RISING TALENT 2023 - PRODUCTION DESIGNERS

PRODUCTION DESIGNERS

So impressed are we with the industry’s up-and-comers, we have decided to make our Rising Talent list an annual fixture. These are the people we think the industry needs to sit up and take notice of; the names you’ll need to know and want to work with in the years ahead. Some faces are relatively new, while others have recently moved up the chain into leadership positions where they are making change.

Thank you again to everyone who helped us put this list together, including the hundreds of submissions we received through our public call out. We know this list is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the talent in this industry, but we hope it hints towards its future.

MARNI KORNHAUSER

Marni Kornhauser is a production designer and art director working across film, television and TVCs, who aims to complement story through attention to detail and love of colour and texture.

After an extended period in commercials, Kornhauser moved back into long-form as art director of Justin Kurzel’s Nitram, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won the AACTA for Best Film in 2021.

In 2022, Kornhauser was then production designer for Netflix’s Heartbreak High, which saw her nominated for an AACTA Award. She has just finished designing the second season of Binge’s Love Me, and is currently in production for season two of Heartbreak High.

Kornhauser’s other credits as production designer include ABC/Netflix series Why Are You Like This? and she was art director for web series Other People’s Problems.

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WEI GUO

Wei Guo is a production designer based in Melbourne, with a Masters in Production Design for Screen from VCA, and a Bachelors of Interior Architecture (Honours) from UNSW.

While at VCA, Guo designed short films All We Have Is Time, which won the Vectorworks Design Scholarship in 2021 and Best Production Design for a Short Film at APDG Awards in 2022, and The Underpass He currently works between long-form narrative and short films. His recent credits include production designer for ABC Kaleidoscope Project Yaz Queens, and set designer for Shantaram, Crazy Fun Park, Better Man and Metropolis

Guo believes production design should be empathetic to the characters and create an atmosphere in support of the storytelling. His knowledge of interior design, research, character development and project management informs his work.

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AISHA PHILLIPS

Aisha Phillips is a freelance production designer and art director working across commercials, television and film since 2014.

Most recently she was the production designer for feature film 6 Festivals directed by Macario De Souza for Paramount+, and SBS Digital Original Latecomers

Prior to this, Phillips worked as set decorator on feature film Here Out West, which opened Sydney Film Festival 2021 and was nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Film in 2022.

Her design work focuses on beauty in realism. Alongside her film work, Phillips co-founded Backyart, an exhibition series re-imagining private/public space through art and performance in the humble backyard.

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JONAH BOOTH-REMMERS

Jonah Booth-Remmers is a South Australiabased production designer who completed his debut feature design credit on Carnifex in 2021. This was quickly followed with design roles on the second season of ABC comedy Aftertaste, the supernatural thriller Monolith, making its international premiere at SXSW in March, and cold case murder mystery Speedway

Booth-Remmers developed his aesthetic eye through many years of traditional art practice and visual art studies , including entertainment design and 3D animation at AFTRS. His passion is for building visually compelling and authentic worlds that enrich the narrative of a film.

Other recent credits in the art department include concept art for The Last Daughter, graphics for The Stranger, concept artist for Buckley’s Chance and swing gang for Mortal Kombat.

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EMMA BOURKE

Emma Bourke is a production designer working in both the Gold Coast and Sydney.

Bourke recently worked as an assistant designer on Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, under production designers Karen Murphy and Catherine Martin. She worked on the film for three and half years, from pre-production through to premiere, including assisting with the Elvis special in Vogue Australia.

In 2019, Bourke won the APDG’s Student and Emerging Designer for Screen Award for short film Sweet Tooth. That film was her capstone project at AFTRS, where she graduated from in 2018 with a Masters of Screen: Production Design.

In 2022, she was again nominated for an APDG Award for short film The Home Team.

Bourke also holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts: Photography from UNSW, a Diploma of Screen Media and was the recipient of the Chris Ebling Industry Achievement Award in 2017. She has previously worked as a freelance makeup artist in film and TV and has a diploma in interior design.

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