Bombshell was my first major project after being accepted into the ADG Production Design Initiative. I had the incredible honor of working alongside Mark Ricker, Chris Brown, Karen TenEyck, Ellen Brill, and many other insanely talented artists.
Karen and I shared an office in the front Art Department bullpen. After one of our many conversations, she asked to see my portfolio. That was the beginning of an incredible journey. Karen immediately put me to work generating Fox News fan art.
Each piece I managed to create outside of work led to more opportunities. Eventually, it gave me the chance to work directly with Mark. He had been reading An Atheist in the Foxhole as research and came across a passage describing a disturbing piece of Sean Hannity fan art. After weeks of development, the painting was finished.
Mark kindly invited me to set to watch the rehearsal of Charlize Theron’s scene, performed in front of the Fox fan art. During the take, the director, Jay Roach, wanted the Bill O’Reilly nutcracker’s hairline to recede even further. With a little borrowed paint from standby painter Aaron Rodriguez, the hairline was thinned—and the scene was shot.
The rest is history. Working with Ellen led to the commission for Taylor Swift’s “ME” and so many other opportunities. Looking back on Bombshell, all I feel is overwhelming love and gratitude.
