features was the same as a 3-day location commercial shoot. Constrained by finances, I chose to put a lot of initial resources into establishing a colour hue for each character so that regardless of how little money we had, at minimum there was a common tone the creatives (the DOP, costume designer, hair and make-up, set decorator, props, even special FX) could all work towards. So when, for example in Repeaters, we cut from a scene in Kyle’s room to Sonia’s room, there is a distinct move from a dusty, earthy look and feel to a rich vibrant purple artistic tone. Kill Kill Faster Faster also had the challenge of being set in New York, yet we were filming in Rotterdam!

How about the TV series Before We Ruled the Earth that you did for the Discovery Channel, what was the process like designing for the series?

HM: Before We Ruled The Earth, is a two-part docudrama narrated by Linda Hunt which features the challenges faced by early human history, all the way from Homo Ergasters hunting the saber tooth tiger 2.5 million years ago to Paleo-Indians hunting bison only 8,000 years ago. The process for designing the show involved an incredible amount of research and rough sketches. For example, I had to create a Cro Magnon village deep in the forests of Vancouver Island, shelters made from woolly mammoth tusks and hides high above the tree line in the Arctic, and re-create the insides of the caves at Lascaux, France with their Paleolithic cave paintings. I wanted to avoid the cheap stereotypes that can arise from weak anthropology, and I made it a priority that the design of the sets, wardrobe and props all had as much detail and personality as time and money would permit us to do.

Can you tell us about some of the commercials you've production designed over the years?

HM: I've been the production designer on a pretty long list of commercials over the years; but, to tell you about a few—for an Infiniti car commercial I had to make a snow avalanche land on a car, for Go Daddy I built sets that integrated wiring Jean Claude Van Damme doing stunts, for Audi I built a yurt village on a mountain top in 60 mph winds at -5 degrees Fahrenheit, for Snapdragon I created multiple sets across multiple locations in addition to doing studio builds and for Benjamin Moore I built a fake box store paint department in the studio.

You've also production designed several music videos over the years, can you tell us about some of them?

HM: For Nickleback’s video for “How You Remind Me,” I was asked to create a “dirty modern” feel. So I designed a modern bedroom and bathroom set and a bar set, all with straight lines and then contrasted them both with deep scenic painting, accenting the cinder blocks and textured bar walls, the result being a “messy clean” look. Usually I’m doing either crisp clean modern, or dark and dirty, so it was unique to marry the two. For Grant, Lee, Buffalo’s video for “Testimony,” I had to decide what a car looked like when a body lands on it, and then guide one of my crew on a forklift to crush it just right. That was fun!

They are all very different, what made you choose to participate in these projects?

HM: The projects that come through Vancouver are always very different, so I have been forced to learn many different styles and techniques. In Los Angeles a production designer will specialize into a niche field such as period pieces, sports movies, or science fiction, because there is enough volume of projects in each field being made to support niche skills. In Vancouver I have been fortunate enough to have experience in all those genres. I have found the diversity of experiences on all the projects over the years has made my problem solving skills quite acute. One day it’s designing a yurt village to be built in the mountains, the next it’s designing a kid’s bedroom circa 1981. I like that.

If you had to choose between production designing for film, television, commercials or music videos—which one would be your favorite and why?

HM: I would prefer film and television - in the process of production designing I really get into the characters – their history, their successes, their faults, their stories. Film and TV allow for a complete submersion into a character’s life.
Commercials are great in other ways – I can work with Academy Award winning DOP’s, and earn a decent living.

Why are you passionate about working as a production designer?

HM: It’s a very unique and creative way to make a living in an industry filled with other unique and creative people.

Can you tell us about any of the challenges you've faced on your way to the top of the industry—or any memorable "aha" moments where you felt like "hey this is the key to success"?

HM: For the most part I feel very fortunate to have had quite a few supportive mentors and peers along my career. That is something I cannot stress enough to anyone looking to get into the business – it’s a collaborative effort - one is surrounded by people that can help you in some way, either now or in the future. I make it a daily goal to be graceful to everyone on set and remember their name, and find out what their goals are, and how they got to this point. For example there are certain producers who manage to put great teams together because of how much they respect their crew, and thus are respected. There are others I am never available for now, because of how horrible they were to me when I was a production assistant.

