Alex McDowell
{{Short description|British narrative designer}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Alex McDowell FMX 2012.jpg
| caption = Alex McDowell at FMX 2012
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1955|4|11|df=y}}
| birth_place = Borneo, Malaysia
| occupation = production designer,
https://alexmcdowell.design/
creative director, professor of practice
| years_active = 1975–present
| spouse = Kirsten Everberg
| children = Oona Q K McDowell,
Harper B McDowell
}}
Alex McDowell RDI (born 11 April 1955) is a British production designer and creative director working in narrative media.
Early work
Alex McDowell was born in Borneo, Malaysia, to British parents. His father, H Blair McDowell, was an engineer for Royal Dutch Shell, and his brother, Jonathan McDowell, is a London-based architect at Matter Architecture. He attended Quaker boarding schools in the UK from age 7 to 18.
McDowell studied fine art at the Central School of Art and Design in London. In 1975, he and Sebastian Conran staged the Sex Pistols’ first headline gig. He then designed and printed T-shirts for Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's King's Road shop Sex. In 1978, he and musician Glen Matlock co-founded graphic studio Rocking Russian Design. McDowell designed album covers for punk rock groups and musicians, including Rich Kids, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Clash, Athletico Spizz 80, and Iggy Pop.{{cite web|last1=Garrett|first1=Malcolm|title=From Punk to production design: the widescreen career of Alex McDowell|url=http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/la-design-school|website=Eye Magazine|access-date=6 July 2015}}
In 1979, McDowell was commissioned to design Pop's Soldier album. He was production designer and producer of Iggy Pop's first music videos during that time. In 1981, he co-founded the design studio Da Gama, alongside typographer and designer John Warwicker.{{cite web|last1=Warwicker |first1=John |title=About – CV|url=http://www.johnwarwicker.com/about-cv/ |website=Johnwarwicker.|access-date=24 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724205244/http://www.johnwarwicker.com/about-cv/ |archivedate=24 July 2015 }} He began to work with director Tim Pope, designing a series of videos for The Cure. Pope and McDowell made a video with Depeche Mode at the Berlin Wall, with Queen in Munich, and Neil Young in California. In 1986, McDowell moved to Los Angeles.
During the late 1980s and 1990s, he designed the sets for music videos, including artists like Madonna,{{cite web|title=Film Production Designer Alex Mcdowell to Deliver Glimcher Lecture at Wexner Center|url=http://wexarts.org/press/film-production-designer-alex-mcdowell-deliver-glimcher-lecture-wexner-center?language=en|website=Wexner Center for the Arts|publisher=The Ohio State University|access-date=6 July 2015}} Michael Jackson, ZZ Top, Aerosmith,{{cite web|title=Alex McDowell|url=http://www.hollywood.com/celebrities/alex-mcdowell-57245401/|website=Hollywood.|access-date=24 July 2015}} and others. He worked at Limelight, where he designed and directed music videos, including "Paradise" (1988) for Nigerian singer Sade. He later worked at Propaganda Films, designing sets for Madonna's videos "Express Yourself", "Oh Father", and "Vogue", and commercials for companies like Levi's, Converse, Nike, Pepsi, Revlon, Sony, Coca-Cola, and Chanel.{{Cn|date=October 2024}}
McDowell's first feature, The Lawnmower Man, was the first film to use virtual reality, with the advice of NASA consultant Scott Fisher . Following this, he designed The Crow (1994).
