bobby Vanonen - production designer

I have drawn all my life. My artwork was shown in an international publication at age 12 and I worked on occasion as an illustrator while I completed high school. I am constantly honing my skills in various mediums, but my first love is the feel of graphite on paper.

I began my film career with storyboards. I offered free storyboards on the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers web board, and was inundated with scripts. I picked the script that resonated the strongest - the images came easy. I picked shots with much freedom from the writer/director, and he was thrilled with my vision.

My background is eclectic. A variety of passions and experiences play into my role as a production designer.

In Spring of 2018 I was contacted about a Netflix project called ‘Black Summer‘. This 8 episode series was to be loosely based in the world of ‘Z Nation’, a SyFy show with a large cult following that had been created by Karl Schaefer. This show however was to be helmed by John Hyams, a versatile director with a talent for capturing action. He dreamt of a show that was brutal and violent - while also tying into many themes that are pervasive in today’s society. I was asked to come aboard as the Production Designer and quickly set about forming a team that could assist in properly executing a vision that was apocalypse-sized in scope. My team also needed to be able to run as fast as the characters in our show - we moved very quickly and surgically to accomplish what I feel is my best work to date.

This show required coming up with design solutions that felt realistic in a world where a surreal situation was occurring. It would have been too easy to slip into sci-fi or horror mode camp; The mission was to create an atmosphere where this could actually happen.

Large components of the story required seamless design consideration. I created the barricade system that was needed to ‘corral’ people into areas in certain spots at certain times; I conceptualized the system for the vehicle collision in ‘Drive’; I designed the underground gang nightclub and prison; The bathroom that Spears kills a soldier in was a set design and build.

The response to our show has been extremely strong - in summer 2019, the show was the second most popular show on television (sources: IMDB, RT). Black Summer was also the most popular television show in the UK for a period in 2019; it topped many lists in the genre, and performed extremely well for Netflix. Viewers describe it as ‘terrifying’, ‘intense’, and ‘chaotic’. I felt we really connected with our viewers, and that is the base goal of any film project I take on.

Netflix felt my work was strong enough to merit submission for consideration for an Emmy nomination - as large a compliment as I feel I could have received from them.

“Black Summer is currently one of the best zombie entries across media in season 2” -Forbes

“Don't be gulled by "zombie apocalypse." This ain't The Walking Dead or any of its spinoffs. It's formally brilliant, politically loaded, terse and mind-blowing.” -The Globe and Mail

In November of 2019 we began prep of Black Summer Season 2. Season One had been an unexpected hit for Netflix -it was estimated that over 80 million people viewed the series in its first six months. We were looking to go bigger in every regard- visuals, story development, character development, special effects, scope, and tension.

We pick up a couple of months later from season one, as winter approaches, and the group is scattered on different challenging paths, pursued not only by zombies, but by desperate survivors with ulterior motives.

The list of design challenges for this season was extensive; This was a great trek and much ground was covered, both in the city and the wilderness. Locations such as abandoned mansions, cult cabins, and hunting lodges, were completely designed and decorated from the ground up; as were old automotive garages, convenience stores, and airplane hangars belonging to WW2 enthusiasts… -even the interiors of ambulances required critical design thinking and problem solving.

American Girl: Corrine Tan was a film shot to promote Mattel’s line of American Girl dolls. Corrine Tan was the Girl of the Year for 2022; Corrine is a 12 year old skier living in Aspen, trying to figure out who she wants to be in life. She finds her calling when she meets an irresistible Mountain Rescue Dog.

Filmed in large part on the mountains near Calgary, this project required Design choices across the board that reflected the doll’s characters, palettes, and their storylines. The Art Department was also required to faithfully reproduce doll props, such as skis and snowboards, in full scale detail for our actors.

One interesting and engaging design challenge was to create a series of “Tree Shrines” - shrines made by skiers and snowboarders, hidden in the trees of Aspen, made of photos, mementos, and memorabilia.

‘Marlene’ (2020) is the story of Marlene Truscott, wife of Steven Truscott, whose life story is one of the great miscarriages of justice in Canadian history. The film is based on true events.

Steven was wrongfully imprisoned as a young teen in the late 1950’s, and while released less than a decade later, the Government took decades to clear his name. This happened in large part due to Marlene, who made it her life’s work to exonerate her husband’s name.

This film’s story spanned five decades, and required designing and building numerous sets from various eras, sourcing and creating obscure props, and creating a mountain of paperwork that was needed to help visually tell the story of Marlene figuring out proof of her husband’s innocence.

Our hard work was rewarded, as I was presented with the 2021 AMPIA (Alberta Motion Picture Industry Award) for Best Production Design; Our film also won for Best Hair/Makeup, Costume design, and editing.