What have been a few of your favorite projects so far and why?

HM: Some of my favorites include production designing a commercial for Arby’s where we shot in Cape Town for 5 weeks, and I had to make everything look American; Burgher’s of Vancouver, where I got to work with Denys Arcand; for Tyson Foods I got to create a kitchen set that broke apart and flew away to reveal another kitchen. I like working on sets, which involve rigging and moving parts.

For Subaru I created a massive tornado-like storm on a bright sunny day-- explosions, flying boats, wind and rain. I like that level of special FX and movie magic.

What would you say your strongest qualities as a production designer are?

HM: I can handle budgets and people as well as I can handle designing a kitchen. Production design is also part project manager of the project and thus I will be successful as long as there is solid communication between all my crew (props, special fx, costume, set decoration, picture vehicles, greens, etc.,). I nurture this. Likewise, I always keep a clear eye on the budget, as no matter how good a design is, if it can’t afford to be made then I’d have wasted a lot of precious preproduction time and money.

What projects do you have coming up?

HM: I'm currently working on commercials for Lysol, PetCo, Nissan and Realtor.com.

What do you hope to achieve in your career?

HM: Entertain people with a great project, which they will remember forever and turn to as a piece of reflection, understanding, learning and fulfilling laughter. Also, working on a film or TV show I can look back on and be proud of in a global sense and know that I worked on something that mattered.

What kind of training have you done, and how has it helped you in your field of work?

HM: As I mentioned earlier, I studied set design for theatre, where there are a lot of risks taken, as well as experimenting. I find myself adding those layers to film sets, to always reach for a step or two beyond what one would expect something to look like.
​
Computer stuff is all self-taught. When I started Production Designing I was doing all my drawings and plans with watercolors, pencils and protractors. With the arrival of the Adobe Suite, and a few years later 3d software such as Sketch Up I had many late nights (pre You Tube tutorials) learning keyboard shortcuts and what the difference between Clone Stamp (S Key) and Healing Brush (J Key)…and then some. Every year now there is ever expanding software available to draw and pre-visualize sets, it’s all very amazing and incredible tools to use for my work. However, at the start of every job I spend time with a plain piece of paper and a pencil, to freestyle initial ideas.

Hailing from South Africa, actress Birgit Ludemann has an ethnically ambiguous appearance that allows her to believably take on a slew of different characters from various places around the world.
 
Earlier this year she wrapped production on Dong Lei's film The Cello Player where she took on the leading role of Natali, a German woman victimized by an NS Commander during the last days of WWII. She also took on the starring role of Naomi Basson, a Lance Corporal who is part of a medical task force during the Second American Civil War, in the film Maquisard.
 
While she's proven her capacity to take on a variety of characters from the shameless drug addicted Remi in Fool's Errand to the beautiful Suzanna in Fives, Ludemann's knack for action-packed productions is something that really sets her a part from the rest. Over the years the actress has accrued years of stunt training as well as experience with firearms which, combined with her ability to play the fierce female lead, has made her a highly sought after performer for war and western films.
 
As a classically trained theatre actress Ludemann knows how to command her audience's attention from the stage, a facet of her talent that has carried over to her career in film and television making her a difficult performer to turn away from whenever she hits the screen.
 
Some of her theatre performances to date include taking on the starring role of Julie in "Miss Julie" directed by Antoinette Kellermann in Cape Town, South Africa, Maggie in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" directed by Ken Learner in Los Angeles, Teresa in "Italian American Reconciliation" directed by Bob Lipton in Los Angeles, and others.
 
To find out more about this seasoned actress make sure to check out our interview below. You can also find out more about her film and television projects through her IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm7052398/
 

Where are you from? 

BL: I'm from Stellenbosch, South Africa. I am German South African and my parents are German.

When and how did you get into acting?

BL: At the age of 12 I was certain I wanted to pursue a career in acting. I had a very inspiring drama teacher when I was in primary school, we did lots of children plays (Rahl Dahl being one of them) and since then I have found it inspiring to play different roles.

Can you tell us about some of the film projects you’ve done?

