Evoking the Call of the Wild Through Lighting and Design Backstage at Dolby Theatre
Photography: ©Rolex/Bart Michiels
The Envelope Please! It's that time of year again. Since 2016 Rolex has been sponsoring the Oscars Greenroom with a design vision that supports the watch companies ethos of eco-consciousness and sense of adventure. We've been thrilled to be part of the team as long as that, if not just a bit more! Each year, our Sr. Lighting Designer Ray Thompson takes the lead on lighting design working with Tony Schubert from Event Eleven as producer to bring the Rolex design vision to life.
This year, at the 97th annual Academy Awards presentation, that vision a calm interpretation of the wild -- an environment composed of an airy tulle scrim and undulating wall lighting suggesting mountainous topography. An elegant wood framework featured brass cutouts of the animals inhabiting the wild. Furnishings, most by Paola Lenti, were chosen in a palette of greens and tawny beiges.
According to Interior Design magazine, "the Rolex design team drew inspiration specifically from the non-profit endeavors of Rewilding Chile, guarding marine life and promoting parks conservation throughout Patagonia, and Rewilding Argentina, protecting and developing eco-systems for rural inhabitants and animal species. Both are offspring of Tompkins Conservation, the legacy of Douglas and Kristine Tompkins, and supported by the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative."