Hello and welcome to Big Gay Energy.
I'm Caitlin. And I'm Fiora.
Come along with us while we dive into the fun and nuances of
queer media. Representation matters, and
we're. Here to talk about it.
Cheers queers, we are back with another super fun interview
today. We are talking to Neil Floyd.
Neil was the set director for Red, White and Royal Blue and we
cannot wait to get to know him and his job better.
Welcome to the podcast, Neil. Thanks for having me.
He was the set decorator, Yes so.
So yes, I guess that's important.
Sorry everyone, I wanted to keep.
It serious? close enough?
Close. Enough.
You. You, you said Director.
And I just wanted to make sure I was like I'll.
Keep it. I'll take it.
It's fine.
OK, but the first question actually is what does a set
decorator do? Basic answer would be decorates
the set, but it's in the title but it's really it's the
production designer. On this was Mirren and you work
under this the production designer.
So it's all the creative departments and the production
designer is sort of the overall vision of the film.
And then each of our departments like set, decorator, prop
master, supervising, art director, we all kind of then
take our category and sort of own that and make it all come
together really. So we deal with sort of if we're
on a location, redressing the location to look like what we
want it to be or if it's a set from scratch down to you know
the sort of small details like even you know if it's a set,
there's nothing there. So you have to do down to light
switches up to sofas to elaborate whatever it is
actually. So you kind of every set is
different. So our job is is very random but
fulfilling because she kind of it always changes up.
I remember visiting a set and they were like even the door
knobs get changed for every single.
Day door furniture is my least favorite apartment that we deal
with and I always have someone on this.
It was Chin and she was amazing and I was just like just do the
doors. And because it's always a thing,
even the White House and this, the door handles were very
important. Heather Noble is there a
director she did that set the white, the White House sets and
to get exactly like the White House, actually that door
furniture is a thing. And if you don't notice it, we
did our job sort of thing. That's how you have to look at
it. Oh, it's such a small details.
Yeah, annoying details, I won't lie, but it actually, when you
find the right piece down to the door knob, it actually is
fulfilling because you're like, OK, it actually looks right, you
know, if you just put your regular apartment door handle on
an Oval Office door, I think we'd be called out on that one,
you know? Yeah, I think that'd be a little
weird. So thank you for paying
attention to every single detail that brought this beautiful
movie to life. Thank you.
We are wondering though, how did you just in general, how did you
get started in the entertainment industry and then how did you
end up on the red, white and royal blue movie?
I started about 20, almost 18 years ago.
I think it was as an office PA in Toronto.
And then I went to film school at Humber College in Toronto.
And then I just kind of worked my way through of where I wanted
to go. So I started as an office PA and
then moved into art department because I liked art department
and was an art PA and then it was either graphics or drafting.
It's kind of the two routes you go.
And I really liked graphics. So I studied graphics at night
and then became an assistant graphic designer and then the
graphic designer. And then I moved to London about
13 years ago and started pretty much.
Had to start again in a weird way because no one knows you,
you know, it's all about, it's all about connections and what
films you worked on. And they don't know the names,
they don't know the films I worked on.
No one's heard of Cry the Owl in England.
So it was a bit of a challenge. And then I finally got a job on
Gravity as a graphic designer. And then from there I was able
to get into the British system. And then I worked as a graphic
designer for five years and then decided to finally go into set
deck. And then I was doing Guy Ritchie
films at the time and we were doing the gentleman reshoots.
And then that's where I kind of I did graphics on the film and
then the reshoots did set deck and then that's kind of where
the transition happened. And then from there on I just
started with set deck and became a set decorator and it's been
great and it's it's been about five years now, I guess.
We did this film two years ago, I think.
Wow, that is quite a journey. Yeah.
And you just keep on growing though, because that's what
film's about. You just keep on sort of
developing and moving on and changing genres or?
Yeah. It's kind of the fun bit about
it. You know what did?
You do when you were like doing graphics.
Yeah, graphics. It was the physical graphics,
mostly physical graphics. When you watch a film, if the
character's reading a book and it's not a real book or down to
restaurant signage or street signage, An example of graphics.