Lisa and Tyler's marriage is on the rocks after Lisa discovers she's pregnant - she's been hoping to start a family but Tyler wants to focus on his business - an outdoor adventure outfitters - and worries being a family man will hurt his youthful, cool "brand". To save their relationship, the pair begin seeing Alana, a marriage counselor whose non-traditional ways seem to be working - at first. But after Alana convinces Lisa and Tyler to join her on a marriage retreat in the middle of nowhere, Lisa realizes their counselor has ulterior motives, and she'll be left fighting for her life, as well as the life of her unborn child.

This film can be seen on the Lifetime network. Among other design touches, I assisted in reconfiguring the story to work around a sauna scene as the original script idea was problematic. This meant we had to construct a sauna onto an existing location, and build a sauna set.

Rent-A-Groom was a fun romantic comedy shot in summer of 2021. A woman hires an actor from an agency to pose as her fiance to make her dying grandmother happy, and they fall for each other during the ruse.

Summer of 2021 brought a project called Heart’s Creek - a fun trek through the woods - for both our actors, and our crew! A tale of a city event planner who finds herself lost in the woods, only to be rescued by a rough and tumble Country Boy. Their trek to get her to the event in time -situated in the middle of nowhere - was full of laughs, adventure, and challenges for the art department.

ALIVE is a taut horror film we made in fall of 2017, helmed by talented director Rob Grant. This feature introduced us to two hospital patients (Thomas Cocquerel and Camille Stopps) who awaken, confused and disoriented, in a decrepit hospital setting. Their only company is a Doctor (the enigmatic Angus MacFadyen) whose attention to them flips between care and something more sinister…

We essentially lived in the primary location- CareWest Medical Facility in Calgary- which proved beneficial in many ways. The various nooks and crannies of the old building inspired us, and we felt we were living some form of a horror movie while making one… the facility is now gone, but we have many memories of late night set building, prop creation, and detailing. This was method Production Design.

In spring of 2019, Julian Black Antelope approached me about designing this 8 episode TV show for the APTN network. We shot in Lethbridge and Calgary, recreating famous “Wild West” stories from the mid to late 1800’s - but this time, the stories were told from the perspective of the Indigenous side. From recreating Blackfoot teepee villages, to restoring and repurposing old west buildings, we dove deep into the world of the 1800’s Alberta and Montana. It was a pleasure to research this part of my home province’s history and I believe we brought realism to the subject matter.

Secret History of the Wild West won numerous 2021 Alberta Motion Picture Industry awards, including best Unscripted Series, Best Promotional Production for its promotional trailer, and Best Director for Unscripted under 30 minutes -Julian Black Antelope.

I acted as a supervising Production Designer on Incontrol for my industry friends Kurtis Harder and Chris Ball. A major task for this film was in the way of prepping the picture car for the flip that opens the film. We gutted the car and replaced necessary mechanical components for safety; we also custom fabricated a steel rollcage. Though the stunt was executed perfectly, the car’s landing did not go as expected and our fabrication was put to the test as the car had a much more severe impact than planned; Our cage was unharmed, as was the stunt driver.

Range Roads is the heartfelt story of an actress who is forced to return to her hometown to deal with the passing of her parents. The challenges for the art department involved dressing stylish Vancouver condo interiors, rural Alberta farmhouses, smalltown bars and cafes, and designing a children’s show set that our lead actress starred in. Alana Hawley-Purvis was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for her nuanced and emotional performance.

The Valley Below was a beautiful film to be a part of. Shooting in Drumheller, AB, we created a film based in small town Canada that struck nerves with virtually everyone that watched it.

An article was written about my work as production designer on this film:

http://www.dearcastandcrew.com/content/2015/3/6/the-valley-below.html

In spring of 2013, Kyle Thomas (www.northcountrycinema.com) contacted me about helping bring his feature 'The Valley Below' to life. The stories of four individuals intertwined in present day Drumheller intrigued me for a few reasons: I love Kyle's style (we worked together on his acclaimed short 'Not Far from the Abattoir', which reached screenings at SXSW and Cannes 2012 as part of the NFB's Not Short On Talent programme), and I loved the characters. As they say, it all starts with a strong script, and his script hooked me. We shot a block in August of 2013, and one in November of 2013, with a very passionate and talented cast and crew. On this film, the challenge of Art Dept was to not be noticed- instead, the challenge of this project was to make sure the set dec and props blended properly with the environment. We created and branded a fake "Valley Police Department" that felt right at home - locals didn't flinch when our "Valley Police" SUV cruiser pulled up along side them- though they definitely drove more carefully! Subtlety can be the strongest of statements. I am excited to see where this film goes - Kyle has a gift for enabling strong performances with strong visuals, and the filming experience felt fluid and natural. The TIFF selection committee must have felt the same way- the film was selected as part of the 2014 TIFF programme. You can see the teaser here: http://vimeo.com/96209014

http://www.thevalleybelow.ca/

Chokehold shot in May of 2016 with an American producing/directing team. This story of revenge in an underground MMA circuit had many challenges for myself and the art department. Among them was designing and building a portable MMA style ‘octagon’ that could be set up anywhere in an hour, as we shot new fight locations daily; creating believable ‘underground’ MMA tournament locations with use of decor and builds; fabricating a shipping dock area with breakaway OSB walls for stunts. I also wrangled vehicles on this production and had hands on many of the fabrications.

