DIRECTOR
CINEMATOGRAPHER
COSTUME
DESIGNER
ART DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR
CINEMATOGRAPHER
COSTUME
DESIGNER
ART DIRECTOR
PDC FUNDRAISING DRIVE
This December the PDC embarks on its first-ever fundraising drive.
Our Story
PDC cofounders Inbal Weinberg and Kalina Ivanov met in 2014, and bonded over a shared a passion for their craft and community. They decided to start a group for production designers, in order to provide space for informal conversations among peers. Emails were sent to colleagues and friends, with an open invitation "to grow a collective that could be at once local and broad, personal and virtual, intimate and public".
Today, the Production Designers Collective is the largest organization for production designers in the world, representing over 1200 colleagues from 73 countries. Members include community elders and prominent award winners, alongside emerging talent and recent graduates. Membership is free and entry criteria are flexible, with the aim of encouraging engagement of diverse members from various backgrounds and practices.
The PDC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, whose mission is to provide worldwide practical training, workshops, and conferences for production designers and production design students. The organization aims to strengthen the production design community, mentor future generations of production designers, and promote inclusion through sharing knowledge and experience.
What We Do
The PDC publishes content about production design through its website, social media and bi-monthly newsletter. Features are written by and about production designers, and include a Forum, Sketch Gallery, Design Recommendations, resources and advice.
The PDC organizes events worldwide, in person and online. Past events include meetups and workshops at film festivals such as Sundance, Berlinale, SXSW, Toronto and Camerimage; Informal gatherings in various cities such as New York, London, Paris, San Juan and Rio de Janiero; Online panels on topics such as VFX, Research, Clearance, and AI; Masterclasses by prominent production designers such as Bob Shaw, Barbara Ling and Uli Hanisch.
The PDC's flagship initiatives are The Production Designers Gathering and International Production Design Week, operating biennially on alternating years.
The Production Designers Gathering
The Gathering is an international conference for production designers, professors and students. The conference features panels and workshops conducted by colleagues on a variety of work-related subjects. In addition to the professional program the conference also offers opportunities for connecting and networking such as receptions, dinners, parties, excursions and activities.
The Gathering was inaugurated in October 2022 on the island of Spetses, Greece. The event welcomed a total of 250 production designers and students, from 35 countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. The event’s 20 key speakers included award-winning designers from around the world, including Oscar and Golden Globe winners and nominees.
International Production Design Week
IPDW is a global campaign to promote the craft of production design in film and television through a week of concentrated events, celebrated worldwide and online. Organized in collaboration with production design guilds and associations in North America, Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia, the week features a diverse program including panels, workshops, masterclasses, screenings, meetups and receptions.
IPDW was inaugurated in October 2023 with great success. Over 250 events took place in 51 cities and 27 countries.
The initiative lead to the creation of new production design associations, collaborations with filmmaking institutes and schools, unprecedented press and engagement with the general public.
Our Goals for 2024
The PDC is a 100% volunteer organization, run by an engaged board and a dedicated team of 5 coordinators. Since the PDC does not charge membership fees, it relies solely on donations to support its ongoing work and advocacy.
We enter our 10th year following a period of rapid growth with the establishment of our two flagship initiatives. Spurred by the success of our recent work, our responsibilities and team have expanded. This first-ever fund-raising drive will allow us to build a financially sustainable structure to support long-term development and growth.
Team Stipends
Our amazing team of volunteer coordinators assists with organizing events, creating content, running social media and member communication. The workload is constant and requires a weekly commitment, as well as participation in monthly meetings and live event management. We want to provide a modest stipend to each team member to offer our gratitude.
Our coordinating team is made of emerging production designers from around the world. Read about them here.
Website Revamp and Development
We want to develop our website into a central hub for our large membership. We recognize that many members around the world lack access to an online portfolio, so we want to offer individual pages where members could share their work and bio. We also want to facilitate an internal communication platform, where members could interact, collaborate and share information.
With the emergence of our two main events - The Gathering and IPDW - we are looking to overhaul our visual+brand identity, and develop a more uniform visual approach to accurately reflect our organization's mission.
Organizing the 2024 Production Designers Gathering
Putting together an international conference is a major undertaking, requiring the support of sponsors, donors and a dedicated crew. Our goal is to ensure the success of our next Gathering while maintaining affordable registration prices, despite recent global price hikes. We also want to maintain the discounted price offered to students, and the sponsored participation of our team of volunteers.
HELP US ACHIEVE OUR GOALS
Thank you in advance for making a donation through our campaign. The Production Designers Gathering inc. is recognized as a tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. EIN: 88-1362917. Contributions to organizations with 501(c)(3) status may be tax deductible. Please consult your tax advisor to determine deductibility of this contribution.
To donate directly to our bank account, please email us at: team@productiondesignersgathering.org