I've done Ready Player One, like the IOI logo and Gregarious
games and things like that. All the posters for within that
film, the visual effects they do, they have a graphics team
and then the actual physical film always has a graphic
designer and now graphics team really because there's a lot
more graphics storytelling, you know, down to period things like
typing letters, things like that on the crown that was sort of
like the red box and all of the letters that go back and forth
in the crown and then all the newspapers to read about what
happened, that kind of thing. So you really get into
storytelling with graphics that. Is really cool actually.
For someone who doesn't like the details, you sure work with
details a lot. Yeah, well, we I actually, I do
like details. Just not.
Doorknobs. It's just not doorknobs, it's my
thing. But detail has actually always
been what like with graphics and set deck, it's just it's two
different types of detail, right, Graphics storytelling.
You're telling the details so this the audience can move on
with the story and sort of figure out, oh OK, that's what's
happening. You know he's guilty of
etcetera, while set dressing details are about sorry, that's
my podcast interview saying I'm interviewing with you.
But the set decorating details are more about the character.
So if you're if you're doing the room, if it's someone's bedroom
or their personal space, it's how you fill it with them, you
know, with their colours and with their patterns and their
their heritage. Whatever it is, whether it be
royal or if it's, you know, a Mexican background as family,
you have to pick the right fabrics and patterns and
textiles and sort of picture frames and things like that.
Anything that makes you feel like the character down to
action props, which are the backpacks, the you know,
notebooks, everything like that. So it's all very character
driven details. Cool.
I'm just curious, like why did you decide to go?
Like I know you talked about your journey, but like going
from the graphics to like physical set decorating.
I just I I just wanted to work more with the overall picture
even though they both are this in the same departments really
you know so like graphics works with Art department, Set Deck
props and set deck deals with props, Graphics art department
you know and then lighting in other other departments.
So it's just a different way of I guess just sort of I don't
know really I just really loved the overall sets.
Like I love filling an entire room you know and as graphics
are like a single part of it while set deck you sort of get
to expand more and you get to sort of pick out a bit more
detail and a bit more about what's going on.
So it's just always a really it's another creative venue.
You know, I, I that ends for production design areas.
That's where you kind of can really dig your teeth into
something, yeah. That's a lot going on.
Yeah. Yeah, so when you are working on
creating a set, we we were wondering where do you like
acquire the objects? I guess you need to build the
set and then what happens with them at the end of the movie,
like when you're done with production.
Well, most of the stuff comes from prop houses.
These are the go to really at first because you can rent them
because it is expensive to buy everything.
So usually we go to prop houses 1st to see what we can find and
then if there's something specific that we can't or we
just want something in a different light, then you start
buying it. So you can go online going on.
Venterior is a great website now that you can buy furniture from
all across Europe and other other websites or any stores in
London. We have a lot of London's very
catered to film nowadays. We have, we have specific people
that deal with drapes, you know, we have lighting, anything you
can really think of. We also have model makers, like
a huge model making departments here that you can just sort of
farm out like sort of like the cake, you know, and get things
made that you can't buy in the store.
And then at the end of the show, usually films hold everything
until we do reshoots and then after the reshoots then it's up
to the production what they want to do with the assets.
So usually we keep them all until that point, shoot it, and
then the studio figures out what to do.
Sometimes they sell it, they sell it, sometimes they give it
to charity. Sometimes we end up with certain
objects, like if you ask the production, you know if you
could have something. There is a light behind me that
I'm looking at right now, and it's the light from the from the
White House living room. Cool.
And it's pretty funny that it's right above your heads, yeah.
Have you had to deal with like, anybody stealing stuff before
reshoots got done and you needed it?
All the time. But hence the light that's in my
living room. It it happens.
But when reshoots happen I'm actually doing reshoots on
another film starting in January and we are missing things.
So you just have to refind them or rebuild them or remake them.
And then hopefully the reshoots aren't always as gigantic as the
film is, like when you of your sets, sometimes it's just sort
of close-ups and things or part they missed.
