ALEXANDRIA ELDRIDGE
Alberta and Northern Bureau Chief

EDMONTON (CUP) ”“ Todd Cherniawsky left Alberta to go to Los Angeles years ago for grad school and a career in Hollywood. These days, he’s enjoying silver screen success, having most recently been a supervising art director of the James Cameron blockbuster Avatar.

Born in Edmonton, he received an architecture diploma from the Northern Alberta Institute for Technology and a bachelor of fine arts in art and design from the University of Alberta. From there, he pursued filmmaking.

Cherniawsky says his schooling in Alberta allowed him to sample different types of design and improve his drawing skills. The province, he explains, provided a great foundation that helped him achieve success in Hollywood.

“I think it’s a real testament to the whole faculty and staff (at U of A) to make things work for those who were trying to get into disciplines that weren’t traditional to Alberta industry.”

With NAIT being one of the first technology schools in Canada to implement the use of digital tools, says Cherniawsky, “We’re very lucky in Alberta.”

The artist describes leaving Canada to attend graduate school in Los Angeles as an “eye opener.” He found himself in an environment where he was no longer the only one interested in film.

“I became very inspired and challenged because all of a sudden there’s another dozen people like you and maybe half of them have more talent than you…. You have to push yourself to try and be successful, whatever that means in your own mind.”

Cherniawsky worked hard to be successful and throughout his career he has contributed to some high-profile blockbusters. He has worked as a set designer and art director in over 20 feature films including Armageddon (1998), Planet of the Apes (2001), War of the Worlds (2005), Ocean’s Thirteen (2007), and most recently Avatar and Tim Burton’s upcoming Alice in Wonderland.

Cherniawsky described Avatar as one of the most involved but also most rewarding experiences of his professional career.

“For those people who are lucky enough to have something like Star Wars or Raiders of the Lost Ark on their resume, in some ways Avatar is (my) equivalent. It’ll be something that will be talked about and I think ingrained into people’s memories for a little while, so it is nice to be part of something like that,” says Cherniawsky.

“Because there was so much new technology… there was a lot of exploration, a lot of excitement along the way, and of course, a lot of momentary failures…. So that all being said, it’s been the best professional experience I’ve had.”

His role as one of the supervising art directors for the film was to co-ordinate the live action, focusing specifically on the aircraft and vehicles featured in the film.

Cherniawsky said that one of the unique parts of working on Avatar was the importance of realistic science in the film.

“I was really proud to be part of a project that involved so many real scientists at the cutting edge of their disciplines to act as advisors. Over 75 or 80 species of plants were designed from scratch and about a dozen and a half creatures as well… and things were driven to be plausible.”

Cherniawsky’s career has been driven not only by a passion for drawing but also one for storytelling. An art director has a key role in bringing the story to the screen.

“When you read a book, whatever you create in your mind’s eye of the world that the book exists in and how those characters move through that world — that’s art direction, translating words into images. But we then have to go one step further and actually produce it,” he says.

Cherniawsky’s success has been the product of perseverance. For others with big dreams, he believes that there are no excuses for not finding a career that you love.

“As a kid when I walked out of the movie theatre I thought, ”˜Wow, wouldn’t it be great to be able to do that?’ but dismissing it immediately…. We’re now at a point where if you can think up a job you can find a way to get paid to do it.”