When I think about growing up in Philadelphia and how I spent my childhood in the late 70’s and 80’s, it makes perfect sense that I ended up designing and dressing sets, building props, and art directing. I would sometimes spend hours setting up scenes with Star Wars figures, ships, and playsets in my living room…not playing with them…just setting up the scene and then breaking it down to do the same thing another day. My next door neighbor and I would collect cardboard and hide it in a neighbor’s backyard shrubs to build something with later…usually shoddy clubhouses and forts.

It all starts somewhere.

I started collecting things early on…first the toys of my childhood, then horror memorabilia, moving on to circus sideshow pitch cards and giant souvenir rings, 16mm educational films, spook show posters…my collecting evolved and it all seemed to lead to this.

I love scrounging for props. I enjoy the process of creating the perfect space for a scene in my head in the days prior to a shoot and then seeing it come into fruition. The logistics of a prep and a shoot intrigue me and I anticipate the discussions with crew members leading up to shoot days to sort out the finer details for my department. I take much pride in my organization, leaving no mysteries unsolved by Day One of a shoot.

I enjoy the quirky jobs, the different, unique settings, those with a little bit of freedom, along with the period pieces. But, hey, if you need a baguette and some leafy greens poking out of a brown bag in a model home kitchen, I can do that as well.

Occasionally, some time needs to pass before I fondly remember a job…but if you’re reading this you are most likely one of us so you catch my drift.

Dragsville is a name that I’ve been floating around and using since the late 90’s…it’s a callback to the teen delinquent films of the 50’s, the beatniks and a time in history I have a fondness for despite not being part of….chrome, bakelite, drive-in monster movies, haunted houses, Chuck Jones cartoons, ray guns, Coronet education films, and blind innocence.

“Tomorrow is dragsville, cats…tomorrow is a kingsized drag”.