What if you like, you can't like is there anything like you
wouldn't be able? To Yeah, that has happened on a
reshoot I did before. We didn't have the table.
We filmed the film in Turkey and then we had to do the reshoots
in London and we couldn't get the furniture.
So it was, it was very tight, close-ups of things and it
actually worked in the film. Like it was just because they
always do that. That one was sort of, it was a
button that she presses. There was something where she a
recording device. She sticks to the bottom of the
table and so they needed the table to do that and we couldn't
do it. So we found something similar
and you just there's a bit of film magic about it, yeah?
That's a very creative solution to a very complicated problem.
Speaking of creative solutions, so Red, White and Rural Blue
contains historical landmarks like the Oval Office and the
V&A. Like, what research did you have
to do when recreating these iconic settings?
Unless you just, like, shut down these places for the day and
film there. We did for the V and A, yeah,
they did. So we have a locations manager
as well and then the production designer, they decide together
what's a location, what's a set, how we can do it and then we
sort of use all of our research we can with this show.
It was really great because the fans created so much concept art
online and we had it plastered around the set deck art
department because it actually was spot on to what we were
trying to recreate. And then we have our concept
people as well. And then the research for
something like the Oval Office, it's, you know, you research
every other TV show or film that's done it and try to figure
out how can we make it a bit different.
And sometimes it doesn't look that great, like in real life,
you know, like if you look at all the presidents, some of it
is really terrible. Joe Biden's Oval Office is
really bright colors compared to hers.
You know, like we weren't going down that route.
Barack Obama when he was president, there's a book by the
interior designer that did the whole did the whole White House
at the time. And that was actually one of our
key research books because it was really beautiful colors and
it was sort of, it just worked really well.
And there's a feminine touch to it as well.
You can really see the family value throughout the entire
place. So a lot of the colors came from
there and like sort of the ideas.
And then, you know, Mirren had had specific colors that she
wanted to use in the Oval Office, having a female
president and sort of showing their heritage as well and sort
of how to sort of get that across without being in such a
male dominated room. The Oval Office in particular,
like the house, you can kind of do whatever you want in a way
because if you look at the Obamas book, they did, they
painted the rooms all different colors.
You know, it had fun wallpaper and the kids bedrooms were
really creative and fun. It wasn't sort of stark office
walls in the living quarters something if like House of Cards
is another good show to watch for how they did the White
House. It's just kind of very
sophisticated looking, especially when she when Robin
Wright Penn, when she became president.
And then so yeah, we just sort of worked from that and that's
how you kind of deal with something like the Oval Office
or the White House. And then the VNA actually was
the VNA. There was no way around it.
We did think at one point to film somewhere else, but it
would just be so difficult, one for us to find enough statues to
fill a place to make it feel like a museum, like it.
It would just sort of look naff in a way, like the VNA is the
VNA. And because it is in the book,
it was quite nice to actually film at the real thing.
So they closed it down at night time and they filmed.
I think we filmed on a Saturday night and it was just till 5:00
AM. So it was a really short turn
around, but it was, I think it's worth it for the film.
There's a lot of production value with it.
Oh, for sure. And that must be a nice space
too, 'cause it's it's big. And like, you can facilitate
like filming, which is not always the case with like, yeah,
buildings, yeah. We didn't have to do anything,
yeah. If we did not bring one thing in
there, I think we brought a podium for the phone to sit on.
So you play the music and everything else was the VNA is
the VNA, you know? That's lovely.
So you've talked a little bit about this during the interview,
but when it we want to, I want to ask about like characters
personal spaces because we we talk about this on the podcast
when we like look at pieces of media and usually the space is
very reflective of the character's personality, like
you were saying. So we're we wanted to know what
was your process for designing Henry and Alex's rooms?
Specifically, Well, with them to be fair, because we have the
book, we really use the book as a Bible and we tried to get as
much out of the book that wasn't on the paper in the script that
we could try to get into the rooms because there were so many
specific things like music is a big deal in the book, you know,
between each character and in the film there's really no way
to show it other than if they put it in the soundtrack, you
know. So if something like Alex's
room, Mirren wanted to like sort of have a a record area for for
Alex and then have some records on the wall.
