Wednesday 2 July we welcome British production designer and art director May Davies for an artist talk. This talk is part of FilmForwards’ Vrijplaats op Maat: Beeldbepalers – Visual Storytelling residency’s final presentations. Davies’ work was presented at Tribeca, LA Shorts, MUBI, Amazon Prime, Netflix and Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Filmjournalist and Vrijplaats curator Dana Linssen will talk with Davies about her extensive work in television and cinema, for instance her work in an episode of the latest season of Netflix show Black Mirror, TV BAFTA winner Landscapers (starring Olivia Colman) and the most recent film she worked on, Learning to Breathe Under Water (with Dutch co-producer KeyFilm). Through case studies, Davies will explain her experience in television and cinema, for which she will give advice from her practical guide for low budget art departments.
who is May Davies?
May Davies is a British production designer and art director for television and cinema. After her studies at Oxford Brookes University and London Film School Davies was part of Berlinale Talents Production Design Studio. Recently she worked on Rebekah Fortune’s Learning to Breathe Under Water (with Dutch co-producer KeyFilm), Elizabeth Sankey’s documentary Witches (BIFA Best Documentary winner, MUBI release) and Hansal Mehta’s The Buckingham Murders. As art director Davies worked on an episode of the latest Black Mirror season and Landscapers (starring Olivia Colman) which won a TV BAFTA for production design.
Davies has also been actively involved in making the sector more diverse and inclusive. She wrote a practical guide for low budget art departments and works with Signal Film and Media to make cinema more accessible and inclusive.
Davies is mentor at the BFI Film Academy, UAL and BAFTA, British Film Designers Guild and an active member of The Production Designers’ Collective.
who is this artist talk for?
This artist talk is open to anyone who’s interested in production design, art direction, low budget and independent filmmaking, accessibility and inclusion in television and cinema and how bigger, international productions operate.
practical information
- Date: Wednesday 2 July 2025
- Time: 15h00 to 17h00 with drinks afterwards
- Location: MACA, Ms. van Riemsdijkweg 61, Amsterdam
- Ticket price: € 22,50 excl. VAT per person (incl. consumption)
- Language: English
- For this workshop the cancellation policy is as follows:
- If you cancel more than 14 days before the workshop day, you will receive a full refund of the ticket price.
- if you cancel between 7 and 14 days before the workshop, you will receive a 50% refund of the ticket price.
- If you cancel within 7 days of the workshop day, you will not receive a refund.
deep dive production design (july 3rd)
A day later, on Wednesday July 3rd, May Davies will give a Deep Dive Production Design. With a small group of participants Davies will delve deeper into the practical sides of production design and art direction. Subjects and themes for discussion could include pitching for jobs, concept creation, communication of design through moodboards, illustrations or 3D models, team structures of art departments, budgeting for projects, and location work vs set building.
You can read more about the Deep Dive Production Design here.
A ticket for the Deep Dive Production Design is including free entrance to this Artist talk.