Production Design for Film, HETV & Television

Jonathan Paul Green — UK Production Designer

Jonathan Paul Green is an award-winning UK Production Designer with more than 30 years’ experience creating distinctive visual worlds for film, HETV and television.

Working across drama, comedy and entertainment, Jonathan’s production design combines creative storytelling with the practical demands of filmmaking — from initial concepts and visual development through to location transformation, studio builds and the delivery of finished sets.

His credits include Fleabag, Atlanta, Criminal: UK, Truelove, Episodes, Stag, The Wrong Mans and Top Gear, working with leading UK and international broadcasters, studios, streamers and production companies.

Film, HETV & Scripted Television

Jonathan has extensive experience designing scripted television productions in the UK and internationally, from intimate character-led comedy and drama to large-scale productions involving multiple sets, locations and countries.

For Fleabag, Jonathan designed both Series 1 and 2, combining London locations with specially created interiors and sets including Fleabag’s bedroom, Dad’s attic and the now iconic Guinea Pig Café.

Atlanta Season 3 involved production across the UK and Europe, with filming in London, Paris and Amsterdam and a wide range of location transformations and constructed environments. Working closely with Director Hiro Murai and Donald Glover, Jonathan developed the iconic and established visual language of ‘Atlanta’ within a new European landscape.

For Netflix’s Criminal: UK, the production required a very different approach: a tightly controlled and distinctive visual environment built around the single interrogation room, observation spaces and surrounding police station.

Sets & Locations

Production design is often as much about transforming what already exists as building something new.

Jonathan has extensive experience combining practical locations with constructed sets, matching studio environments to locations and adapting existing architecture for the requirements of filming.

That can involve anything from subtle dressing and architectural alterations to major transformations, studio builds and environments that need to work across multiple filming locations.

This combination of creative design and practical problem-solving is particularly important on HETV and television productions where ambitious visual ideas have to work within demanding schedules and budgets.

One such example was transforming a derelict golf clubhouse in Fiji, into the main characters’ hunting lodge, for the US TV series ‘Wrecked’. This location became a build space for many of the show’s set pieces including an underground cave and a futuristic surveillance room.

About Jonathan Paul Green

Jonathan studied Fine Art Sculpture at St Martin’s School of Art before beginning his career creating puppets for Spitting Image. His early work included prop and model making at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop and work on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

He subsequently moved into television art direction and production design and has spent more than three decades designing productions across film and television.

His work has received recognition from the British Film Designers Guild, Art Directors Guild (ADG) and The Royal Television Society.

Jonathan is available for Film, HETV and Television Production Design in the UK and internationally.

Production Design

Every production presents a different design challenge.

Some projects require entirely constructed worlds. Others depend upon finding the right locations and transforming them so that they become part of the story. Sets with character.

Jonathan’s work encompasses studio sets, location builds, practical interiors and exteriors, period and contemporary environments. He works closely with directors, producers, cinematographers and the wider creative team to create the original visual look and feel of the production.

The process begins with the script.

Research, references, concept development, location work, technical drawings, models and visualisation all contribute to developing a design that serves the story while remaining achievable within the realities of schedule and budget.

Drama & Comedy

Comedy has formed an important part of Jonathan’s career, including productions such as Fleabag, Atlanta, Episodes, Stag, The Wrong Mans, Green Wing, Smack The Pony and Brass Eye.

Production design for comedy still requires a completely believable world. The design should support the characters and storytelling without drawing unnecessary attention to itself.

Drama brings different opportunities for visual storytelling, allowing architecture, colour, texture, scale and location to help establish character, atmosphere and emotional tone.

Jonathan’s experience across many genres allows the design approach to be tailored to the individual production rather than imposing a particular visual style upon it.

Studio Production Design

Alongside scripted film and television, Jonathan has extensive experience in studio and entertainment production design, including many years designing Top Gear (the Clarkson years) and work across major entertainment formats.

This experience encompasses large-scale studio environments, music shows, audience shows, practical builds and sets designed around complex lighting, camera and production requirements.

UK & International Production Design

Based in the UK, Jonathan works on productions filming throughout the UK and internationally, with experience working across Europe and the United States.

International credits include productions involving filming and design work in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Los Angeles and other locations.

Jonathan works collaboratively with producers and directors from the earliest stages of a project, developing the visual approach while building and managing the art department required to deliver it.