So with that, Casey, the writer actually put together a list for
us of all the albums that Alex would like.
So it wasn't just the ones from the book.
There was a quite a quite a extensive list.
And then we just sort of went through clearance and saw what
could clear and we were able to get things like I think Elton
John's on there, Frank Ocean and a couple others, I can't
remember the other one's offhand and you can sort of see it in
the room. And then in Henry's room we
wanted to sort of Mirren's big thing was about to show the
difference between Alex and Henry.
So Alex is very Americana with the Blues and Reds and then
Henry being traditional with sort of the the greens and wood
tones and sort of keeping that that old look of the old English
look compared to the modern American.
And we were able to do that subtly with the locations and
sets, but at the same time we're able to sort of bring in their
young personalities. So Henry had a lot of framed art
on his wall and it was things from the book sort of you know,
like he had Freddie Mercury on there, David Bowie, Oscar Wilde
poem. And then all of the books that
they read that are sort of on their bedside tables, we got
them just to clear them. So if in the moment they ever
wanted to pick up a book, it was actually the books they're
referenced from the from the actual novel.
So you kind of that's how you make it?
There's one piece in Henry's room that I love the kudos on,
like framing his bed. Are these like oil dog paintings
in like these, like military outfits?
That was the cutest thing ever. Yeah, the one dog is actually
Matthew's dog. Director No way.
I love that so much. Thank you for that.
I love that piece. Yeah, with the the artwork too
though. Yeah, yeah, all the artwork in
his room too. We tried to get things that were
specific from the book as well. I love that, Yeah.
Do you have a favorite set from the movie?
There are a couple that stand out on.
I really love the Tack Room, even though it was only part of
the montage during the polo. It actually was a really fun set
to do. And we actually had a lot of fun
with it because it was sort of subliminal because we had so
much leather in there. So there's a there's a really
rough sexiness to that room. So it kind of worked.
That was quite fun. I think anything to do with
Kensington Palace was was great. You know, Henry's bedroom was
was a lot of fun and Mirren really put her heart in that
one, so she really wanted the detail.
And so we were just trying to find the right pieces and we
refabriced a lot of furniture for that.
All the drapes were made. It's this house called Summer
Lane and it's where like sort of the Crown films there a lot of
people do. And we really changed the entire
place. Like we used every room as
everything. So that kind of it was our
favorite location because there's so many sets within this
one house and you'd never know like we did Buckingham Palace in
the reception room where they have their, where they have
their meeting before he goes in the balcony, that that long
hallway that was done there. And Henry's bedroom was an
extension built on another room. And actually that room is when
when they find out and is in the papers and everyone's huddled in
those two rooms. That actually is the dining room
sort of music room, which is the yellow room.
The music room's attached to this other room.
And we actually then flipped it to be Henry's room later on.
So it was like it was all these different things.
And then upstairs was the red room from the White House, the
Paris bedroom, the interview room where they sort of do the
horse and hound thing. That one.
That's the weird part. No one got that and all of the
Twitter that I've seen for the entire film about every detail
in the film. I guess it's because we just
kind of made it up. It wasn't part of the book.
But we decided The Interview Room could be an homage to
Richard Curtis for who wrote all the romantic comedies of our,
you know, the past 20 years. And that was our nod to Notting
Hill, because in Notting Hill, Julie Roberts was the American
and Hugh Grant was the Brit. And they sort of do the whole
interview thing with horse and Hound.
So we actually rented the exact same furniture I got all the
same. The couch is the sofa's
different because the one that Julia Roberts was on was a bit
smaller and for the two boys size, we couldn't fit them on
the sofa. So we got a different sofa.
But the coffee table, everything, the flower
arrangements, they were done by our florist, who knew the
original florist who did Notting Hill.
