Ethan Tobman

Last updated
Ethan Tobman
Born (1979-05-30) 30 May 1979 (age 45)
Montreal, Canada
OccupationProduction designer
Director
Awards Canadian Screen Award for Best Art Direction/Production Design

Ethan Tobman (born May 30, 1979) is a Canadian film production designer and director.

Contents

Tobman is from Montreal. [1] He directed the short film Remote, which screened at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. [2] [3] The Hollywood Reporter positively reviewed Tobman's production design for the 2014 film That Awkward Moment. [4]

He served as production designer for the 2015 Canadian-Irish film Room , for which he and Mary Kirkland won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Achievement in Art Direction/Production Design. [5] In designing the eponymous Room set at Pinewood Toronto Studios, [6] he set out with the idea "that every square inch of Room needed to have a backstory." [7] Tobman also proposed an "inverted Rubik's Cube" for a set, with removable parts. [6] Tobman subsequently worked on Felix van Groeningen's 2018 Beautiful Boy . Using the house from the TV series Big Little Lies for a set, he made numerous alterations including to the counters. [8]

Tobman has also served as a production designer for music videos, including "Formation" and "Lemonade" by Beyoncé. [9] [10] In 2014, for the music video "The Writing's on the Wall" by the U.S. band OK Go, he was tasked with helping create a number of perspective illusions. [11] He served as creative director and production designer for Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour concert tour and its related concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour . [12]

Tobman has been the recipient of three Art Directors Guild Awards: "Black Is King," directed by Beyoncé (2020); [13] "All Too Well: The Short Film," by Taylor Swift (2021); [14] and "I Can See You," by Taylor Swift (2023). [15] He has also been nominated for three MTV Music Video Awards for Art Direction: "Not Afraid," by Eminem (2010); [16] "Willow," by Taylor Swift (2020); [17] and "Fortnight," by Taylor Swift (2024). [18]

Tobman won the Juno Award for Video of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2024, for his music video for Allison Russell's "Demons." [19] In the same year, the Prism Prize named Tobman as the recipient of its Special Achievement Award. [20]

Filmography

Films

Visual albums

Music videos

References

  1. Brunhuber, Kim (25 February 2016). "Oscar-nominated Room required painstaking precision from cast and crew". CBC News . Archived from the original on 12 June 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Ethan Tobman". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on October 25, 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  3. "Ethan Tobman". Cannes Film Festival . Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  4. 1 2 Linden, Sheri (29 January 2014). "That Awkward Moment: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  5. Cummins, Julianna (13 March 2016). "Room cleans up at final night of 2016 Screenies". Playback . Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  6. 1 2 Tapley, Kristopher (19 November 2015). "'Room': Creating a Whole World in a 10-Foot Space". Variety . Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  7. Buxton, Ryan (18 December 2015). "Why 'Room' Director Lenny Abrahamson Spent A Month Hiding In A Bathtub". The Huffington Post . Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  8. 1 2 Harris, Hunter (23 October 2018). "Yes, the Beautiful Boy House Is the Same As the Big Little Lies House". Vulture.com . Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  9. 1 2 "Beyoncé's 'Formation': How a Historic Pasadena Home Went Southern Gothic for This Year's Biggest Video". Yahoo! . 10 February 2016. Archived from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  10. 1 2 Levy, Emanuel (6 October 2018). "Beautiful Boy: Interview with Director Van Groeningen about his Tale of Drug Addiction, Starring Oscar Nominee Timothee Chalamet". emanuellevy.com . Archived from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  11. 1 2 Jones, Bill (17 August 2014). "When tech offered no shortcuts, OK Go made magic happen the old-fashioned way". Digital Trends . Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  12. Gensler, Andy (December 8, 2023). "Taylor Swift Sets All-Time Touring Record With $1 Billion Gross". Pollstar. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
  13. "ADG Awards Winner & Nominees". adg.org. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
  14. "ADG Awards Winner & Nominees". adg.org. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
  15. "ADG Awards Winner & Nominees". adg.org. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
  16. "Eminem: Not Afraid (Music Video 2010) - Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
  17. "Taylor Swift: Willow (Music Video 2020) - Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
  18. Willman, Chris (2024-08-06). "Taylor Swift Leads MTV VMAs Nominations With 10, as Post Malone, Sabrina Carpenter, Ariana Grande and Eminem Also Get a Big Look". Variety. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
  19. "Junos 2024: full list of winners". CBC Music, March 23, 2024.
  20. Kerry Doole, "Mustafa Wins 2024 Prism Prize As 'Name Of God' Named Best Canadian Music Video of the Year". Billboard , June 25, 2024.
  21. Shaffer, Claire (31 July 2020). "Taylor Swift's Cinematographer: How We Shot 'Folklore' Video During a Pandemic". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 2 August 2020.