BL: In the film Fives I played Suzanna, a 26-year-old new girl at the office who is considered to be a “7” on a 1-10 scale of hotness, and she doesn’t struggle to get the males’ attention in the office. While I was playing this character, I did have to delve into my overly confident side and be super aware that I had to be extremely good looking. But at the same time behind the camera I was a bit self-conscious having to walk around set and have everyone looking at me to see if I’m really a “7+.” After a while I just owned it and felt the character. Suzanna serves a pivotal role as the male lead, Eric, flirts with her in order to make their co-worker, Meghan, jealous. Suzanna is fully aware of the situation and just plays along, because she knows Eric and Meghan make a better couple than she and Eric would.

One of the main challenges I faced playing this role was to make sure the character did not come off as being cocky, narcissistic or vein. It’s so easy to cross the line between making Suzanna sympathetically help Eric as a stimulus to get what he wants in a positive and genuine way because he is her co-worker, in contrast to helping him get what he wants by having the audience view the character as a negative superficial brat who just uses her looks for her own vein gratification.
This role also highlights another theme, that being: the power women get from being good looking, especially around the office. As an actress, I do not really have much first-hand experience in a serious office, so that was one of the things I had to do some research on. 

In the music film Stay I played the wife’s best friend who supports her during labor while her husband is dying. The character was a few years older and wiser than me, so it felt like I had been pushed into the serious life of intense adult drama. Playing this character in this film was a learning curve for me regarding the acting style the director demanded from us. as there was no dialogue during the entire film, everything was purely physical. The director wanted the finished edit to be in slow motion. So firstly, I had to be very conscious of too fast paced or too slow paced movements and secondly, as it was a heavily driven emotive drama, portraying emotions strongly enough for it to read on camera (in slow motion) was different. All of us took a few takes in the beginning to get the right balance for the pace and movement. The film received the Best Micro Film Award from the 20th Indie Gathering International Film Festival.

In the film The Cello Player I played Natali, a woman who gets caught by a NS-Commander during the last days of WW2. Working on this film was scarily realistic because everything from the set, wardrobe, make up and the cast was almost an exact replica from the WW2 time. We had to walk barefoot with dirt on our feet and clothes.

My character's interactions in the film portray how gruesome the NS Commanders could be back in those days as she gets captured, used and finally raped. Her character demonstrates how women were helpless victims to crimes NS Commanders played through and demonstrates that she is just a tool for the male lead to get what he wants.

This role was extremely challenging because I found out the first day of shooting we were doing an intense rape scene one day earlier than scheduled. It did make me feel a bit intimidated as I was getting raped by the male star, Thure Riefenstein, who is an accomplished German actor in Germany; but doing that scene spontaneously took the pressure off and helped me focus on the moment in every take.

In the film Maquisard I play Naomi Basson who is a Lance Corporal (combat medic) from Johannesburg, South Africa. She is part of the 44 Parachute Brigade and 44 Medical Task Group. Working on this film was amazing firstly, because I got to represent my own country and use an Afrikaans accent. Secondly, I got to reconnect with my medical side. I was working as a caretaker in England for a year, so I know on first hand basis what nurses and doctors go through. And thirdly, I had to do combat training for this role, learning how to hold and shoot military guns properly for the screen was an amazing experience. So all in all, I definitely felt the part. Naomi was critical to this film, as she is one of 3 other volunteers to join the UNAF Recon Team 5 to restore peace.

There were two big challenges in this film. Firstly, researching all military terms and understanding the background of the script, which was challenging because, with South Africa not really having a big military, I was not exposed to these terms and ways of thinking. The film was also written in a make believe time in a make believe place, with make believe events that had previously occurred that resulted in this plot. So therefore, reading and internalizing the backstory of the make-believe circumstances to this whole film was a crucial part of playing this character. Secondly, the military training that we did prior to the shoot was such a learning curve for me as an actress. Learning how to hold and shoot a gun properly for the screen, how to maneuver in a team of 4 people through buildings and how to have that physical tough military vibe to my character was a good learning curve for me.