So we did this whole thing. So that was kind of our fun,
cheeky little set because we wanted to see, oh, would anyone
get it? But it was an homage to, you
know, classic ROM coms from our days, and now we were doing a
gay version. So it's great, you know?
I love that so much. That's so beautiful.
I had no idea. Yeah.
When? You watch it back, you'll be
like, Oh yeah, Oh my. God.
Well, now I have an excuse to watch it again.
Thank you, Neil. We even put, we even put horses
on the wall too. OK, yes.
OK, so Speaking of like iconic things in the movie, one of the
most iconic moments I would think most people would agree is
the wedding cake scene. Were you part of like like
creating slash, finding that wedding cake for the?
Yeah. So with the wedding cake, it was
a prop make. So we had our prop makes, Craig
Narmour and his company make it and it was a lot of trial and
error. Mirren sort of had the idea of
how large it would be and then I was trying to make it realistic,
like how can we make it happen. And then Rachel, my buyer was
sort of really loves prop makes. So she sort of took that on and
was the spearhead between everyone.
And then we got all those pieces for it was kind of based on Will
and Kate's wedding cake. That's kind of thing about it.
The hard part is, when it falls, it's supposed to be more of a
buttercream cake, but if you have a wedding cake, it's always
that Hard Rock style. You know, buttercream cake that
large, It'd be weird. So that is where the realism was
an issue. So then we decided no, stick
with the original look of a traditional wedding cake with a
smooth exterior. And then each layer was its own
piece and it was all made of like sort of a foam.
And then sort of none of it was edible.
And then what we did was we had a homec person and she made all
butter cream and pieces and slabs of cake.
And then on the day Mirren and her and whoever else was there,
the prop people, then they sort of threw the cake at them.
But the actual falling of the cake is actually was one large
gigantic cake that was sort of yeah, it was a bit it was very
complicated and then even with we were filming that at a
location so the cake can't get on the carpet of the.
Actual location. Biggest issue of More than how
it fell was don't touch the carpet.
So we actually then printed a large red carpet that's there in
the shot and we did three of those just so we could flip it
in and out, but they didn't actually have to.
They it actually ended up being quite clean when they did it.
And then the table was electronic as well.
So the table we built to have a mechanism that special effects
could then teeter it. And then with that and the
fabric that was around the table, they we'd reset to that
as well. So it was a lot.
It's a lot more going on than you actually think it is when
you watch it because it's 2 seconds in the film, but it is
the opening and the most talked about part of the film.
That is the most intricate thing I've ever heard for a cake
falling. Like there's so many just steps
and details that goes into that that like movie magic.
I was on a ladder pinning the top of it because all those
little, the sort of flowers in the outside are fake and then
they're put on top on it was the whole thing, yeah.
It came out beautiful in the end, like the whole thing.
And to be fair, I was really worried when we did it.
And I was like, oh, I don't know how that's going to work.
And then when you're watching the film, it's like, oh,
actually it worked really well. Just the right angles of the
cake, you know. So we were curious.
In the movie they mentioned that this cake that falls on them is
like $75,000. Did the cake cost anywhere near
$75,000? American if I convert it.
Yeah. Almost.
Dang, yeah. All right, so the realism.
Oh yeah, realism is the ironic part to get it all made and the
extra pieces and things. When we actually put the entire
bill together, it's not far off, I won't lie.
And then who? Who cleans up after the cake
falls on everyone? All of our prop companies, they
all did it. And the good part was it fell
onto our carpet, the carpet, and it was like, throw away the
carpet, it's fine. We have two others, so oh.
OK. That's helpful.
That is helpful. Actually it.
Worked out pretty. It was pretty clean, you know.
Oh my gosh, yeah. I always feel bad for like the
you watch these elaboracies and then like someone has to clean
all that up. But we tried to.
We made it that. I think that's why that one
worked out well, because it was our own carpet.
If it wasn't our carpet, it would have taken a lot more to
clean up. Oh my gosh.
OK. So I we asked our Patreon
subscribers if they had any questions.
And so we had people just submit and here's a few of them.
So was the lampshade in the Paris hotel purposefully Askew?
