JC Molina brings ’60s Baltimore back to life in The Lady in the Lake. The production designer‘s work is intensely researched as well as cinematic and realistic. Throughout his career, he’s worked on projects such as Lemonade, Cassandro, Honeyboy, and music videos for FKA Twigs and The Rolling Stones.
Recently, Molina spoke with Immersive Media’s editor, Jack Giroux, and shared his advice, as well as a personal experience, to help any aspiring production designers out there:
In my life I’ve been lucky enough to always be mentored by really amazing people and always want to try to mentor people. I definitely have a bunch of people that I talk to frequently that I give advice to. Sometimes they don’t call me for a year, and then if they call me one day and need that advice, I am always there for them. I’m always trying to encourage anybody who wants to get into this field to reach out and ask for advice. So, anybody, totally down.
The advice that I always give is just follow your gut as much as you can and really, don’t stop. Do not stop. You’ll get the store shut on your face. If you don’t stop, you’re going to do well.
I did this project, Lemonade, for Beyoncé. A month before I had gotten on that project, I was really sad because I’d been working with this production company that was kind of dangling a project in front of my face of working with Beyonce. It never came to be. They picked somebody else, which they were totally within their rights to. But I was really bummed. I remember going home for a week and just going home to my mom. I was just like, I need my mom now. I need that therapy. I felt so crushed. I felt I was never going to hit the marks that I wanted.
I don’t know why I was so emotional, but I remember one of the days that I was really, really bummed because I knew they were filming [that project]. It was the day that my agent sent me a non-disclosure agreement from [Beyoncé] Parkwood Entertainment. Damn, what a lesson.
Maybe it wasn’t this time, but maybe the next one. And the crazy thing is, that [other] video never came out. Mine did. It’s a good lesson. When the door slaps you in the face, fucking grab it and throw it out.
Lady in the Lake is available to stream on Apple TV+. Check back soon for our full interview with JC Molina.
