Andrea Figueroa Chavez is an award-winning film and TV production designer. Born in Mexico but based in Los Angeles, she just wrapped up from the prestigious Gold Academy Program, where out of 7000 applicants and 100 accepted, only 5 of them are for production design. She is in charge of building the dreams of many directors by creating worlds previously only imagined on paper.
Can you introduce yourself for our readers, please?Hi! My name is Andrea! I'm a film and television production designer from Mexico but based in Los Angeles. For the past three years, I've been in charge of bringing to life all written details on a script to make it the best adaptation possible on screen. I recently worked with Paola Ramones, a Mexican film director and actress for a promotional female video. The video talks about Women in the film industry gathering to remind each other the power they hold. It is official that the stills from the photo session will be published in a well-known magazine, but we can’t reveal the name yet.
What got you into production design over every other film making discipline?My passion lives in the art department. I believe we are the creators of the tangible vision. I like when I can make creative decisions on set that will be key for what we see on screen. When creating the world of the characters, I based myself on the character’s truth. I love understanding human beings, how we behave, and how our surroundings speak so much about ourselves. Our persona lives in us, but it also manifests itself on the exterior, on the things we touch, on the colors we chose, and in the places we grow in. In order to call myself a production designer, which is one of the most complex positions in the film industry. I have to immerse myself in knowledge and practice of the following crafts: Interior Design, Art History, carpentry, theater scenography, painting, amongst other things. All these tools make me a production designer that can operate in multiple areas making sure that all responsibility of what the camera sees on set in terms of atrezzo/mise en scène falls on me. I like to make dreams happen on set and that is my job.
What was your first ever production design gig?To this day, I still remember it as one of the experiences that made me grow the most as a person. When I was in “Film School” I shot the story of a 10 year old boy, named Lillo, who after the death of his father, needs to overcome his loss by his imagination in order for him to collect the crops before the wind takes them away. I created this Mexican surreal short film for me to build the world of Lillo. All of the props were bought from Mexican artisans to enhance the cultural impact. Since I had to direct, I made sure all my production design pre-production was set as a priority. Doing the production design for a short film that I directed gave me the true insight about the relationship we need to have between director and production design. Since I understood the motifs and themes of the story, I knew exactly how to convey that through the set design. The production designer will bring to reality the world the director is imagining, and that relationship is one of the most intimate on set. In my first time doing production design, I became madly in love with it.
What makes you unique?Everything I see I seek for its beauty in the meaning. I love finding meaningful aspects in the stories to turn them into tangible looking objects that will make the audience question deeper about the whys of a story. Hidden gems are my kind of things. I got inspired by my favorite film “Amelie.” Every room of a character is a different world but at the same time manages to coexist in the same universe and The colors and lighting set the mood for the entire film. The production design of “Amelie” is a character itself.
As a production designer, what is the first thing you need to do on set? I go to craft services. I’m kidding, I believe my work is extremely valuable both in pre-production and post-production . Once I read a story, I start looking for the meaning for me to sketch the ideas that spark curiosity and that also align with the director's vision. Having worked on low-budget production s as a way to get into the industry, learn, and network, I had to do most of the shopping for production design, picking up the truck, and other tasks that you would not necessarily do on a bigger production . Now that I've emerged in higher-budget sets, and having had the knowledge and the experience of those smaller sets, I know how to coordinate a team so that the production design department not only makes its work look fantastic on screen but also runs smoothly behind the scenes.
Do you draw out the designs for the sets?I do! By drawing the sets you give the director's a visual representation of what their vision looks like in the beginning of the location scouting, and what it could become with their vision." Something that I love doing for my clients is drawing their sets, scanning them for logistics but also giving them the original drawings with an artistic choice to create the art of the film like studio Ghibli’s or Disney’s art books from movies.
What is coming up next for you?I’ll be doing production design for a social media series called “Human Experience”. inspired by the need of an awakening with Eunicet Pamela, a Mexican cinematographer member of the Academy Gold Production Track and “Apertura DOP”. She has been awarded in South Texas International Film Festival, Catalina Film Festival, Cine Gear, and more. In Our first episode we will have Sulem Calderon, known for “Jungle Cruise” by Disney.
How can people find you?Thank you so much. People can follow me on
Instagram or check out my projects on
IMDb.