‘Ditched’ was a beautifully grisly film shot in Edmonton in May 2019 in three weeks of grisly night shoots. Chris Donaldson’s twisted story of victims of a nighttime car wreck led me to flipping an ambulance in a ditch. The ambulance was our only ‘interior’ set and it required a custom flyway wall for camera access. This highly ambitious indie film was brutal and gory and required tenacity and clever problem solving in an isolated environment. One such challenge was figuring out how to make a chainsaw throw blood on the actor during a closeup shot when the original FX rig was damaged. It sometimes felt we were living the horror movie, but the memories of this production are ones of a team pulling together against great odds to bring the film to the finish line.

True Fiction is a thriller we made early 2018. It follows the story of a young writer who gets a job assisting her favourite horror writer, but she finds herself participating in an out-of-control psychological experiment.

We shot in a beautiful mansion in the woods, and had to build a basement set that matched the story-including a long staircase that we designed for a long side view shot a la Hitchcock.

We also constructed a beautiful library study for the mansion - on location in a garage - two thousand pounds of books and all.

One of the biggest challenges of my career was 'Drawing Home', a feature which just saw theatrical release in late 2017 the US. This highly ambitious project arrived at my doorstep all the way from MYRA Entertainment in New York. They were looking to tell the story of Peter and Catharine Whyte, the eclectic wealthy artists from Banff in the 1930's. This was a period film that required recreating various locations of 1930s Banff; Also required were 1930's Boston locations such as the art college and a pub. Banff locations were also portrayed in the following decades.

The film was shot over a one year period in 4 different blocks following the seasons- and the original budget more than doubled between these blocks. By the third block, I was overseeing a six figure art dept budget and faced with matching a new expanded visual scope to our previous budget.

One particularly challenging task was to design and outfit our actors with custom vintage skis that offered much more support than their 1930’s counterparts for safety and maneuverability. We battled a snowstorm on Sunshine mountain to get the needed shots.

This film was a labor of love for all involved. Our small but incredibly resilient Art Department overcame an incredible amount of hurdles to help bring this film to the screen.

http://myraentertainment.com/projects/drawing-home/

A typically quiet suburban community descends into chaos and paranoia after the delivery of mysterious red letters instructing the community residents to kill one of their neighbors before their neighbor kills them.

This clever and entertaining script mixed the familiarity of the suburban city with a venture into the lair of an antisocial psychopath. This ambitious film was very prop and SFX heavy.

This debut feature by local filmmaker Sandi Somers follows Arielle (Sophia Lauchlin Hirt, OLYMPUS), a 16-year-old girl trying to live a quiet life in the countryside. Although she loves her devoted father John (Billy MacLellan, MAUDIE) and their life together on an isolated farm, she can't help but wonder what happened to Maria (Michelle Morgan, HEARTLAND), her mother who abandoned them 10 years prior. When Maria unexpectedly returns, everything that John told Arielle about their family comes into question. Soon, Arielle finds herself desperately trying to untangle her family's dark past, as secrets and deceptions pile up and tensions rise.

Shot against the sweeping backdrop of Alberta's foothills produced by Okotoks filmmaker Scott Lepp (HEARTLAND) with a script by Calgarian Jason Long (CHOKESLAM), this tense psychological thriller explores what makes our family ties strong – and what makes them break.

Ice Blue premiered at the 2017 Calgary International Film Festival. Sandi Somers won Best Feature Director at the 2017 LA Femme Film Festival in Los Angeles.

I had done a few shorts with a great writer/director named Jonathan Joffe (http://joffepictures.ca/) and he approached me in winter of 2011 with a great script for a film called Burlesque Assassins. The concept of Hitler's clone and the son of Mussolini being pursued by Burlesque Assassin girls in the early 1950's sounded like too much fun to pass up, and I was offered the role of Production Designer.

