Production Designer Javiera Varas (AFI Class of 2006) is no stranger to using striking color palettes and meticulous set designs to draw audiences into both grounded and fantastical worlds alike. After a successful run as an Art Director on award-winning films including DALLAS BUYERS CLUB and WILD, she began working as a Production Designer, creating...

JUMP TO SECTION What is Production Design? What does a Production Designer do? Who becomes a Production Designer? What are the career paths for Production Designers? What is the Production Design program at the AFI Conservatory film school? 10 Production Design Terms to Know Recent Projects by AFI Conservatory Production Design Alumni What is Production...

This month, we spoke to the AFI Alumni behind the short film WE WERE MEANT TO, the first AFI Thesis film to be named an official selection at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival in 12 years. A coming-of-age story set in a world where Black men have wings, the film serves as a searing allegory...

Originally on an architecture track in her native India, Argya Sadan pivoted to studying production design for film and television after being accepted at the AFI Conservatory. Following her graduation from AFI in 2017, Argya was selected by The Art Directors Guild for its 2017 Production Design Initiative and was a finalist for the Television...

The 38th annual Sundance Film Festival came to a close this past weekend, finishing its 10-day run of celebrating independent film and emerging and established artists. This year’s impressive lineup comprised 33 works by 41 AFI Alumni, including HALLELUJAH, the brainchild of writer/director Victor Gabriel (AFI Class of 2020, Screenwriting) which he made alongside fellow...

Following her work on the critically-acclaimed THE FAREWELL – a 2019 AFI AWARDS recipient, AFI alum Yong Ok Lee (Production Design, Class of 2013) returned to Sundance for the second year in a row with MINARI – which won the U.S. dramatic grand jury prize and the dramatic audience award at this year’s festival. The film, inspired by director…