Designing for Films: A Q&A with Ed Verreaux

What exactly does a Hollywood production designer do? Well, in the case of Ed Verreaux, he serves as part artist, part architect, part interior designer, part industrial designer, part landscape designer, part costume designer, and part art producer.

Verreaux got his start in the film business as an animator, working with the legendary Chuck Jones. Since then, aside from production design, he has also functioned as illustrator, set designer, and art director. His film credits include all three Indiana Jones movies, E.T., The Color Purple, Twins, Honey I Blew Up the Kid, The Scorpion King, and Starsky & Hutch. He is currently working on the DreamWorks film Monster House.

In March 2004, as part of the furniture trade show NeoCon West, Metropolis Magazine editor in chief Susan S. Szenasy interviewed Verreaux about the many roles he plays. As they screened clips from three of Verreaux’s recent movies — Starsky & Hutch (2004), Mission to Mars (2000), and Jurassic Park III (2001) — Verreaux explained the inside story of how the scenes were created, how the sets got built, and how a film really gets made. A PDF of the interview can be downloaded by clicking here.