Our BA (Hons) Production Design for Stage & Screen degree welcomes alumni and set designer Lee Ward to it’s lecturing staff. Originally from Middlesbrough Lee trained at our school as a mature student; “Growing up and into adulthood I’d been self-producing a wide range of creative projects so I became a jack of all trades. Everything from video making to event producing. I found that TNSA’s Production Design degree rolled most of my creative outlets into one place so I enrolled as a mature student to turn what I was doing into a more established career.”

During studying for his degree Lee developed his business Hollow Productions offering set design and building, prop making and sourcing, event dressing and various other creative direction services. “My practice involves a lot of scenic construction and painting, research and concept development, design and project management.”  Lee has worked on some fantastic productions such as The Island (2023), Riever (2022), A Dolls House (Elysium Theatre), Dracula (Darlington Hippodrome), Haddock and Chips (CaroleW Productions),  A Midsummer Nights Dream (Less is MORE productions) and many more.

“Most of my current work comes through the North East based theatre networks working with institutions such as: Elysium Theatre Company and Carole W Productions. I have also worked with businesses such as Niltoni and Geek Retreat making immersive commercial installations to create memorable customer experiences.” Lee worked in roles such as; Production Designer, Construction Manager and Stage Manager.

His extensive experience working in the Stage & Screen industry will offer real experiences for students on the course whilst shining a light on how to navigate the industry as a new graduate, speaking of his ambition for the programme and his students he said, “My goal joining the team is to bring a fresh perspective to the curriculum to improve and maintain an already great programme. As someone who graduated and established themselves in the creative industry over the past decade, I hope to offer relevant opportunities and insights to students looking to follow a similar path.”

“Over the next year in I’ll be working closely with Level 4’s and 6’s. I’ll be keeping the academic inspiration going by supporting them through writing their dissertations. Researching doesn’t have to be boring and I aim to breathe a bit of life into the module by having engaging group discussions about each student’s topic of study, sharing ideas and concepts to diversify the knowledge gained by everyone. Level 4’s are going to be learning their core workshop skills from me alongside technician Mark Robinson”.

If you want to see more of Lee’s work head to his Instagram: @itshollowproductions, Facebook or Website.

If you are interested in studying production design make sure you look at our degree page to find out more about our well established and dynamic degree programme.