Possibly. I know it was because I actually
just looked at my set photos to try to remember what we did
before I came on, and it was. And I don't know if that was
just because it could have been because on that day it was a
closed set, obviously. So we dressed it fully and then
walked out the room. And then, to be fair, even that
room's so tiny, you can only fit a camera and two people anyway.
So whatever they did during that scene, we actually didn't know.
Yeah, so I I think there was like things like that are put on
purpose, You know, it is messy in the way it was, you know, the
Lube on the side, everything was there for a purpose.
All right. Speaking of rooms that are
small, our Patreon wanted to know if the closet in the
hospital was really too small for the both of them.
No, they could fit in there. I did me and one of the prop
guys, we actually sat in it when we dressed it to make sure.
So I have a picture of us, which is quite cute.
Doing that scene just to see if we could fit and squeeze in.
It is quite it. It's actually a set, it's a set
piece that we did. So it had to be a little bit
wider to actually fit the camera.
And then and then on the day they push things in a bit, so it
looks a bit more. The magic is ruined.
No, it's it's so tiny, couldn't fit the camera in there.
It's like, it's amazing. We even saw it.
OK, so you filmed this movie in like, the Summer Ish, right?
Yeah, it was. How go ahead?
Sorry, no. No go.
Ahead, How did you portray winter at night?
Oh, for the White House, Yes. That was done in a park and we
have snow, snow business as a company here and they covered it
all in snow in fake snow. So that's how we did that.
Yeah, it's it's quite, it's a beautiful effect.
And they do it really fast, sort of right before camera because
the rain, if it rains, it does get a bit messy and just sort of
washes away. But yeah, that's how we're able
to do it. We did, I did, we did film this
last, not last summer, the summer before and we had to get
all those seasons in. So there's a little bit of and,
yeah. OK, last question from the
patron what? So there's a there's a scene
where where Alex like storms the castle and Henry is like reading
a book. And the patron member wanted to
know what do you know what book Henry was reading like?
I guess it was one from his bedside table.
It was, yeah. That was one from his bedside
table that I wonder if that was David.
That could have been Great Expectations.
But that's what he was reading in the park scene when sort of
the when Alex jogs by and he's not actually there during the
text, the text scenes. That was Great Expectations.
I can't remember which one it was that he was reading.
One of the ones from the book, though, it was one of his top
ones. Yeah, yeah.
I just. Sorry, I can't remember what it
was. No, that's OK.
Very small detail. Like, no.
Apparently there were a lot of books and things that were like,
on a list. I think because you know so much
changes when you make a film, because it's totally, it's two
hours, you know, a book. How long does it take you to
read a book? And something like this was so
dense and there's so much in it and there's to be fair, there's
more characters as well in the book and different characters.
So it was a we're really trying to bring as much of that in as
we could. There's a lot that you probably
will never see that we did like that.
But it's we do it because if the camera picks it up or if on the
day they see it or want to, then it's there for the fans really
of the book. And I was a fan of the book.
So us too. Yeah.
So you've read the book before you even, like got the the
before you started working on the movie?
Yeah, my the producer, Michael Constable, We did a film before
together before this, and then he texted me saying he was doing
this film, had I read the book? And at that time I didn't read
the book. And I told my friend Amy in
Toronto and she was like, Oh my God, you have to read the book.
So I read it that weekend. Like, I I didn't do anything.
I just read the book. And then I said to him, I need
to work on this no matter what. And they didn't have a
production designer at the point yet, so it was my likelihood of
working on it. I still have to get hired by the
designer. And then thankfully hired Mirren
and she's a friend of my agent as well.
So there is a trust there. And then we met up and we
totally got along. We we known each other forever.
So it was perfect. And then it was just it was just
great to work on something that I loved reading as well and sort
of you know, a gay story that I haven't.