In the film Mac Daddy’s Vegas Adventure I play Claudia, a customer in the massage parlor who is upset with Damon’s ‘special treatment’ massage which does not live up to her standards. Playing Claudia was pretty special experience because she is a comedic character who serves a comedic purpose in the film, because she gets heavily upset with a massage treatment that isn’t done up to her expectations. She stirs up tension between Diego and Tony who own the massage parlor that caters for women that need extra special sexual care… The challenge in this film was coming in on the day of shooting and trying to bond with the two male leads, Karltun Moreno and Spencer Mathis, in such a short amount of time. Getting to know another actor’s way of working is limited and there’s a certain amount of time pressure. Another element was that I was just wearing a towel in the scene, so it was challenging for some people to take everyone seriously…

In Fools’ Errand I played a drug and sex addict named Remi. I felt dirty and slutty playing this character. It’s harder for me as an actor to play a lower class low life character that has more superficial and primal morals and goals. In the film Remi tries to convince Mike to cheat on his girlfriend by supplying him drugs and sexual pleasures in order to rope him into her world. Remi is a drug addict who will do anything for money. In order for me to give such a ‘low life’ unambitious character some credibility and humanity, I played her very sympathetically in the last scene where Mike leaves her to go back to Sharon, his girlfriend.
I was featured in the spoof film Dr. Quinn Morphine Woman with Jane Seymour, and I played a local cowgirl who feared the return of Dr. Quinn who was medicating everyone with morphine. This was a very small cast and crew, and one of the memorable things I experienced is that all the women shared a dressing room together on this really dusty ranch in the middle of nowhere. So basically I saw Jane Seymour naked, and that woman still looks as good as when she was a Bond Girl back in the day!
 
How about television projects?

BL: In the reality styled TV show Sex in Public that was just release  in October on TLC I appear as a young girl who is gets tangled up in an internet romance in the 5th and 6th episode of the show. In Die Boland Moorde I played an actress whose co-actor gets killed in the first episode. This was an Afrikaans South African TV series that was shown on the KykNet TV channel. I was very comfortable as I knew most of the crew and cast, because on the other episodes I worked as a gaffer on this series. So it was interesting to be behind and in front of the camera on the same TV show. The challenge in this was that I had Afrikaans dialogue. Until this project, I had never appeared on TV talking Afrikaans.

They are all very different, what made you choose to participate in these projects?

BL: We as human beings are very interesting creatures; we have a lot of different heritage, culture and social influences. All the characters I choose to play, I tend to relate to on a deeper level. The thing I choose to do is delve into my past roots (eg. My ethnicity is German, thus I played a German woman subjected to NS rape), I delved into the different cultures I grew up in, thus one of them being South African (I ended up getting an Afrikaans speaking South African UN military role), language is also very important. I can speak 3 languages fluently (English, German and Afrikaans) and as soon as I embraced those cultures surrounding those languages within me, it is easier for me to relate to the characters. 
​
You get approached all the time to work on projects with people, what makes you pick one role over another?

BL: Language, culture, social norms and patterns, and heritage are extremely important for me when choosing projects. If I relate to them on any level, I will give my best to do the character justice. Also, I like a challenge. I love thinking outside the box and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. So if I don’t think I can relate to the character on those above-mentioned levels, I will try finding something else that does make me relate to a character. I love human psychology and am amazed how the human brain thinks, (personally, in a partnership and in a social setting) how humans feel and relate to each other and how people are driven and motivated by different emotions. This amazes me, and is very different to every single character that I have played.

Can you list some of the theatre projects you've participated in up until now, and the roles you’ve played?

BL: Smells Like Poor I did earlier this year and played the character Birgit. This was the first time the project was staged in English, and it was directed and written by Agusto Latino. Last year I played Teresa in Italian American Reconciliation and Maggie in Cat on the Hot Tin Roof both at the Victory Theatre in Los Angeles. Back home is South Africa, I performed in many contemporary and realist plays such as Julie in Stindberg’s Miss Julie and Celily in Oscar Wild’s Importance of being Earnest.

What has been your favorite project so far and why?

BL: My favorite project so far most probably is Maquisard. That was such an interesting project to have acted in, because I liked the action training in it. I loved putting my stunt training to use, and the cast and crew were so great to work with. We shot outside of LA for a few days in the desert and we all lived together and bonded.

What has been your most challenging role?

BL: The most challenging role I have played is actually a project that we just shot last month. It is called Cans and Candles, and I play a starving lesbian actress in LA. This was challenging because a) I’m heterosexual, so I had to delve into making the relationship of my lesbian partner realistic and show that we had substance and history in our partnership and b) make the character’s life circumstances realistic by eating out of cans for a few days and counting every penny that I spent. This project will soon be released and sent to festivals. The director on this project gave us a lot of freedom by trusting me and my co-star and letting us experiment with the emotional highs and lows of the script.

