We were lucky to catch up with Courtney Miller recently and have shared our conversation below.

Courtney, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I have always been a creative individual. Growing up, I found peace in spending my nights afterschool deep into any art projects. Luckily, I feel as though I was born with a creative talent. I’ve always tried to bringing my creative visions to life, and expand my artistic skills. That’s really how I ended up being a set decorator/production designer. The crazy thing about this job is that you’re always learning. With every project you take on, there will be an ask that you’ve never done before; one that you’d have to leverage your knowledge and research new ideas. In terms of creating visions for the overall film, I mostly learn from observing; watching movies, TV, and my mentor. When learning hard skills (such as making a lightweight tombstone), I typically pull knowledge from previous experiences/art classes or use trusty YouTube. Taking art classes in college can provide you with a lot of working knowledge. I would recommend taking classes like sculpture, anything with construction, scenic design for theater, and fine art. Something else that can help speed up the learning process is to just do random crafts more often. Finding cool projects to take on just for fun, so that I could expand my mental craft library for future projects. I feel as though flexibility and being able to think on your feet/outside the box are the most essential skills for this job. There’s no amount of prep or trials you can do for it to be a guaranteed success come shoot day; so being able to accept the loss and adjust on the spot will do you wonders. Currently, the obstacle that’s preventing me from learning more is having a full time job. I love both, but with a full time job, it’s been hard finding the time to sit down and do projects for the sake of learning something new.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I actually started my college journey in biology. The first one and a half years caused so much stress and I ended up reflecting on what I wanted to do in life. Thinking about it today, I actually think that going to college right after high school wasn’t the best choice for me, I should’ve taken some time to explore and experience life. That time of reflection led me to the film department at my university. I spend the next three years making class projects, helping with theater productions, and directing a few productions of my own. I actually didn’t get into production design until after I graduated. I met my mentor and friend through my boyfriend during the pandemic. She brought me onto set as her PA and the gradually, I got experience as a set decorator, then production designer. As a production designer, I’m responsible for collaborating with the Director and Cinematographer to create a visually accurate and aesthetically pleasing film. I create set pieces, source furniture and props, and create graphics so that we can put it all together to make a cohesive and believable world for production. I’m most proud of my first large production (You Were Dead Yesterday) as Production Designer. I had just left my role as Locations PA on a HBO Production, accepted a full time job at a private school and planned my first trip to South America. I was experiencing all of these big moments, yet I pushed my stress aside and persevered to help create a really fun and ambitious project.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I think the most rewarding part of being a creative is spending countless amount of hours working on projects that sometimes don’t seem to make sense or come together until you finally put it all together. Seeing the final project after considering giving up, thinking you’ve messed up, or thinking you’re way over your head often feels so incredible.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

My role as a Production Designer isn’t always creative and can be extremely stressful. This career choice requires someone who’s a leader, great a communicating, timely, flexible and great at logistics. You have to consider how you’re getting pieces to set, how long it will take to not only create and/or source pieces, but to put them together before filming and break them down before moving on to the next scene. You have to be able to delegate work to your department, making sure they have the help the need and understand the vision. You need knowledge of almost all of the other departments to ensure smoother and speedy work. There’s so much that goes into being in this role that sometimes it doesn’t feel worth it, but earning awards, meeting other creatives and seeing the end product come to life makes it worth every second.