I've never worked on a gay film before and I've worked in film
for 18 years. It's so it was quite a moment
for myself even, you know, like it was a bit personally as
growing up, I'm 42, I know you're both younger than I am,
but. But when I was growing up, you
know, we had Brokeback Mountain, you know, that was the OR
Philadelphia, you know there was always one film and it was, it
was very hard gay film. And then so nowadays with like
heart stoppers and everything, it's and it's just fantastic to
see. And so when this happened, it
was great to finally work on a project where it was two guys
that were in love, you know? So it meant a lot.
So I I wanted to make sure that it was done right, you know?
We very much appreciate that, and that's why we have this
podcast, is to bring attention to that 'cause we also just
talked about Heart Stop. Which is amazing.
I love it, you know. Yes, positive representation,
that's like happy. Yeah.
We're loud to be happy. It was very depressing growing
up when you saw the film or it was a sign.
Now it's actually quite nice to see every type of relationship
and it's not a statement piece, it's just sort of a normal part
of life now. So it's it's quite beautiful to
see and I think that's why this, well, maybe maybe that's why
this film connected so well with people, you know, because it's
fun, it's it's light hearted, there's a bit of, you know,
drama in it and there's a lot of different emotions, but it is
quite fun at the end of the day and it's it's done really well,
I think you. Know it definitely.
Agreed. I noticed that you've worked in
a lot of different countries and like what has been your favorite
country to work in and or visit? They're all very different.
I just worked in Greece this year and I actually, to be fair,
I loved working there. It's quite nice and hot.
It's right as you can see London right now, it's 5:00 and it's
dark, but Greece was fun. Turkey was amazing.
I loved Budapest, Lithuania was great.
Every I I really do love travelling and working, so it's
nice to stay at home. And London, London.
London's been my home now for a while, but it is quite nice to
travel and because you get to work with different people and
sort of figure out the kinks of what works, what doesn't work,
what translate, what doesn't translate, it's quite it's quite
fun to be honest. It definitely sounds fun.
Does your experience like working in different countries,
being exposed to different cultures?
Does that help or influence your job at all?
Like kind of how you approach your job in any way.
Yeah, I think it does, because it's you.
It's with whatever you do, it's managing A-Team or expectations
or how to get things done. There's certain things that we
do here in England that are a different system to like the
American system. The prop master is completely
different than it's standby props here.
So it's a it's a very, very different, but there's different
practices in each country that benefit each other.
So you know, you take some good and some bad and say no, that
doesn't work at all. Don't do it that way.
This works better. And then sometimes it doesn't
just because their system's different.
You know, like prop houses are completely different in every
country I've been to. You know in Turkey we're going
to random stores, but it'd be a street full of lights.
Like every single store on the street is lighting and you can
go in and rent any, any light from any, any store and then
they sell it later on to customers.
So it's like stores do that in every country.
They do that here as well. You know, we can get, that's how
you get some really nice value items like the Chelsea Design
Center in London. And it's amazing because it's
all like the high end shops, but they rent out a lot of their
showroom stuff, which gives them exposure and then they can make
some money on the side really. But it's it's great and it's
you're allowed to find different things because if you go to the
same prop house every single time you'll use the same sofa.
Like, to be fair, there is a sofa calling myself out, but I
did do that on purpose in this film.
The sofa they sit on in front of the king that was used in The
Crown season one. And one of the Crown I was
graphics and Celia Bobeck was the set decorator and she's kind
of been my set deck mother over the years.
So I did rent that, knowing that she used it in the Crown and
that whole set. Because I was like I wanted to
say this was me moving into set deck from being under mum back
then, you know? That's really cute.
That is so cute I can't even. You just made the movie Even
cuter, I know. I don't think I told the
designer that either, but it's fine.
Something that I love asking everyone is, do you have a dream
project you want to work on one day?
I guess so, but it. I've worked on a lot of dream
projects so far, to be fair, like I've worked with a lot of
people that I've always wanted to work with, and I just feel
like you never know what the next project's going to be.
You always want something that you can sink your teeth into,
really, and have a bit of fun with.
No, I don't know if I have AI would know it if I saw it, if
that makes sense. It's the people.
It's usually the people that are attached to it.
You know, like the director you've always wanted to work
with or the lead actor or whoever it is.
