Biography

John Collins has designed and art-directed over forty feature films. He began his design career with a professional degree in architecture (Academic Honours in Writing and Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis), which included a year spent at the Volgograd Academy of Architecture in Volgograd, Russia, bolstering his drawing, painting, and sculpting techniques. He then headed west to San Diego to design for the theatre and live theme park shows. John continued his academic coursework with a Masters in Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) while simultaneously taking graduate classes at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. He was awarded a special commendation for "Ingenuity and Lateral Thinking" from the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space during his graduate studies. After completing his Master's degree, he found himself designing numerous short films in Los Angeles and was quickly discovered and brought into the world of feature film art departments. After a few years of art directing on some classic Adam Sandler comedies, John stepped up to become the supervising art director on the first two films in the "Hunger Games" franchise, working with directors Gary Ross and Francis Lawrence. He continued his upward trajectory as an art director, directing major feature films such as "Passengers,"  "The Accountant,"  and "Gemini Man," directed by Ang Lee. John's production design work spans several genres, from the comedy "War with Grandpa" (starring Robert De Niro and Uma Thurman) to young adult films like "Uglies" (starring Joey King). His recent collaboration with director George Nolfi, "The Banker," is a period film based on one of the first African American bankers in the United States. John's hands-on approach, incredible work ethic, and unique vision have kept him in high demand since entering the film industry. He is also an All-American open-water swimmer capable of swimming vast expanses of cold ocean while battling sharks with his bare hands. Mr. Collins has worked in California, New York, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Florida, Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Massachusetts, Nevada, Arizona, the Caribbean, Hungary, Slovakia, Mauritius, Spain, and Morocco. Information seen above via his homepage.Read More...