A Behind-the-Scenes Superstar Gets Her Due

Though not a household name, Jan Scott is a superstar within the television and film industries. The art director and production designer has won 11 Emmy Awards--more than any other woman--for her work on such TV movies and miniseries as “The Long Hot Summer” and “The Kennedys of Massachusetts.” Scott was also nominated for an Oscar for the 1984 feature film “Grandview, U.S.A.”

On Sunday at 5 p.m. the Art Directors Guild Film Society is honoring Scott at the Directors Guild Theatre. The evening, which is free and open to the public, will feature a special screening sampler of her Emmy-winning production designs for “Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years,” “Evergreen” and “Foxfire.” After the screening, Scott will take questions from the audience.

A native of Watervalley, Miss., Scott received architecture and fine arts degrees at the University of Chicago, and extended her studies at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Question: You are the first woman to be honored by the Art Directors Guild Film Society?

Answer: [Being the first woman] doesn’t cut any ice with me because I have had no problems in my career working with either gender. I started out in this business as a carpenter and painter. I worked on the paint frame for the Met Opera in New York because I was going to start from the bottom. My father kept saying to me, “I send you to architectural school, and you end up being a carpenter and painter?” I said, “Dad, that is the way to learn.”

Q: You really didn’t find any barriers for women when you started?

A: No, I didn’t. But something happened in the RCA building one day. I had gotten into New York and was settled down as part of the stable of art directors at NBC, and I had a call from my superior saying, “Jan, there are three directors who are going to come into NBC to do the ‘DuPont Show of the Month.’ They are interested in interviewing art directors, and we are going to set them up with five and would you please meet with them.” So I go into this conference room, and there sat Fielder Cook, George Roy Hill and Franklin Schaffner. We were talking and getting along fine. Then the phone rings and Frank Schaffner was called to another meeting, so he excused himself and said to the other two, “I’ll talk with you later, whatever you decide is fine with me.”

I got home. The phone rang and it was my superior saying, “Jan, they decided they are going to take you and had all sorts of glowing remarks about you.” I said, “Great.” I later found out through Fielder that Frank Schaffner called him that night and said, “What did you two decide?” Fielder said, “We decided on Jan Scott.” And Frank Schaffner said, “A girl?” I tell you, I never let him forget that to his dying day. We became very close friends. I learned so much [from them]. I just hit it lucky working with those three men with exceptional talent and creative ability.

Q: What are the responsibilities of an art director-production designer?

A: Actually, the composition of every frame is your responsibility. You are responsible for everything that’s in the frame. I always say, “If it’s not there, you can’t shoot it.”

Q: You won your first Emmy 30 years ago for “Shadow Game.” Was that your first nomination?

A: I had been nominated for some “Hallmark Hall of Fames” I had done in New York. I have done a lot of “Hallmarks.” They have been in business a long time, and they are very careful about the subject matter and the way they don’t like violence or blood. We did “The Love Letter” [which had Civil War battle scenes] a couple of years ago. Executive producer Richard Welch and I were sitting in a production meeting in Richmond, Va. He says, “Jan, I don’t want to see any blood.” I said, “We have the Battle of Gettysburg to do.” So we didn’t have close-ups and we used reenactors. They handled it all.

Q: When you do a historical piece like “Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years,” what type of research does that entail before you begin your designs?

A: We went to Washington, D.C., to the historical society and the Library of Congress. We studied there for about three days poring over books. It was a great experience because it helped with the chemistry [of the project]. If the chemistry is pure and right, you can do anything with a production to get quality.

Q: Do you prefer doing miniseries over regular movies?

A: Well, I prefer doing features. I have enjoyed thoroughly the features I have done. The reason that I like miniseries is because you see a progression. You can’t stay on the same theme for six hours, but you can get quality. It’s like putting a puzzle together to make all the pieces fit.

Q: What has been your favorite experience in features?

A: “Grandview, U.S.A.” We leased a 23-acre piece of farmland outside of Pontiac, Illinois. I had to build a racetrack within a racetrack--a demolition-derby track within a Formula One track. Then we had to build all of the grandstands to hold about 2,000 people, and bring in the cars and prep them. I had 37 special-effects men and women from here taking all the glass out of the cars. In a demolition derby, all the glass has to go and you put in poultry wire instead. We had pit stops to put in and I had to put in light poles, and all this had to be passed by the community’s building code. It was a lot of work, but it was great fun. [Director] Randal Kleiser was just great to work with.