Simon Bowles

Simon Bowles is an award winning British feature film production designer, whose work has been featured in Architectural Digest and Variety (magazine) . Bowles has worked with directors Armando Ianucci, Amma Asante, Oliver Parker, Roger Michell, Edgar Wright and Neil Marshall. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Simon Bowles
Production Designer Simon Bowles
Born (1971-06-07) 7 June 1971
London
NationalityBritish
OccupationProduction Designer
Years active1993–present
ChildrenIndy Bowles Pippa Bowles

Bowles designed the underground maze of caves built at Pinewood Studios for The Descent, which won accolades at the Evening Standard British Film Awards, Empire Awards, British Independent Film Awards and Philadelphia Film Festival. Reviews credited to Bowles such as "cave sets by production designer Simon Bowles look just like the real thing" and "Simon Bowles’ beautifully designed cave sets conjure a world of subterranean darkness".[1][2]

In 2012 Simon Bowles designed Roger Michell's "Hyde Park on Hudson" starring Bill Murray, set in 1930s Upstate New York about a British royal family visiting the US and their stay with Franklin Roosevelt, shot entirely in the UK. Bowles's work was mentioned in reviews; "handsomely decked out with a sharp eye for telling eye for production design" by Todd McCarthy in The Hollywood Reporter and "Hyde Park on Hudson boasts top-notch production design" by Geoffrey MacNabb in The Independent and "excellent production design from Simon Bowles completes this dreamy, impeccable film" by Clare Stuart, BFI. Bowles went on to win the British Film Designers Guild award for his design of this film.

Simon Bowles designed Amma Asante's "Belle (2013 film)" set in 18th-century Kenwood House, London and "Pride (2014 film)" about English gay and lesbian group supporting the striking miners in the 1980s. Both films received rave reviews and many awards including Best Feature Film at the 2014 British Independent Film Awards and nominations at the 2015 BAFTA awards for Pride.

Between 2013 and 2015 Simon Bowles was the elected chairman of The British Film Designers Guild which represents and promotes the creative talent of Production Designers and the art department in the British film industry.

Simon Bowles worked with Amma Asante again on "A United Kingdom" which tells the true story of the relationship between Seretse Khama, the chief to be of the Bamangwato tribe in the British colony of Bechuanaland in the late 1940s, and a white, middle-class Englishwoman, Ruth Williams. It stars David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike directed by Amma Asante produced by Rick McCallum. It was released in the UK in October 2016, US release in February 2017.

Simon Bowles won at the British Film Designers Guild awards in 2019 for his work on Universal Pictures Johnny English Strikes Again starring Rowan Atkinson.

Bowles is currently designing science-fiction series Avenue 5 created by Armando Iannucci for HBO.

Filmography

Production designer

Art director

Art department
  • Beyond Bedlam (1993) (assistant art director)
  • Buffalo Girls (1995) (TV) (assistant art director)
  • Sub Down (1997) (V) (assistant art director)
  • Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) (concept artist)

Commercials

Awards

References
  1. Derek Elley in Variety
  2. Mark Kermode in The Observer.
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