Usually it's the director you want to work with to sort of get
their vision. Or the production designer, if
I've loved what they've done, you know.
Those are all the questions we have that are serious for you.
Thank you for thoughtfully answering.
At this point in the interview, we're going to do a very quick,
like lightning round questions. We call the would you rather
game section so, well, they're very quick.
All right, so first one, would you rather have an unlimited
budget for set decoration but a tight turn around time or a
generous timeline with a limited budget?
Unlimited budget. I agree.
Would you rather work on a film set that requires extensive
research for authenticity, or one that allows more creative
freedom for imagination? That's a tough one because I
actually really love recreating everything that I've done that
has been a recreation, has actually been a really lovely
experience because she can really sync.
It's like you're in school again.
It's like you're a kid, you know, and you get to learn about
something that you never knew about.
Like there's so many random facts you find out that you
would never research. You just watch that.
You just watch two hours of whatever it is you know, and you
wouldn't actually get to, like, dig deep.
Yeah, like what door knobs are at the Oval Office.
I would never know that. Oh, the door knobs.
OK, all right. Would you rather have to
decorate an entire set using only items from the dollar store
or have to incorporate glitter into every scene?
The dollar store. There's so much good.
But not a good. Idea.
Store the people that clean up the set would also probably
appreciate that answer. You don't want glitter
everywhere. What not?
Everywhere. No, that's a mess.
It's the worst, Yeah. OK, another weird one.
Would you rather work on a film where every set is upside down,
or one where gravity only affects the characters, not the
props? Oh, upside down.
That would be fun. That would be fun, that.
Would be. That's.
And never thought about that before in my life.
That would be great. Yeah, I love it.
It'd be really tricky to do, yeah.
OK, would you rather have to create a set entirely out of
recycled materials or design sets for a film where everything
is made of candy? Oh, the real the.
The good answer would be everything.
Recyclable would be great because we waste a lot, but.
But candy? Wow, that'd be crazy.
That would be. Yeah, that would be quite fun,
actually. That would be the dream project.
Yeah. Candy Land, the movie there.
We go, yeah, there we go. We figured it.
Out. OK, I have yet another weird
question that has nothing to do with set design.
Oh my God. OK, would you rather have to get
the sex talk from President Claremont or King James?
Claremont, Yeah. I really liked her, yeah.
She'll make a PowerPoint. Yeah, I was about to say she'll
make a PowerPoint. Yeah, I would have pizza with
her, yeah. Yes.
Yeah. OK, last one, we promise.
Would you rather attend an award show where everyone gives
acceptance speeches in interpretive dance, or where
winners are determined by a game of rock, paper Scissors?
Oh, I love the rock, paper, scissors, because I'd like to
see people's reactions when they lose.
They would be really upset. That that's why.
Agreed. Yeah, that'd be like squid games
when it came down to the end. You're like rock, paper
scissors. Right.
Yeah, thank you for entertaining these weird questions.
I enjoy. I yeah.
Never thought of them before. OK.
So that wraps up all the questions that we have for you
before we sign off. Do you have any final words for
the listeners at home? Oh, I don't know.
No, just that it's been a great experience.
This whole film and everything that's come with it afterwards,
it's honestly it's we. It was a lot of work and it was
hard work. We even had COVID thinged in the
middle and it was just, I've never worked that hard in such a
short amount of time and not just me, my team as well, but we
were all thankful for it at the end because we actually tried to
do justice to hopefully the fans would like it.
At the end of the day, it's not up to us behind the scenes, you
know, we just sort of, we try to make that world and then
whatever they can create and put on camera is what you can do.
And I think they did a great job with the route they went down.
It's really been fun to watch, really.
So yeah, it's been great. It has been great getting to
know you and your job and everything.
So thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us today.
Thank you. It's everyone at home listening.
Make sure to check out Red, White and Royal Blue streaming
on Amazon Prime. Yes.
And until until next time, everybody hydrate for lesbian
Jesus. And gay it up all over the
place. Bye.
Nice meeting you.
And with that, we've been big gay energy.
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