James D. Bissell (born 1951) is an American production designer.

Early life

Jim Bissell was born in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, the only child of Elizabeth and James Bissell. In his youth, he moved around and traveled with his father from Hawaii to Bermuda and so many places in between. After he graduated high school Bissell attended

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

working in the theater department. In 1973 Bissell graduated with a BFA and decided to make it New York. He made it by working on low-budget features and commercials.

Career

Bissell soon moved to Los Angeles to exploit his talent in the entertainment capital of the world. He found steady work on the set of the television series ''

Palmerstown, U.S.A. ''Palmerstown, U.S.A.'' (shortened to ''Palmerstown'' in March 1981) is a Drama (film and television), television drama series that aired on CBS from March 20, 1980 to June 9, 1981. It was created by Norman Lear and Alex Haley, whose childhood was ...

''. In 1980 he was awarded an Emmy for his work on the show, and around that time he was discovered by

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

while he was shooting on the same lot. Bissell would later receive a BAFTA nomination for production design on Spielberg's next project ''

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, d ...

''. While working on '' Jumanji'' (1995) Bissell met his wife Martha. Bissell's collaboration with

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...

began in 2002 with '' Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind'', followed by ''

Good Night, and Good Luck ''Good Night, and Good Luck'' (stylized as ''good night, and good luck.'') is a 2005 historical drama film about American television news directed by George Clooney, with the movie starring David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels, Ro ...

'' which landed him an Oscar nomination, ''

Leatherheads ''Leatherheads'' is a 2008 American sports comedy film from Universal Pictures directed by and starring George Clooney. The film also stars Renée Zellweger, Jonathan Pryce, and John Krasinski and focuses on the early years of professional American ...

'', ''

The Monuments Men ''The Monuments Men'' is a 2014 war film directed by George Clooney and written and produced by Clooney and Grant Heslov. The film stars an ensemble cast including Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh ...

'', '' Suburbicon'', and most recently ''

The Midnight Sky ''The Midnight Sky'' is a 2020 American science fiction film directed by George Clooney based on the 2016 novel ''Good Morning, Midnight'' by Lily Brooks-Dalton. The script was written by Mark L. Smith. Clooney plays a leading role in his ...

''. Little known fact: when working on Nick Castle's '' The Boy Who Could Fly'', "Bissell-ing" was invented. It started at a dinner with Bissell, Castle, Ron Cobb, and their wives. The rule became: you cannot drink the wine until you have Bisselled - Which involves, dropping the cork onto a plate repeatedly until the cork stands up on one end. We have tried to propagate this throughout the world and currently, Nick Castle the Bissell-ing record - 3-corks simultaneously! Give Bissilling a try!

Personal life

Bissell is married to Martha Wynne. Jim and Martha have three children: James Dougal (from Bissell's previous marriage), Alexander Wynne (born 1996) and Elizabeth Wynne (born 1998). He is a known Joseph Campbell fan. He is a fellow of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

Awards

Bissell won the Emmy for "Outstanding Art Direction for a Series" for his work on "

" Bissell was Nominated for the BAFTA for "Best Production Design/Art Direction" for his work on "

." Bissell has been nominated for three different Art Directors Guild Awards for his work on "

.", "300", and "

The Spiderwick Chronicles ''The Spiderwick Chronicles'' is a series of children's fantasy books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. They chronicle the adventures of the Grace children, twins Simon and Jared and their older sister Mallory, after they move into the Spid ...

" Bissell was nominated at the 78th Academy Awards in the category of

Best Art Direction The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fro ...

for his work on the movie ''

''. His nomination was shared with

Jan Pascale Jan Pascale is an American set decorator who has won an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award . She has worked on over 50 different TV shows and films since 1982. She won her Emmy 2001 for the TV show ''Boston Public''. She was nominated at ...

. In 2015 he received the Art Directors Guild lifetime achievement award.

References

External links

* Living people American art directors 1952 births Artists from Charleston, South Carolina Primetime Emmy Award winners {{US-artdirector-stub