2014 (Production)

2014-10-27 (Production)

English (Original)

Interviewee: Wynn Thomas
Interviewer: Sienna McLean LoGreco

Professional production

Production designer Wynn Thomas is interviewed by Sienna McLean-LoGreco at the Lighthouse Theater in 2014. Thomas discusses his early career in theater and his production design for films, from DO THE RIGHT THING (1989) to A BEAUTIFUL MIND (2001).

Production designer Wynn Thomas is interviewed by Sienna McLean-LoGreco at the Lighthouse Theater in New York City for a co-production with the Academy of Motion Pictures Oral History Program and the Art Directors Guild on October 27, 2014. Thomas describes growing up in a tough Philadelphia neighborhood where he escaped his surroundings by becoming a voracious reader of literary works. His introduction to theater grew out of his older sister’s involvement in the local Society Hill Playhouse. The venue became his second home, where he was given small acting roles and assisted with production duties. He recounts his enrollment in Boston University’s Theatre Design program before moving to New York in the mid-1970s. There, Thomas secured a position as scenic designer with the Negro Ensemble Company in 1979 and became the first African American to pass the entrance exam with the United Scenic Artists Local 829. He tells of meeting production designer Richard Sylbert, who offered him a model-making job for Francis Ford Coppola’s THE COTTON CLUB (1984). Patrizia von Brandenstein then hired Thomas as assistant art director for BEAT STREET (1984) which led to a fortuitous meeting with a then unknown Spike Lee. Thomas recalls Lee’s confidence to hire him as production designer for SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT (1986) and their subsequent collaborations on DO THE RIGHT THING (1989), MO' BETTER BLUES (1990), and MALCOLM X (1992). He goes on to describe meeting director Robert De Niro and the production design for A BRONX TALE (1993), recounting his meticulous research process and obsession with 1960s’ New York authenticity. He discusses collaborating with Tim Burton on MARS ATTACKS! (1996) and the pressures of designing a big budget effects film. Thomas also addresses his role in breaking the glass ceiling for African American production designers and how the film industry continues to relegate minorities to Black-themed films. He expresses his hope for more diversity within the field, noting the highly skilled albeit untapped pool of talent. Thomas concludes with his thoughts on the production designer as polymath and the importance of developing a sense of storytelling.

Wynn Thomas (born 1953) is production designer and art director with an extensive background in the theater. During his teenage years in Philadelphia, he frequented the city’s Society Hill Playhouse where he honed his skills as a set designer and occasional actor. Thomas earned his BFA in Theatre at Boston University and eventually moved to New York, pursuing a career in scenic design with the prestigious Negro Ensemble Company. He entered the film business as an uncredited model builder for Francis Ford Coppola’s THE COTTON CLUB (1984) while concurrently working as art director on BEAT STREET (1984) under the tutelage of production designer Patrizia von Brandenstein. Thomas would meet Spike Lee on the film set and begin a longtime partnership with the director, including work on SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT (1986), DO THE RIGHT THING (1989), and MALCOLM X (1992). Other notable collaborations include working with director Robert De Niro (A BRONX TALE, 1993) and Ron Howard (A BEAUTIFUL MIND, 2001). Thomas received a nomination for Excellence in Production Design for a Feature Film from the Art Directors Guild for his work on Tim Burton’s MARS ATTACKS! (1996).

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