What is your favorite genre to work in as an actor?

BL: My favorite genres are action and drama. Action because I have a lot of stunt training and have always been good with my physical movements. Drama because I feel that we get to experience life on a higher and more intense level, which becomes euphoric to portray.

What separates you from other actors? What are your strongest qualities?

BL: I have theatre training; therefore I try understanding every character I play on a much deeper level, that being physical, psychological, sociological, physiological and socio-economical. And with that theatre training, it enables me to breakdown the script and build up a character with technique. I am also very multi-cultural and have probably seen a lot more of the world than any other girl my age --I was born in South Africa, a third world country, to white German middle class parents, got my degree, traveled to Europe and worked as a caretaker for elderly people for a year and then moved to the states alone to pursue acting. And all these experiences have given me a lot to take from the world around me, and a lot of world wise maturity and experience that I bring to characters.

Can you list some of the people you’ve worked with that our readers might know?

BL: I’ve worked with Chris Pine (I was featured in Wet Hot American Summer), Brandon Mychal Smith (featured in You’re the Worst), Angie Harmon (in Rizzolli and Isles), James D’Arcy (Marvel’s Agent Carter), Cuba Golding Jnr, John Travolta, Steve Aoki and many more A-listers. 

What projects do you have coming up?

BL: I have a film project coming up next year with the same director of Fives. The new project is called Demystifying Love. I can’t say too much about that yet. And then I'm also in the process of writing my first dramatic film called www.amour or alternatively called White Slave, which challenges the Internet dating scene these days and how women are targeted to false personas.

What are your plans for the future?

BL: My plan for the next year is to focus on commercials and hopefully land a big national commercial. After that, hopefully land a series regular role on a TV show. And eventually my end goal is become a working film actress who produces really good work. I don’t care if I become rich or famous, those things are fleeting. What I really care about is producing a really good quality body of work in my life where people can look up to and be inspired from.

What do you hope to achieve in your career as an actor?
​
BL: What I want to do as an actress is to change the world through my work. I want to inspire people to think in a different way, and I want to challenge people’s imagination. Specific themes that lie close to my heart at this point of time in my life are: women power and the abuse of women (physical and emotional). I feel like women in this day and age need empowerment and need positive reinforcement ALL over the world in order to escape victimization.
 
Why is acting your passion and chosen profession?
 
BL: Acting is my passion because I like to live and explore someone else’s world for the improvement of humanity. The need to express various characters in this art form brings the possibility of inspiring other peoples lives through the characters I portray, and I hope these stories change their lives for the better. Even if it seems like a farfetched idea, changing someone’s life on a miniscule level can mean the world to that one person. This is the beauty of the process of filming a story.
 
 

Just because a film has a great story or an A-list actor behind it doesn’t mean that it's going to be a winner. With multiple departments contributing to the end product it seems most successful productions result from the ability of the many different players in the game of film to come together and create a unified vision. When it comes to the visual aspects of a film, TV series, commercial or music video, the environment that is laid out before us comes down to the creative skill of the production designer and their ability to guide the art department towards carefully executing their vision.
 
Production designers like Yihong Ding use their artistry to create each and every set we see in the scenes of a project, a challenging feat that requires someone who is able to see what the director sees for a story and figure out what's needed to make it happen. Ding began her career back in London where she designed sets for stage productions, an incredibly challenging task considering the fact that there's no room for a second take. She was later accepted to the renowned American Film institute (AFI) where notable art directors like Andrew Max Cahn (The Hangover), Todd Cherniawsky (Avatar, Alice in Wonderland) and Joseph Garrity (Waiting for Guffman) also attended.
 
Over the last few years Ding has production designed an impressive list of films including Slut (Festival Trophy Award winner at 2014 Screamfest), Mira, Mal De Ojo, Five Dollar Meal, Maria Bonita and Like Son, Like Father. Ding has a unique take on designing the sets for a production. Heavily influenced by colors, she uses them to create the mood of the story, and she does it exceptionally well.
 
