Tom McPhillips, Mike Rhoads
Creative director, 60; and senior designer, 46; Studio 10A, Lititz, Pennsylvania
Launchpad: McPhillips first got a taste for creating theatrical stages as a design assistant at the Young Vic Theatre in London and later founded Atomic Design in 1993. Rhoads joined the Pennsylvania-based production company six years later, starting as a scenic artist before segueing into art direction and design. In 2010, the duo partnered to launch independent scenic design shop Studio 10A, which has since tackled large projects for concerts, televised award specials, and the White House tree-lighting ceremony.
Claim to fame: Among the firm’s many projects last year, the scenery for the TBS/TNT upfront and the Soul Train Awards were distinguished by the seamless integration of video content with a structural set design. The former, conceived by Rhoads, saw New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom transformed by curving video projection panels that created a “complete wraparound environment, so that the audience became part of the set,” says Rhoads. McPhillips oversaw the look for the musical honors show, configuring the visual content played on screens to match a stage that slid and folded to form a different backdrop for each act.
Style signature: “Versatility. I’d like to think the show dictates the style. I can be baroque when needed and minimalist as well,” Rhoads says.
Major life goal: “Never having to accept that my best work is behind me,” McPhillips says.
Launchpad: McPhillips first got a taste for creating theatrical stages as a design assistant at the Young Vic Theatre in London and later founded Atomic Design in 1993. Rhoads joined the Pennsylvania-based production company six years later, starting as a scenic artist before segueing into art direction and design. In 2010, the duo partnered to launch independent scenic design shop Studio 10A, which has since tackled large projects for concerts, televised award specials, and the White House tree-lighting ceremony.
Claim to fame: Among the firm’s many projects last year, the scenery for the TBS/TNT upfront and the Soul Train Awards were distinguished by the seamless integration of video content with a structural set design. The former, conceived by Rhoads, saw New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom transformed by curving video projection panels that created a “complete wraparound environment, so that the audience became part of the set,” says Rhoads. McPhillips oversaw the look for the musical honors show, configuring the visual content played on screens to match a stage that slid and folded to form a different backdrop for each act.
Style signature: “Versatility. I’d like to think the show dictates the style. I can be baroque when needed and minimalist as well,” Rhoads says.
Major life goal: “Never having to accept that my best work is behind me,” McPhillips says.
Photo: Dan Hallman for BizBash
