Eric Whitney has created production design for 54 feature films, and over 3000 television/web commercials and corporate videos. All of Eric’s projects have been brought in under budget and on time.
Whitney began this career in the mid-1980s as a carpenter in live theater. He honed his craft studying at the Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts in Santa Maria, CA, before moving to Los Angeles. He began his film career as an intern on the 1988 Roger Corman production “Time Trackers”, and then as a carpenter on the James Cameron film, “The Abyss.”
Eric worked for a variety of art departments until, in 2000, Director Jon Keeyes chose him as production designer for the film “American Nightmare.”
He has since gone on to design 54 more feature films. Several of these have won awards, including the 2008 Paranormal Film Festival’s Best Picture “The Beacon.”
Every film has its own set of unique challenges, and Eric has been able to pull from his vast experience and knowledge to meet and exceed anything a script has called for or a director has asked from him. Some projects have been as simple as redressing a house for “Suburban Nightmare” or as complicated as building a junk yard from scratch in “Exit Speed.”
Eric has recently returned to the US after working a year in the Philippines where he was the in-house Production Designer for Big Foot Studios in Cebu. This was immediately followed by a three month stay in England working on the feature “Doom Room”. He loves the challenge of traveling to new places in pursuit of his art.
In addition to his work in film, Eric is an accomplished sculptor working in a variety of mediums including metal, ceramic and fiberglass with a BFA in Sculpture from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Working in this three dimensional world has allowed him to see his set designs in much greater depth. A sculpture is viewed from all sides, needing a feeling of balance throughout, and the same can be said of a movie set. Eric’s sets provide a complete world to the director, allowing him more freedom of camera angles and moves than would generally be expected on lower budget films.
Eric has spent much of his working career in the independent film world, often on projects with a budget under $10 million. In that budget range he has had to find creative solutions to production design problems, with the idea of making the project look much more expensive than actual budget allowed.
All of Eric’s projects have been brought in under budget and on time.