Beyond her creative vision though is Ding's understanding of how to actually create the sets for a production—because let's face it, coming up with a grandiose outline of what you want means nothing if you don't have the tools, or the budget, to make it happen. As an art director, Ding has led multiple productions to success like Henri Charr's documentary A Man Before His Time, and recently multi-award winning director Ryan Velásquez's film Drowning, as well as the upcoming series Chasing Life.
 
Ding's experience as both a production designer and art director has helped her see from multiple perspectives how to create the best sets for a project, and that's one of the reason we chose to interview her about her work. To find out more about what goes into the work of a production designer and art director, as well as some of the tricks of the biz that you probably never would have guessed, be sure to continue reading below.
 
 
 
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
 
YD: I am from Shanghai, China. I got my bachelor's degree in London before coming to LA to do my master's in production design at AFI. Later on I found out that I was one of the last students that they accepted to the program that year; and I think I am incredibly lucky because this move changed my life completely. I landed in LA the day after my 23rd birthday, and since then I've been working as a production designer.
 

So how did you first get into production design and what led you to this path?
 
YD: I have a theatre background, and during my time studying in London, I got the chance to work on the film Short Straw as a production designer, where my job was to dress a messy road trip car. That was my first job as a production designer, and I fell in love with the job immediately. I also designed the set for the theatrical production of "Noah’s Ark" at a theatre in Wimbledon, UK where I had to design a huge rainbow and part of the boat.
 
 
Can you tell us about how you approach your project from the time you're hired on to design a production through the time of filming?
 
YD: It always depends on the story. Different story could have different angle and strategy to approach it. Some common facts include color, tone, lighting, and texture.
Usually, when I am reading the script, I will start developing an image in my mind. After finishing the script, I will start searching reference photos. And then my picture palette starts extending.
 
Communicating with the director is important too. A good director will usually approach me with a look book, which contain basic ideal of how they picture the movie. And I will start filling more detail bass on the look book. Occasionally, I will suggest a total new ideal about the movie. But it is always depends on the conversation in-between the director and me. 
 
Personally, I've always found that color plays a huge role in my design progress. When I was designing the film Mal de Jo, I used the color red as the element to indicate that the character was changing. The story is about an Peruvian-American girl’s relationship with her visiting Peruvian grandma. The two start of by not understanding each other, which leads them to get into a huge fight. But eventually, they both learn to accept the differences between them.
 
There was a huge fight in the climax of the story, and so after talking with the director, we decide that we would slowly add the red element when the grandma comes into the young girl's house. I decide to use red because it is a color of alarm and anger. It is a reflection of the girl’s emotion. And after the fight is over, the red disappears again.
 

Can you tell us about some of the films you've production designed so far?
 
YD: The film Slut has been the most challenging film I’ve done so far. I designed a broken down two-story farmhouse for this movie, which we ended up building on a stage later on. In the story, one of the characters falls from the bedroom on the second floor, hanging himself to death on the living room ceiling. There were many different ways to approach this, but I wanted to give the director and the cinematographer the best option to shoot this traumatic event. We decide to do the whole stunt using a set that my team recreated to look identical to the whole interior of the two-story farmhouse on the stage.
 
We built the whole living room with a breakaway ceiling, a hallway with a staircase, and a bedroom with the breakaway floor on a platform. We had to build a separate puzzle breakaway floor piece so that it could be replaced with the real wood piece when we were done doing the stunt. It is very interesting when you have a chance to build something from scratch. The whole structure started from a photo that I found online-- an abandon empty living room with a moldy green color on the wall. My director and I both fell in love with this photo and decided that this would be the main inspiration for the film.
The movie made it into a lot of film festivals including AFI Fest, Scream Fest, Las Vegas Film Festival and others.
 
Mira directed by Amanda Tasse was another interesting movie I did. It’s a very character centered story. The film is about a young marine biologist named Mira who gets a bit too ambitions with her work and ends up getting herself into dangerous territory. The creature she studies in the story are known as immortal jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii), a species of small, biologically immortal jellyfish found in the Mediterranean Sea and in the waters of Japan. It is the only known case of an animal capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary individual; although, in nature most of the Turritopsis likely succumb to predators or disease in the medusa stage, without reverting to the polyp form. What Mira and her boss do in the film is breed them in the lab and find out how to keep them steadily reverting back to their sexually immature point. 

