FEATURED ARTISTS

ROBERT F. BOYLE - Production Designer

Esteemed production designer Robert Boyle was born in 1909 in Los Angeles, California. He graduated from the USC School of Architecture in 1933, and began his career at Paramount Pictures as draftsman in the Art Department. In 1940, he was hired by Universal Pictures, where he designed sets for THE WOLF MAN (1941). Subsequently, Alfred Hitchcock hired Bob for his first film at Universal, SABOTEUR (1942). Hitchcock worked with Bob more than with any other production designer: Bob also designed Hitchcock’s SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943), THE BIRDS (1963), MARNIE (1964), and NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959), which marked Bob’s first Oscar® nomination.

Bob has been the production designer for classic films including CAPE FEAR (1962), IN COLD BLOOD (1967), and THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968). Bob was nominated for Academy Awards® for his design of NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959), GAILY, GAILY (1969), FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1971), and John Wayne’s last film, THE SHOOTIST (1976).

In the early 1980’s, Bob developed a Production Design program at the American Film Institute in Hollywood, where he continues to teach today at the age of 100. Bob received an honorary Oscar® at the 80th Annual Academy Awards® presentation on February 24th, 2008.

Bob passed away August 1, 2010 at the age of 100.

HENRY BUMSTEAD - Production Designer

A legend in the world of Hollywood production design, Henry “Bummy” Bumstead was born in 1915, in Ontario, California. After graduating from USC with an Architecture degree, Bummy began his career in 1937 at Paramount Pictures as a draftsman in the Art Department.

Throughout his 69-year career in the film industry, he designed sets for over one hundred films. He won Academy Awards® for his designs of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962) and THE STING (1973), and was Oscar®-nominated for his work on Alfred Hitchcock’s VERTIGO (1958) and Clint Eastwood’s UNFORGIVEN (1992).  Other films Bummy has designed include THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956), SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE (1972), THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP (1982), MYSTIC RIVER (2003), MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004), and Clint Eastwood’s Iwo Jima pictures FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS (2006) and LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA (2006).

Bummy passed away May 24, 2006 at the age of 91.

CONRAD L. HALL  -  Cinematographer

The son of “Mutiny on the Bounty” author James Norman Hall, Conrad “Connie” Hall was born in 1926 in Papeete, Tahiti. Although he originally intended to become a writer like his father, Connie’s self-proclaimed talent for “creative spelling” led him to USC’s Cinema Program in 1948.

After working as a cameraman on several feature films, such as 1955’s EAST OF EDEN and 1962’s MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY, and after filming several television programs including THE OUTER LIMITS (1963-1965), Connie got his first job as Director of Photography in 1965 on the feature film THE WILD SEED.  He became one of America’s most esteemed cinematographers, garnering ten Academy Award® nominations for his work on MORITURI (1965), THE PROFESSIONALS (1967), IN COLD BLOOD (1967), THE DAY OF THE LOCUST (1975), TEQUILA SUNRISE (1988), SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER (1993), and A CIVIL ACTION (1998); he won Best Cinematography Oscars® for BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969), AMERICAN BEAUTY (1999), and ROAD TO PERDITION (2002).

Connie passed away January 4, 2003 at the age of 76.

HAROLD MICHELSON - Illustrator / Production Designer

Widely regarded as “The industry’s greatest illustrator,” Harold Michelson was born in 1920 in New York City. Harold began as a storyboard illustrator at Columbia Pictures in 1949, and during his career worked with most of the major studios, including Warner Bros., Paramount, MGM, 20th Century Fox, RKO, Disney, and Universal.  Harold drew storyboards for many beloved classic films, including FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953), THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956), BEN HUR (1959), WEST SIDE STORY (1961), CLEOPATRA (1963), THE BIRDS (1963), WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966), THE GRADUATE (1967), and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1971).

Later in his career, Harold served as the Art Director/Production Designer for several feature films, including CATCH-22 (1970), Mel Brooks’ HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PART I (1981), SPACEBALLS (1987), PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES (1987), and DICK TRACY (1990). Harold was nominated for Academy Awards® for his set designs of STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE (1979) and TERMS OF ENDEARMENT (1983).

Harold passed away March 1, 2007 at the age of 87.

ALBERT NOZAKI - Production Designer

Born in Tokyo, Japan on New Year’s Day, 1912, Albert Nozaki came to the United States at the age of four. He attended USC School of Architecture, and began his career at Paramount Pictures in 1934 as a draftsman in the Art Department. Within hours of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the studio dismissed Al. Along with thousands of other Japanese-Americans, Al and his wife Lorna were forcibly relocated to Manzanar internment camp. Following the war, Al returned to Paramount, where he spent the entirety of his film career.

He was the Art Director on Paramount films including CHAMPAGNE FOR TWO (1947), WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (1951), HOUDINI (1953), THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953), CASANOVA’S BIG NIGHT (1954), and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956), for which he earned an Oscar® nomination.  In 1969, Al retired from his position as Supervising Art Director for Features at Paramount due to an eye condition, retinitis pigmentosa, that ultimately rendered him blind.

Al passed away November 16, 2003, at the age of 91.

HASKELL WEXLER - Cinematographer/Writer/Director

Haskell Wexler was born in 1926 in Chicago, Illinois, and developed an interest in film at an early age. After serving as a merchant seaman in World War II, Haskell set out to learn about film. He began work in Hollywood in 1958. Haskell has filmed classics including Elia Kazan’s AMERICA, AMERICA (1963), IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967), THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968), AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973), and COLORS (1988). He was nominated for Best Cinematography Academy Awards® for ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST (1975), MATEWAN (1987), and BLAZE (1989), and won two Oscars® for WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966) and BOUND FOR GLORY (1976).

Haskell is also renowned in the documentary world for his work as cinematographer, director, and producer on several non-fiction films, including THE BUS (1965), BRAZIL: A REPORT ON TORTURE (1971), INTRODUCTION TO THE ENEMY (1974), CIA: CASE OFFICER (1978), and the Oscar®-winning documentary short INTERVIEWS WITH MY LAI VETERANS (1970). He has written and directed his own feature films noted for their social commentary, such as MEDIUM COOL (1969) and LATINO (1985). His most recent documentary, entitled WHO NEEDS SLEEP?, premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.