Nathan Crowley 2.0
AS: Were there producers who wanted to micromanage the budgets?
NC: When you’re working at this level, you have construction accountants who feed the numbers back to the main accounting department, who then relay it back to the production manager. It’s crucial to note that the production accountants are a week behind our construction accountants. We have to know where we’re running into problems ahead of time. Production will have to agree on a construction manager and trust him or her and then know that he won’t let me go over budget. He’ll come to me and say, We spent too much on this set. When we got to the Emerald City, which was the last set, he said we spent way too much on Shiz so it’s gonna be tight.
In response, I said, Get everything we’ve ever built, and we’ll reuse as much as we can. The last set was done out of a kit of parts. I directed the team to gather all existing set elements – from the great hall and throne room to individual tiles and columns – and to transport them to the Emerald City backlot for reuse. For example, moldings from the Shiz set were repurposed, repainted green, and integrated into the Emerald City walls. This approach was similar to traditional scene dock practices and “kit-bashing” techniques. In this way, we leveraged our inventory to save time and costs on the final set. And what we couldn’t finish I said, Get the greens department out and cover that bit in flowers!
AS: Were there studio executives that came in wanting to influence the creative vision?
NC: We had Marc Platt who is a fantastic producer and who is everything Wicked. It was very personal to him. I remember at one point the challenge of incorporating a train arose. He told me, There aren’t any trains in Oz! However, as we explored the narrative, the necessity of a transition to the Emerald City became clear, and the idea of a train came back. Together, we conceived the concept of the clockwork train, which he loved!
The practical realities of production then intervened! I had to say to him, We can’t afford to build the train! We have to choose between a part of the Emerald City or the train. And he said, But I need both! He’d begun to love the train so much. Still, he told me, There is no spare cash anywhere.
What happened next was remarkable. I remember him saying, I’m going to go to the studio and make an argument for building the train. And he came back with, say, half of the amount. He then posed the question, Can you build me a train? While a full train with carriages was still beyond our reach, we realized we could create a single engine, a powerful symbol of the journey. This was quite joyous to me. Having a producer so invested in the creative vision, willing to champion the project and find solutions to budgetary challenges, was truly incredible.
AS: And a producer who cares about it as much as he did.
NC: He’s probably the best producer I’ve ever worked with because he cares so much about the visuals. And the story. He was all things Wicked so he was a reminder of the story, constantly.
AS: You had some of the same “clockwork” style of that train when you designed the movie Wonka. There was the amazing “Travel Factory” prop…
NC: That was very director-driven. Paul King was very heavily influenced by Rube Goldberg contraptions. And the propmaster, Jamie Wilkinson, who also worked on Wicked, brought that vision to life. Jamie’s mechanical ingenuity was evident in the intricate details. He made little things pop out of the Wonka stick and he made that fully functional Travel bag/chocolate machine. Everyone was in love with that box. It originated from a concept sketch by our set decorator, Lee Sandales (also a Wicked alum), which Jamie then meticulously refined and enhanced. I must give full credit to Paul and Jamie for their collaborative work on that piece; Paul was truly captivated by it. I always appreciate working with directors who immerse themselves in our workshops and appreciate the artistry and talent of our crew.