While COVID put the brakes on this project, I'm still very proud of the work I had accomplished over months of field study and application. Starlight Studios in New Orleans planned to turn a football field's worth of concrete pad into an authentic yet pristine French Quarter backlot, in order to save film productions from the astronomic costs of permitting to shoot in the true FQ. Authentic was what they wanted, and authentic was what I delivered.

I studied dozens of elevations on Bourbon, Royal, and St. Ann streets, from parapets and dormers, to balconies and carriage doors, down to the mailboxes and eave spouts. The result I produced was a total of 16 buildings ready to be erected using Dryvit EIFS curtainwall with custom scaffold support to retain as much backstage space for production equipment as possible. I created a componentized system of typicals for door and window openings for as many as four levels. Operable doors, windows, and balconies were specified to match to a rear catwalk system, and operable carriage doors allowed for the pass through of heavy equipment from front to back of house.

Specified paint colors were chosen from Vieux Carre's own paint and finish guidelines for exterior brick and stucco walls, balconies, millwork,  and steps. Variances in elevations, from total building height, to floor heights and roof pitches, resulted in an ultrarealistic production design.

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Production Design

Art Direction

Scenery & Decor Design

Technical Design

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I contributed to this project as an employee of Solomon Group

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