Leigh’s work has been appreciated by millions of people around her native country of Canada and the rest of the world. She has been a part of several viral commercials, including the 2015 Teleflora Mother’s Day commercial, which was named the 6th Most Watched Ad on YouTube in April by AdWeek, as well as the E.L.F. Play Beautifully commercial that has over 2 million hits on YouTube alone. Leigh has worked on several commercials, including Is It Enough for SportChek, Welcome to the Great Indoors for Casino Rama Resort, several PSA/commercials including work for Salvation Army titled Open House and for OneDrop.org titled #MoreFirsts, to name a few. She also worked on the celebrated Downtown music video for The Sheepdogs. Director John Cullen says that Leigh in invaluable for each and every project she is a part of.
“Few production designers and art directors have the same level of effect on the overall success of a production in the same way that Andrea does, as she was key in the viral success of each commercial and the company’s success as a whole,” said Cullen. “In her novel approach to production design, Andrea displays an exceptional gift for turning the vision of a director such as myself into tangible environments that enhance the work and create realistic worlds for the narrative to inhabit, which in turn has translated into a wide variety of achievements for Andrea throughout her career.”
Leigh’s production design talents are evident with everything she does. When working on set decorating for the popular web series Whatever Linda, her work helped take audiences back to the year 1978 where the story takes place.
“The era was definitely the initial draw. Late seventies are a bad ass time to set decorate for. It makes the job more fun and a heck of a lot easier when you love all the pieces you are seeking out to use on the sets. The script was also what drew me into this project. It was well written, clever, thoughtful. It painted the picture perfectly for the design team. We knew exactly what we wanted it to look like,” said Leigh.
Whatever Linda is about a woman who takes control of her dire situation. She takes on Wall Street, develops a Ponzi scheme and makes herself millions before getting caught. It is a dramedy inspired by the real-life events of the Bernie Madoff Scandal.
“The cast and crew were amazing. A lot of us are still friends and work together often. We also got to film in a location that I had never shot in an amazing old building at the end of a street in Liberty Village in Toronto. Sets from past shows had been left behind and it’s interesting to see what was built there before and see how you can transform and incorporate it into whatever you are working on there,” she said.
The production design on the series was recognized by international audiences, and was nominated for “Best Production Design” at the British Independent Series Awards.
“You learn a lot when working on a period piece. Staying true to the era requires a lot of research and development. And that for me is the fun part. Doing the research, the learning curve of designing for an era. By the end of the project you feel you've mastered designing for that decade, that exact year even. It’s also interesting to see how it changed my own personal tastes and preference. Naturally I gravitate towards anything from the late 70’s and early 80’s now when it comes to design,” said Leigh.
Whether it be taking audiences back in time, or helping to immerse them in that perfect moment, there is no doubt as to why Leigh is considered one of Canada’s best production designers.