Rick Rifle, Designer
Info from TLC.com:
Rick Rifle is the first and only film and television
production designer cast member. Rick runs his interior
projects like he runs his sets, adding a sense of
Hollywood magic to the show in its fourth season.
Design Style: Rick's style, which can best
be called "Hollywood with a classical twist,"
is comprised of witty, larger-than-life designs that
follow the rules of classical architecture. With his
imagination, training and experience, he is destined
to become a favorite with the fans, both on the show,
and behind the scenes as a production and costume
designer.
Personal History: Born December 14, 1968 in
Mount Holly, New Jersey, Rick moved to Tuscon, Arizona,
when he was three, and Jacksonville, Florida, when
he was eight. His first design effort was remaking
the sets and costumes for his Star Wars action figures.
Growing up in the South, he was fascinated by classical
Southern Antebellum architecture and Addison Mizner
homes. When a friend took him to see Peter Greenaway's
The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover, Rick
finally heard his calling. Today, he is a production
designer living in Los Angeles, in a building designed
by a legendary architect.
Professional Background: Rick got his start
designing sets for Greek tragedies for Jacksonville's
Florida Community College. He later received a BFA
in Design for Costumes and Sets from Florida State
University, and went on to attend NYU's prestigious
Tisch School of the Arts. There, he learned from the
best and the brightest in the New York design world
of theatre, opera and film, including Desmond Heeley,
John Conklin, Paul Steinberg and Carrie F. Robbins.
After earning his MFA in Design for Film and Stage,
Rick assisted interior designers and set designers
including Eduardo Scicangco, art directed independent
films An Argentine in New York, April V and Swing
City, set designed on six television projects including
the 1998 Winter Olympics for CBS, and designed scenery
and costumes for the Stella Adler Conservatory. In
1999, he assistant art directed The Queen Latifah
Show for Fox/Telepictures.
His first Hollywood project was art directing the
then Fox Family Channel movie, Rocket's Red Glare.
Since then, he has served as production designer for
feature films A Little Bit of Lipstick and Murderous
Camouflage, an episode of Sci-Fi Channel's Exposure,
13 episodes of the late night cable hit The Best Sex
Ever, and most recently, a presentation pilot for
a Showtime/Mandalay/EUE Screen Gems series, "Nightly."
for a Showtime/Mandalay/Screen Gems comedy series.
Earlier this year, he art directed the 2003 Art Directors
Guild Awards.
Trading Spaces is not Rick's first on-camera project.
In 2000, he hosted a pilot for a hip, edgy design
show titled Housebroken, and he made a guest appearance
on Lifetime's Operation Style in 2001.
Quotable Rifle: "Relax, it's just paint!"
Trading
Spaces: Rick Rifle
