David Crank is an American production designer and art director. His production designer credits include Rian Johnson's Knives Out and Paul Greengrass's News of the World (for which he nabbed an Academy Award nomination for Best Production Design with set decorator, Elizabeth Keenan at the 93rd Academy Awards, as well as nominations for a BAFTA Award and Critics' Choice Movie Awards in the same category), plus art director credits on various films including Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood and The Master, and Water for Elephants.
Education and personal life Crank grew up in Richmond, Virginia and graduated from William and Mary with a degree in studio art in 1982. He also received a Theatre Design MFA degree from Carnegie-Mellon.
Professional life Crank first began as a set designer in Richmond's local theaters and then started working in film as a set painter around 1990. He was the Art Director on three of Terrence Malick's films, including The New World (2005) and The Tree of Life (2011). Crank was on the production team that won the 2012 Satellite Award for Best Art Direction and Production Design for Lincoln (and was also nominated that same year for The Master). Crank's production design work on Knives Out was integral to the film's world, including the fact that he turned different locations into the film's main setting, the mansion of mystery author Harlan Thrombey.
In 2011, William & Mary’s Muscarelle Museum of Art presented Crank with The Cheek Medal, a national award for outstanding presentation of the arts. In addition to his Oscar and BAFTA Film Award nods, Crank was nominated for an Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for his work on News of the World.
Filmography As production designer Year Title Director Notes 1998 Major League: Back to the Minors John Warren 1999 Wayward Son Randall Harris 2008 Lake City Perry Moore 2012 The Master Paul Thomas Anderson 2013 The Double Richard Ayoade 2014 Inherent Vice Paul Thomas Anderson 2015 Concussion Peter Landesman 2017 Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House Peter Landesman 2019 Knives Out Rian Johnson 2020 Greyhound Aaron Schneider The Book of Vision Carlo S. Hintermann News of the World Paul Greengrass 2022 Raymond & Ray Rodrigo García 2025 The Lost Bus Paul Greengrass References
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