Mira herself has temporal lobe epilepsy, which causes her to have seizures constantly and short terms memory lost. Her medication does not adequately control or prevent all her seizures. When she has a seizure (15-30 seconds long), it causes short-term memory loss of events that happened 1 to 3 hours before the seizure. And that is why she had a very personal connection with the Jellyfish, because she believes that finding out the secret behind their immortal life cycle could somehow save her life. That is why when she finds out that the government is taking the funding back and shutting down the project, she wants to make sure that she could prove the connection before the deadline. But she doesn’t realize that she went to far this time, and it almost costs her her life.
 
We ended up filming at an empty lab on Catalina Island, and dressing the lab into the jellyfish lab for the story.  For the production, we had a lot of challenges. Shipping all the set dressing on a boat was one of them. We had a weight limit and most of the stuff was made up of fragile lab tube and glass. My art director and I had to pack them very carefully and make sure we rented exactly what we wanted because there was no room for waste in the budget. Finding the jellyfish tank was another challenge. They were all costume made and very expensive; I almost had to build them myself; but luckily we found a person that was willing to rent 3 to us for a really great deal. That was a lifesaver.
 
To See the Sunrise from director Xu Fang Ting is a sci-fi film that takes place in a dystopian futuristic world and revolves around two girls who have been planning to escape from the underground totalitarianism society. And one day, one of the girls gets the final gate key that could lead them to freedom. She tells her partner immediately however what she doesn’t know is that her only friend is thinking about betraying her. The whole movie happened in an underground control room; and, after talking with the director, we decide to go with a bit dirty sci-fi style for the movie, with a grey-colored room that gives the overall feeling of claustrophobia. I designed the room in sketch up and we hired a studio to build the room for us. The film is still in post-production.
 
The film Like Son Like Father from director Lin Wang is a fair tale story about two orphan brothers, Sammy and Bobby, looking for their father who they've never seen before. They go door to door and ask every man one question: Are you our Dad? Dave, a middle-age single man, feels for the kids and invites them in for a nice meal. When the connection is made, Sammy and Bobby start to suspect that Dave is the Dad they are looking for. Dave opens his heart to the boys as if he is their father. Sammy asks Dave one last question, the only clue their Mom left them before she dies: Do you love us more than money? "I love you guys more than..." Before Dave finishes answer, the boys suffocate Dave in cold blood...
 
The movie is shoot on 16 mm with a 3:4 aspect ratio. I talked to my director and we agreed that we didn’t want any vivid colors except for the blood and toys for the two boys. We found a house location that had a layout we liked, but the furniture was too modern and nice for our story, so we redressed the room with lower class furniture.  The boys live in a tent, but the one we had for the shoot was green so I sewed burlap over the tent to make it appear white in order to keep the color harmony. The movie is doing its festival run now.
 

Can you tell us about some of the commercials you've production designed over the years?
 
YD: "KOD 2015 Opening" is a commercial I did recently.  It is a commercial for Street Dance World Cup, which broadcast in 8 different countries.  Because of that the client wanted to see 8 countries represented in the commercial. Finding locations and adapting them to look like those placed was my main job. Some of our main sets included a Russian home, German bar, Chinese street vendor's stand, Japanese classroom, and an LA Dance studio.
 
"Diomany" is a lingerie brand that I did two commercials for.  The clients wanted to emphasize the luxury, passionate and ornate style of the brand. We had two locations: The beach and the Hollywood Castle. I made a fake sand castle from foam board so that it could remain well maintained during the shoot.  In the castle, I suggested that the talent could have an English afternoon tea party, and the client really likes the idea. So I bought about 5 boxes of dessert pies, cupcakes etc., I also art directed a commercial for "Microsoft Outlook app", and production designed a commercial for "LUVS."
 

They are all very different, what made you choose to participate in these projects?

YD: It always ends up coming down to the story-- if I can feel it, if it touches me, then I will do it even if there is less money and a very small budget.

 
Can you tell us about some of your work as an art director?
 