Current work
McDowell is a Professor of Cinema Practice at the University of Southern California.{{cite web |title=Alexander McDowell |url=http://cinema.usc.edu/directories/profile.cfm?id=33653&first=&last=&title=&did=63&referer=%2Fiml%2Ffaculty.cfm&startpage=1&startrow=1 |website=USC Cinematic Arts |publisher=University of Southern California |access-date=6 July 2015}} McDowell was named the William Cameron Menzies Endowed Chair in Production Design in 2014.{{cite web|last1=Gilmour|first1=Ryan|title=George Lucas endows three new cinematic arts chairs|url=https://news.usc.edu/60071/george-lucas-endows-three-new-cinematic-arts-chairs/|website=USC News|publisher=University of Southern California|access-date=6 July 2015}} He directs the USC World Building Media Lab (WbML) and World Building Institute.{{cite web|title=The World Building Media Lab|url=http://worldbuilding.usc.edu/|website=USC School of Cinematic Arts|publisher=University of Southern California|access-date=6 July 2015}}
= World Building Institute =
In October 2008, McDowell founded the World Building Institute.{{cite web|title=About|url=http://worldbuilding.institute/about|website=World Building Institute|access-date=20 July 2015}} From 2007 to 2016, the World Building Institute hosted the Science of Fiction Festival every 18 months. Founded on McDowell's principle of "design is a sharp knife', the event's purpose was to break down the silos in the media industries and to promote an integration of design, technology and science. Its audiences were cross-industry, multi-disciplined and complex and included high school children and corporate leaders. The World Building Institute has also hosted workshops and events including at the Berlin Film Festival and at the Berlinale Talents.{{Cite web|url=https://www.berlinale-talents.de/bt/page/c/pdstudio|title=Production Design Studio|website=Berlinale-talents.de|access-date=7 March 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://www.berlinale-talents.de/bt/program/telelecture/967 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606184652/https://www.berlinale-talents.de/bt/program/telelecture/967 |archive-date=2020-06-06 |title=Play as Process: Worldbuilding and New Ways to Imagine}}{{cite web |url=https://www.berlinale-talents.de/bt/program/telelecture/3152 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606184654/https://www.berlinale-talents.de/bt/program/telelecture/3152 |archive-date=2020-06-06 |title=World Building Live: Alternate Histories of our Future}}
Filmography
= As Production Designer =
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Year !Title !Notes !Ref(s) |
| 1992
| |
| 1994
| |
| 1995
|Alongside Douglas Higgins |
| 1996
|Fear | |
| 1996
| |
| 1998
|Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas | |
| 1999
| |
| 2001
| |
| 2002
|"Production designed by" |
| 2003
|"Production designed by" |
| 2004
| |
| 2005
|Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | |
| 2005
|"Production designed by" |
| 2006
| |
| 2007
| |
| 2009
| |
| 2012
| |
| 2013
|Alongside Aaron Ragan-Fore (uncredited) |
= As a Consultant =
| class="wikitable"
|+ !Year !Title !Roles !Notes !Ref(s) |
| 2009
|Design Consultant | |
| 2012
|Visual Consultant | |
= As Co-Producer =
| class="wikitable"
!Year !Title !Notes !Ref(s) |
| 2010
| |
Awards
In 2002, McDowell won a San Diego Film Critics Society award in the Best Production Design category for his work on Minority Report and, in 2004, an Art Directors Guild award for Excellence in Production Design for The Terminal. {{Cn|date=October 2024}} In 2006, McDowell was named Royal Designer for Industry by the RSA, a design society, and was appointed Visiting Artist at the MIT Media Lab. {{Cn|date=October 2024}} In April 2015, McDowell was awarded the BritWeek Business Innovation Award.{{cite web |title=BritWeek UKTI Business Innovation Awards |url=http://www.britweek.org/events/britweek-ukti-business-innovation-awards-2/publisher=BritWeek |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707193920/http://www.britweek.org/events/britweek-ukti-business-innovation-awards-2/ |archive-date=7 July 2015 |access-date=6 July 2015 |df=dmy-all}}{{cite web |title=The 2015 BritWeek UKTI Business Innovation Awards |url=http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/producer-alex-mcdowell-attends-the-2015-britweek-ukti-news-photo/470910486 |access-date=6 July 2015 |website=Getty Images |publisher=Jesse Grant}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [https://alexmcdowell.design/ Official website]
- [http://cinema.usc.edu/directories/profile.cfm?id=33653&first=&last=&title=&did=63&referer=%2Fiml%2Ffaculty.cfm&startpage=1&startrow=1 University of Southern California faculty page]
- [http://worldbuilding.institute/ World Building Institute]
- [http://worldbuilding.usc.edu/ World Building Media Lab]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150707034055/http://www.wondros.com/5d/ 5D GlobalStudio]
- {{IMDb name|0568273}}
{{Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Feature Film}}{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDowell, Alex}}
Category:British film designers