Robert Stromberg - AVATAR Art Director

I had the distinct pleasure and honor to meet an Oscar winner a few days ago, the smile on his face still fresh from picking up his statue and giving an emotional acceptance speech on the stage at the beautiful Kodak theatre.

Robert Stromberg won the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Award for Best Art Direction for the James Cameron epic AVATAR. I photographed him for ARTSTARS.us. And I was fortunate enough to sit in on the interview as well. I learned a lot in those 45 min.

Robert grew up in Carlsbad, CA, a short one hour drive from L.A. As a child he wanted to be an artist for a living, but wasn't sure how. Like countless others, he moved to Los Angeles in hopes of making a career out of a passion. He enrolled at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and slept on a friend's couch while working a labor job loading boxes into a van. A short-lived job that ended when, get this, he was caught drawing on the job.

One by one, Robert landed industry jobs. Sweeping an entire empty theater as a production assistant one day, a commissioned matte painting the next. And with each paycheck, he would say to himself excitedly, "Can it get any better than this?"

Then came the plot twist present in any movie worth its salt. Only this was all too real.

After hearing his name following "the winner is..." he walked to the mic and revealed, to many for the first time, that he is a cancer survivor. Thirteen years ago he was given a grim diagnosis followed by an even more grim prognosis. But he fought it and the fight was worth it. After beating the disease, he promised to make the rest of his time worth every minute. He speaks fondly of his wife, but especially his kids. Tom, creator of ARTSTARS.us, is a brand new first-time father. So it was not surprising that the first 15 minutes of the interview were dominated by talk of being a father. Come to think of it, though enthusiastic about AVATAR, it was overshadowed by his love of fatherhood.

Here I was, looking at a man at the top of his game—his life for that matter. Triumphant in every way.

Tom asks a few of the same questions to every interviewee. One is "Any advice to young people getting into the biz?" Robert answered with the expected requirements of passion and drive, but he also added in that "luck favors the prepared." I laughed to myself quietly. This is one of my favorite quotes and my fiancée had just texted this to me earlier in the day as an affirmation.

We shook hands and he was off as quickly as he came. But his impression on me stayed behind.

Cancer survivor, family man, Oscar win for doing what once got him fired from a job—can it get any better than this?

See his entire interview at ARTSTARS.us.

Michael Novotny - Production Designer

Shot at the Warner Bros. Lot (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

Another installment for the ARTSTARS.us blog. Tom and I drove on to the Warner Bros. lot of sound stages for this one. Michael Novotny is the Production Designer for CBS's The Mentalist. He has a long and storied career. He's also the father of CSI's Dan Novotny. (The pencil doesn't fall far from the drafting board.)

In addition to the close-up hero shot for the blog, I knew I had to get a shot of Mike in his golf cart. The Art Dept. was having trouble with other departments mistakenly lifting their cart, the preferred vehicle at WB. Mike's assistant, Julie, told me he wanted to make his cart unmistakable. No wait, I'm paraprashing. What she actually said was, "Did you see the ducks on the roof?"

Two mallards in a boxy version of a pond are what now differentiate Mike's golf cart from everyone else's. He drove this thing around like a madman. I nearly fell out—twice. And the thought of seeing this cart whizz by with two ducks leisurely enjoying the ride, bills to the wind, made me smile.

No one mistakenly takes his cart anymore.

Look for the interview with Mike soon on ARTSTARS.us.

UPDATE: Read the interview here.

ARTSTARS.us

Click to go to ARTSTARS.us. © William Anthony

Today marks the launch of ARTSTARS: Conversations with Production Designers & Art Directors. Created by friend, neighbor and Production Designer, Tom Lisowski, it's a blog of interviews he conducted with some of Hollywood's leading PDs and ADs. Don't know what a Production Designer in Hollywood actually does? Neither did I. This is a good primer. Already in the industry? This is great insight to some of Tinsel Town's best films and how they were made.

Tom asked if I'd be up for shooting portraits of his interviewees. I was happy to, as I got to sit in on the interviews. These are very interesting guys. They all share a passion unlike any other in filmmaking. A passion for the craft of make-believe but very different than the screenwriter or director. Because their role in the production of a film is so wide-reaching, most are adept at not only drawing and designing but sawing and hammering as well. And they love talking about all of the above in minute detail.


Documentarian Daniel Raim (Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

Tom's launching with four great, in-depth interviews. He has many more lined up including more industry legends.

Check it out for yourself here.