PRODUCTION DESIGN
“KING OF GAMES” (2025) | Short Film
Written & Directed by Tyler Cino Maradiaga | Director of Photography: Luisa Madrid
STARRING: EMPEROR KAIOYUS, MILDRED R. GIL, ANNIE HENK, BRYAN FITZGERALD, JOSHUA GARCIA, MIRIAM CRUZ, RIGO GARAY, TONY DiMARTINO
On a life changing day, amidst the chaos and clatter of a splintering family, a young child loses his prized deck of playing cards.
ADDITIONAL INFO: Set in the 1990s, with a large ensemble cast, and a tight budget, “King of Games” presented a number of production design challenges and opportunities. We needed a very specific location: a multigenerational family home that was tight enough to allow the full weight of the drama to settle and constrain, but large enough for active production. After months of research, multiple sight visits, and a last minute cancelation necessitating a switch-up, we were lucky to find an estate condition apartment, untouched for a minimum of 10 years, but rich in ephemera and home goods from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. To complement what was already in place, I sourced a number of period and period appropriate pieces of decor, fashion, and technology. The young actors, entirely unfamiliar with life before WiFi, were introduced to specific props early on in the process to ensure they had a convincing fluency with the objects used to help establish their characters. This includes sourcing a circa 1995 knock-off portable cassette player with original headphones, all the way from the UK, and a glut of angsty teen rock on cassettes, well in advance of production. This ended up being absolutely clutch, as the kids first attempted to use the cassette player by shoving the entire tape, in its case, backwards into the player. I also created a number of custom band posters, and clipped heavily from 90s magazines, as well as having fashioned a height chart utilizing unopened dead-stock 90s wallpaper. I was also able to tap into my network and get us a mid-90s Volvo sedan for the final scene. The process of melding wardrobe and the aesthetic of the location was highly collaborative, and I worked to procure a number of outfits and textiles seen throughout the short. Perhaps the biggest challenge, and, ultimate success, was managing to build a world that was (1) both heavily populated with the glut of stuff that defines a family home, while (2) keeping pace with an active move-out that required a certain level of emptiness and order.
“LOTUS GREEN” (2023) | Short Film
Written & Directed by Gabriella Bartley | Director of Photography: Louis Obioha
Awarded the 2023 National Board of Review Student Grant
STARRING: CHARLIE LOCKWOOD
Lotus Green tells the story of a socially awkward high school student who holds a strong love for plants and can't stop talking about them. When he develops an unlikely school crush, he quickly finds a way to win a heart AND talk about plants.
IMDB | NBR | contact for link
ADDITIONAL INFO: Shooting on location at the College of Staten Island provided a wealth of aesthetic riches, the challenge was making the University feel like a high school. Not only a high school, but one in which each character inhabits an individual tangible and tactile space, with characterization necessitating personalized design. This was accomplished by utilizing what we had, such as whiteboards and empty classrooms, books, etc, but also bringing in curated items and tools like educational posters, hand-made paintings, seedlings planted specifically for filming, and designing the whimsical visual pollution that makes high school high school: student body election posters, club signups, signage, customized water bottles, hundreds of drawings, etc.
“PART TIME LOVER” (2023) | Music Video
Written & Performed by Zoë Fromer | Directed by Ewan Creed & Dylan Rizzo
A woman, a ghost, a situationship.
ADDITIONAL INFO: Filmed in one day on 35MM film, the set decor needed to pop, but not outshine the performance nor the cinematography. Shot within a black, chiaroscuro void, each set-up had two looks: one red (sultry, sexy, fun), and one blue (sad, lonely, less slay). Keeping in theme, I worked to utilize a number of clear, crystal items, such as prismatic candle holders, a crystal ball, etc. We also chose to use a number of practical lighting setups, including tea light candles. The ghost costume is a literal cut up sheet — a simple, universal classic that we knew we wanted early on.
CUSTOM PROPS AND SET BUILDS
“SLEEP GAMES” (2022) | Online Advertisement
CLIENT: BDG for Mattress Firm
ASK: Build a human-sized, wearable hot dog costume as well as a Smiley Face Emoji Mask.
Awarded the 2023 WEBBY AWARD | People’s Voice Winner | Health, Wellness & Pharmaceuticals
“…Mattress Firm and its agency partner uncovered and defined a unique area of disruption: Junk Sleep. Turns out the amount of ZZZs you get is only as good as the quality of them. Mattress Firm asked BDG to introduce the concept of Junk Sleep to its audience of millennial parents and young women, showcasing the brand as a partner in achieving better rest and well-being.”
ADDITIONAL INFO: A fun, low budget project with a tight turnaround, BDG hired me to create a human-sized hot dog costume for this very funny commercial. In order to ensure that the actor wearing the costume was actually able to move enough to box, I created a two-piece “outfit,” comprised of a large, painted, and texturized papier-mâché “sausage,” and a bun vest. The process took about a week, and I made myself available to be on set to dress, fit, and spot treat the costume during the shoot day. One of my favorite, most ridiculous projects. To see the commercial, as well as to evaluate it’s success and view viewership metrics, please feel free to utilize the link provided.