Nathan Crowley - IFTA Masterclass

IFTA in association with Screen Ireland is delighted to present a Production Design Masterclass with Nathan Crowley, Oscar and BAFTA winning Production Designer of Wicked, Interstellar, Dunkirk and The Greatest Showman. The event will be moderated by Paki Smith, award-winning Production Designer of Small Things Like These, Bodkin and Set Decorator on The Dark Knight Rises.

In this IFTA Masterclass, Nathan will share his knowledge and expertise as a leading international Production Designer, giving insights into bringing a singular filmmaker’s vision to screen, working with the director and other Heads of Department to craft iconic sets for cinema, the career path of a designer from Art Department to leading the team, and sharing tips and advice for up and coming Irish filmmakers, designers and art departments. 
 

In addition to his Oscar win in 2025 for epic musical Wicked, Nathan has received acclaim for his award-winning collaborations with iconic filmmaker Christopher Nolan on films including Interstellar, The Dark Knight, Dunkirk, Tenet, The Prestige, Batman Begins and Insomnia. His credits as Production Designer also include The Greatest Showman (starring Hugh Jackman), Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, Joel Schumacher’s Veronica Guerin, Wonka (starring Timothee Chalamet), and Damien Chazelle’s First Man (starring Ryan Gosling), and the pilot episode of HBO’s Westworld. Previously, he was Art Director on Braveheart and Mission: Impossible 2.

Moderator Paki Smith is an award-winning Production Designer and Set Decorator with recent credits including Small Things Like These, Fran the Man and Desert Warrior. He won a British Film Designers Guild Award for Ben Wheatley’s High-Rise and was nominated again this year for Steve.  As a Set Decorator, he has collaborated with Nathan Crowley on Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises - for which both were Art Directors Guild nominated, as well as John Carter and Veronica Guerin. As a Production Designer, he is a four-time IFTA nominee for his work on Netflix’s Bodkin, Paddy Breathnach’s Oscar-shortlisted Viva, Man About Dog and God’s Kitchen. 
 

This masterclass is supported by Screen Ireland through the Screen Stakeholders Funding Scheme.