I pulled together an incredible team for the Art Department - Jordin Stallman (Assistant Art Director), Greg Auch (Propmaster/Armourer), Cody Sparshu (Set Decorator) and Chris Ball (Assistant Propmaster/Armourer)- and we moved mountains day and night. Among some of the stronger moves: Building and decorating a circus tent-indoors; converting a room, into a 1940's pool hall, complete with false walls, pool table and antique barber chair, -in one night, when a freak snowstorm forced a schedule change; Transforming the 185 seat Engineered Air theatre -again, overnight due to access issues- into a burlesque cabaret, with full floor to ceiling velvet draping; added a 12 foot stage thrust onto the existing stage; installed a full antique bar with bar back; and supplied club seating for 60. This, on top of a dozen other locations to dress in 50's period style, and numerous custom weapons to fabricate, made for an unbelievable challenge for small crew. I am extremely proud of what we accomplished, and it got noticed- This also earned a 2012 AMPIA nomination for Production Design.

My first feature was a local indie called "Lloyd the Conqueror" for Director Mike Peterson, a very talented guy I had worked with on a few projects. This comedy about three students forced into LARPing - Live Action Role Playing - had all the elements of a great film.

To say this project was ambitious was an understatement. I was brought on as Art Director, working with Tracey Baryski in the role of Production Designer. We shared the set design roles, and I oversaw the design and fabrication of all custom weapons (we had to figure out how to create "armor" and "weapons" for 100 extras at less than 10$ per person); Maybe most importantly, I helped infuse the film with the lifeblood of the subject matter- This project was Heavy Metal and Dungeons and Dragons, and I knew these worlds well. We built incredibly detailed sets and even built a "medieval village" for a LARPing tournament - overnight.

I also brought in the involvement of one of my favorite artists, Boris Vallejo - arguably the greatest living Fantasy Artist- and he allowed us use of his artwork, which we used on the side of a 70's van, among other places. Very cool. This project won the 2012 AMPIA for best Dramatic Feature, and also earned an AMPIA nomination for best Production Design/Art Direction.

Scrappy, intelligent films are often my favorites- to watch, and to design. Jeremy Thomas is a local writer/director whose inventive original ideas landed him funding for his second feature, a black comedy thriller called "Ally Was Screaming". I was approached, as Production Designer, to handle a script that required as many clever solutions to problems as there were clever turns in the script. We went to camera in fall of 2013 with a great team and fought an early snowfall, location changes, and scheduling challenges to make a strong film on a small budget. Kudos to cast and crew- in particular Jeremy Thomas and to DOP Dan Dumouchel- AWS had been selected as the Closing Gala film at the 2014 Calgary International Film Festival, and continued its festival run with showings in Whistler, among others.

Global Meltdown shot in fall of 2016 and had the added challenge of being a trek film. The earth has begun to tear itself apart as tectonic plates shift wildly; A small group head for higher ground in a caravan of vehicles, but encounter deadly problems within their own ranks.

We shot in a wide area around Calgary which created round-the-clock demands for set dec, with day to day location changes often hours apart. Our art team also handled all picture vehicle movements. This film required sharp logistical planning and execution.

I teamed up with local director and esteemed colorist Brendon Rathbone for a violent homage to Mad Max in 2015. This post apocalyptic short film went long on production value and is currently being shopped for development. Designing, building, and then stunt driving a post apocalyptic camaro was a bucket list item… one of my favorite set days ever.

Marauder can be seen here: https://vimeo.com/245222715/4b0cbe1dd1

Early 2015 I ran the art department on a wild ride of a TV series show called Ice Racer Showdown, which premiered late October 2015 in the USA and Canada on the CMT Network.

I was involved very early on in the design process and came up with the concepts for the main set, vehicle decal systems, and the set dec of the individual challenges. I also came up with the concept of using 'Characters' as pylons/obstacles - the Yeti, Police Officer and Moose.

Filming in a remote area of northern Alberta, we built three racetracks for competitors to race cars through different timed 'theme' challenges, with the final race being a head to head 3-lap race. The art dept lived in cabins on set; we often had less than 48 hours from the time we got a script to race time to produce the required set dec, a huge part of which was custom fabricated - in cabins in a remote location.

This show required incredible hustle, stamina, enduring extreme weather conditions, safety considerations, dealing with vehicle and equipment issues, and clever solutions to art related problems. We formed a great team and a camaraderie that is rarely seen on set. Huge props to all the cast and crew and in particular the art dept Yeti Warriors... yes, the Yetis in the show are the art dept guys doing double duty! Also huge props to the post-production crew, who added a lot by way editing, sound and visual effects, and stylizing. The show is fast paced, funny, and entertaining.

In Plainview is a revenge thriller set in the Canadian prairies. An ex-dirty-cop hiding in witness protection is hunted by the partner he betrayed, an unhinged hired gun and a jilted ex-lover who want his ill-gotten fortune — and their own brand of revenge — all to themselves.

Shot in fall of 2016, this gritty feature was very dark and violent. Designing the sets required a feel for small town North America; we never want the viewer to feel they have escaped the seedy world these people live in. This was a prop heavy film with much action.