YD: The business with art directing comes down to logistics. Organizing the art department is a lot of work.  You need to schedule when to pick up the props, how many people you need for certain days; and always think ahead in terms of what is coming next, because you always need to be prepped for the next thing. I art directed a series called Chasing the Dream that will be broadcast on QQ.com next February. It was a challenging shoot, since we didn’t have a big budget for the production. But the story is pure comedy. People sometimes think comedy is easy, but it’s actually pretty hard especially for props, because everything has to be particular with specific items, otherwise it won’t be funny. On top of that, the decoration should generally maintain a warm and happy color. We had to be very creative with a lot of the stuff. For example, once we have to cut out some clip art shapes and put them on the wall to add more color to the locations. In fact, we did it a couple of times, and it worked really well on screen.
 
The whole shoot lasted a month. I helped the production designer looking for props and location scouting during the prep, and when we started shooting, I'm responsible for keeping everything organized and making sure that there is nothing damaged and lost.

 
How do art directing and production designing differ?
 
YD: An art director focuses on how to achieve the look. They are the second hand to the production designer. Their main job is to keep the production designer focused on the design, rather than getting distracted by practical problems. I enjoy being an art director too, because I think it is necessary to know how to make it work as well. And it helps me to be a better leader when I am a production designer. You don’t want to make your ideal design sound ridiculous so it helps to work as an art director because then you know what is achievable.

 
Which role do you prefer?
 
YD: I enjoy being a production designer more, since that allows me to design the entire film, and it has my personal mark on it. Being an art director doesn't give you a lot of space for designing.

 
If you had to choose between production designing for film, television or commercials—which one would be your favorite and why?
 
YD: Film for sure, because I like a good story. That has always been the core of my passion. I like television too. But the industry is so fast paced that you usually won't have enough time to focus on the design. You always get more time to really analyze the story in the film industry. 

 
Why are you passionate about working as a production designer?
 
YD: Because it’s so fun! It is a combination of an artist, an interior designer and a detective. Yes a detective! Sometimes I find myself assuming I am the character in the story and questioning how I would dress my room. It’s a very interesting cross gene job. You get a chance to know so many different people's lives and gain knowledge from around the world.  And most importantly, a good story! A story that makes people laugh, cry or think.  That is what has been driving me to doing this.

 
Can you tell us about any of the challenges you've faced on your way to the top of the industry—or any memorable "aha" moments where you felt like "hey this is the key to success"?
 
YD: Haha, if I really have to list one, then it would be "connections." Today someone might be a PA working for you, but tomorrow they could be the person who wants to hire you. And it is happening to me right now.

 
What have been a few of your favorite projects so far and why?
 
YD: This a really hard question because I like all of them. I have to like a story to be able to design it. That is just my principle. If I really have to choose I'd say my favorite projects so far are Slut and Mira. I worked on these projects for a really long time, which I think is the main difference from all of the other projects. For Slut we spent almost a year from preproduction up until the final release. Mira was also quite a long process. Another reason is probably because I am always interested in female character focused stories a little bit more than others, simply because I am a female and I think this industry should have more female voices involved.  I’ve seen it happening more and more often now, and I hope this trend keeps growing.

 
What would you say your strongest qualities as a production designer are?
 
YD: Organizing and my unique color sense.  People have been approaching me saying how much they like the tone of the movies I've designed, which made me realize I do like to use a lot of bold color choices. It’s not saying that I like vivid color, but I think I have my own taste of what colors should be put together to support the story.

 
What projects do you have coming up?

YD: I have a sci-fi feature coming up, and I am really excited about it. We are still in the pre-production phase, talking about the look of the project etc. The movie will be directed by Max Minkowitz and produced by Nate Jaxon.
 
I will also begin shooting the film Rodeo in December, which will be directed by Stephen Phillips and produced by Sarah Kambara.

 
What are your plans for the future?
 
YD: In the future I would like to continue working internationally, especial between China and the US.

 
What do you hope to achieve in your career?
 
YD: Oscar award! Kidding.  It will be great if it happens of course. But I really like this job, and as long as I can keep going I am happy with whatever coming to me.
 

What kind of training have you done, and how has it helped you in your field of work?
 
YD: Hmm…. I would say that I learned to survive in a super competitive environment-- because that is what the last two years at AFI looks like. I think that changed me a lot in terms of how I react in social situations and how I represent myself.
 
It's definitely helped me in this industry, because it is very competitive, lots of people want to do your job. What makes you special enough that the producer will want to hire you? How much can you make them trust you?  That is what I learned from AFI, and I believe it turned me into a stronger person.