Artist and Production Designer, James Nilsen-Misra, has been involved in projects from his home base in Cape Town to Johannesburg, Gqeberha, Namibia, London, Los Angeles and New York.
Artist and Production Designer, James Nilsen-Misra, has been involved in projects from his home base in Cape Town to Johannesburg, Gqeberha, Namibia, London, Los Angeles and New York.
Highly creative and award-winning Production Designer with 20 years of experience in the film and television industry, the theatre and visual arts.
Proven ability to conceptualise and execute visually stunning sets for international productions, including feature films, TV series for the BBC/ZDF/Netflix and commercials for leading brands.
Expertise in production design, art direction, and budget management, with a collaborative approach to bringing directors’ visions to life.
Career highlights include working with Oscar winners Colin Gibson & Linus Sandgren, BAFTA winner Darryl Hammer and SAFTA winners Fred Du Preez, Bathoni Robinson and the the late Karel Flint.
Production Design/Set Decoration. Narrative work includes: Sri T-Series, Heart of the Hunter Netflix, Terra X ZDF, Cinderella Warner Bros, Knee Diep in die Warmwater SABC.
Dr Who's "Rosa", won the Visionary Honours TV Show of the Year Award at the home of the BAFTAs, receiving praise for the authentic depiction of that historical era.
The Norwegian Int. Film Festival awarded the Next Nordic Generation Award to Homebound. Set Decorator with Finish Production design Heidi Jokinen.
Film campaigns Porsche, L'Oreal, Etam, Carrefour, Renault, Deichmann, Whirlpool, Bosch, etc al
NGO projects include production design for The Global Fund, set dressing for the Community Media Trust and as a board member for Cape Town Pride.
Multimedia Visual Art exhibitions include Circa Everard Read, Ebony Curated, Absa L'Atelier and Mandela Metropolitan.
Performance art collaborations with Elgin Rust at the AVA and Athi Patra-Ruga at the opening of the new Stevenson in Cape Town.
As curator, installing the featured artist retrospective touring exhibition for the National Arts Festival, AVA and Joburg Art Fair were highlights.
At the Association for Visual Art he served as Treasurer, Curatorial and Exco Board member for four years.
As producer, working for the Tony Award winning Handspring puppet company, with the UK's National Theatre on West End, Broadway and on tour. Other collaborators included Neil Bartlett, Rae Smith and William Kentridge.
In the five years, plays & exhibitions included Or You Could Kiss Me, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Ubu and the Truth Commission, Woyzeck on the Highveld & Il Ritorno d'Ulisse. From West End and Broadway to tours of the USA, UK, Netherlands, Germany, France, South Africa, France, Asia, Australasia. Most notably, the hit play WarHorse.
Design collaborators have included Janni Younge, Luyanda Nogodlwana and Ncedile Daki.
A founding member of the Handspring Trust working towards the establishment of an annual puppetry parade and the department of Puppetry at the University of the Western Cape.