Episode 43 - Annie Atkins

This Way Up

For this episode, I caught up with Annie Atkins. You might not have heard of her name but you will certainly have seen her work. She's the mastermind behind some of the most iconic graphics props and set pieces for multi-award-winning films. Notably and probably one that stands out the most is her work for Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs and most recently the French dispatch. And yes the famous iconic pink patisserie box from the grand Budapest hotel is made by her! She’s also worked on the animated feature The Boxtrolls, Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, and most recently his West Side Story adaptation. And that’s just to name a few!
To say I was excited to record this interview is an understatement. Annie is, as expected, fascinating! As usual, I followed her career path, from starting her design course at Ravensbourne to her challenging time as a designer in the world of advertising to her first job on the set of The Tudors and finally her time working as a fully fledge graphic designer for the film industry.
We go deep into the work that makes up her extensive career to date and Annie is full of great stories – from designing the carpet in the grand Budapest hotel to making a spelling mistake on that famous French patisserie box, to constructing maps, Maps, newspapers and dog tags for Anderson’s Isle of Dogs.
She is also open about the type of mindset that is required to make it in this highly stressful job. And as a woman, we talk about how things seem to be finally changing in the film industry, where the importance of flexibility at work is starting to be recognised.
I could go on about how much I enjoyed this conversation but instead, I will let you hear it for yourself.
Hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did recording it!