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Arthur Max

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Arthur Max
Born (1946-05-01) May 1, 1946 (age 78)
Occupation(s)Production designer, Art Director
Years active1984-present

Arthur Max (born May 1, 1946) is an American production designer.[1]

Biography

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The native New Yorker began his career as a stage lighting designer in the music industry following graduation from New York University in the late 1960s. Those assignments included work at Bill Graham's famous music venue The Fillmore East in New York's East Village, and the historic Woodstock Festival of 1969. During the following decade, he designed concert lighting and festival stages for many rock and jazz artists. He was Pink Floyd's lighting designer during the bands' tours in the US and worldwide in the early-1970s. After studying architecture in England (earning degrees in the early-1980s from the Polytechnic of Central London and the Royal College of Art), Max went on to do several architectural design projects in London including an award-winning lighting design for the stage of St John's Concert Hall, a former 18th Century church in the centre of Smith Square, Westminster, London.[2]

He entered the British film industry as an assistant to several English production designers. First for Stuart Craig on Hugh Hudson's "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes" and "Cal" (both 1984), then for Ashetton Gorton on Hudson's "Revolution" the following year. He commenced his own production design career in TV commercials for ten years from 1985 to 1995 (for such clients as Pepsi, Nike, Jeep, Coke and Levi's), which led to his ongoing associations with directors Scott and Fincher.

Awards

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Max has been nominated for four Academy Awards: once each for his Production Design work on Gladiator (2000), American Gangster (2007), The Martian (2015) and Napoleon (2023). In addition to his Oscar nominations, Max won several other honors for his production design on the film, including the BAFTA, the National Board of Review prize and the Broadcast Film Critics honor. He also collected two "Excellence in Production Design" Awards from the Art Directors Guild, the first for Gladiator and the second for The Martian. He was previously nominated for Black Hawk Down, Robin Hood, American Gangster, Prometheus and Panic Room. After The Martian (film), Max worked on All the Money in the World (2017) Exodus: Gods and Kings, The Counselor, Kingdom of Heaven, Robin Hood, Black Hawk Down, and Body of Lies. His first job as a Production Designer was Fincher's 1995 thriller, Seven. More recently he completed The Last Vermeer which was based on a true story of art forgery, set in Holland just after World War II, and The Last Duel, a medieval drama made in France and Ireland. Subsequently he worked on House of Gucci filmed on location in Italy and Napoleon, an historical epic about the rise and fall of Napoleon Buonaparte, made in Malta and the UK. His most recent project is the upcoming Gladiator II, shot in Morocco and Malta, marking his 17th project with director Ridley Scott.

Filmography

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Year Title Director Notes
1995 Seven David Fincher
1997 G.I. Jane Ridley Scott
2000 Gladiator Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Period or Fantasy Film
Won - Academy Award for Best Production Design
Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Production Design
Won - Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Production Design
Won
2001 Black Hawk Down Nominated - Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Film
2002 Panic Room David Fincher Nominated - Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Film
2005 Kingdom of Heaven Ridley Scott Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Art Direction and Production Design
2007 American Gangster Nominated - Academy Award for Best Art Direction
Nominated - Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Period Film
2008 Body of Lies
2010 Robin Hood Nominated - Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Period Film
2012 Prometheus Nominated - Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Fantasy Film
2013 The Counselor
2014 Exodus: Gods and Kings
2015 The Martian Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Film
Won - Academy Award for Best Production Design
Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Production Design
Nominated>
2017 All the Money in the World
2019 The Last Vermeer Dan Friedkin
2021 The Last Duel Ridley Scott
House of Gucci Nominated - Set Decorators Society of America Award for Best Achievement in Decor/Design of a Period Feature Film
2023 Napoleon Nominated - Academy Award for Best Production Design
Nominated - Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Period Film
Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Art Direction and Production Design
Nominated - Set Decorators Society of America Award for Best Achievement in Decor/Design of a Period Feature Film.
2024 Gladiator II Post-production

References

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  1. ^ Bloom, Nate (February 25, 2016). "The tribe at the Oscars, 2016". Times of Israel.
  2. ^ Rubin, Steven Jay (2011). "Black Hawk Down". Combat Films: American Realism, 1945-2010 (2 ed.). McFarland. pp. 257–258. ISBN 978-0-7864-5892-9.
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