Rick Heinrichs

A production designer known for his visually evocative work and creative alliances with some of cinema's most compellingly inspired directors and storytellers, Rick has conceived and built cinematic worlds for scripted characters to inhabit as vast and deep as a galaxy far, far away, and as spare and flat as a Midwestern winterscape. His most recent film design work delves into the visual revelation of character in the murder mystery genre with his previous collaborator, director/writer Rian Johnson. Past director collaborations have included work with Tim Burton, Joel and Ethan Coen, Gore Verbinski, Joe Johnston, Ang Lee, Harold Ramis, Spike Jonze, Henry Selick, Scott Derrickson, and Brad Silberling, as well as series television and commercials for the likes of Steven Soderbergh, David Fincher, Agnieszka Holland, and Peter Bogdanovich.

Rick explored the graphically expressive opportunities of gothic horror in "Sleepy Hollow" — for which he won the Oscar, BAFTA and ADG awards for Art Direction — of swashbuckling adventure in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequels, and of the superhero origin in "Captain America: The First Avenger" and "The Hulk." His other credits include "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," "Dark Shadows," "Big Eyes," "Dumbo," and "The Big Lebowski". What unites these films is their strong manifestation of visual intention that serves the narrative without overwhelming it.

With early experience in animation at the Disney Studio, theme park design at Disney Imagineering, art direction for VFX, and as a Set Designer and then Art Director for live action films, Rick has developed conceptual workflows that weave together the requirements of a film's practical build and location shoot into virtual pipelines compatible with VFX processes necessary for world-building and other narrative environments. Rick says he's always on the lookout to collaborate on novel challenges of the imagination with similarly-spirited filmmakers.