Layne Austin Simescu

Set dressing a hospital setting for a corporate photoshoot

Set Dresser for Crafted for Christmas holiday movie. Responsibilities included dressing numerous holiday sets, dealing with holiday decorations and Christmas trees, moving furniture, and organizing set decorations.

Set Decorator for four narrative scenes within the documentary feature film You Need This. Duties included creating a primitive campfire scene in the middle of the woods. This included digging out a hole in the ground, carrying boulders through the woods, and building a campfire made of pine wood. I decorated a living room with 90's/early 2000's aesthetic including finding a working television from that era and 90's decor. The third scene was a very lived-in and cluttered office setting with working electronics and mounds of paperwork. The fourth scene included a shopping cart full of unnecessary consumer goods set against a post-apocalyptic background.

Union set dresser for new Sony television show Durango 60623. Duties included dressing multiple house sets with period and contemporary decor.

Production Designer for a drag queen cooking show for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. I designed three unique kitchen sets for three different holiday episodes.

Union set dresser for Aldi holiday commercial. Duties included dressing a grocery store with produce, cheeses, breads, and holiday foods.

Production Designer for a feature film about the gay community within modern orthodox Judaism. I designed a Jewish school, synagogue, wedding, and multiple homes on an ultra-low budget. I created wedding decorations with DIY aspects to work within the budget. A lot of research went into Jewish home life and decorations, as well as what an orthodox wedding would look like. Prop choices and set decoration had to take into consideration the Jewish religion and traditions.

Prop Master and Set Dresser for Those Who Walk Away, a feature length horror film written and directed by Los Angeles filmmaker Robert Rippberger. The film was produced by One Shot, Ltd, and starred actor Booboo Stewart. I was responsible for purchasing and keeping track of all property for the film. I also helped decorate the set, which included recreating an entire abandoned house from scratch.

Costumer for the short film A Place For Us. Responsibilities included organizing, steaming, keeping track of continuity, working with actors, cleaning costumes, fitting costumes to actors, making sure actors are camera ready, and picking out/coordinating costumes for certain characters. This was a medical film, so a lot of thought went into the specific types and colors of scrubs and coats depending on the position of the character within the hospital setting.

Production Designer for short film about medical students. Duties included designing hospital sets and an emergency room.

Production Designer for youtube television show. Duties included designing a bar scene and multiple office sets.

Set Dresser/Swing Gang for Apple TV+ show The Shining Girls. Duties included dressing 20-30 different sets, moving furniture and equipment, keeping track of set continuity, organizing set decorations and equipment, assisting in buying set decorations, creative design choices

Ultra-low-budget indie feature film from executive producer Jim Cummings (Thunder Road, 2016) and New Moon Flicks. Used creativity, time management, and meticulous organization to create sets and props for a sixteen-day film shoot with only a $2,000 budget, five days of pre-production, and a two-person team. Disfluency won the Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at the 2021 Austin Film Festival

Costumes for the biopic Toma about Serbian musician Toma Zdravkovic. Duties included buying costumes, fitting 50 extras in 1970s attire, cleaning and organizing costumes, and on set costumes.

Second Unit Prop Master for the Chicago shoot of Toma, a biopic of Serbian musician Toma Zdravkovic. Duties included buying, organizing, and distributing props on set.

Set Dresser/Swing Gang for the 20th Century Fox pilot The Big Leap. Helped to organize set dressing and break down sets.

Art Department PA for the Disney/20th Century Fox pilot The Big Leap. Duties include art department research, creating names for brands and businesses in the script, photoshop, designing set decoration graphics, printing graphics and artwork, running errands, organizing, computer work, and other creative odd jobs.

Research Assistant for the Art Department. Duties include in depth research assignments about script content and inspiration photos for production design.

On Set Dresser. Duties included managing props and set decoration for a thirty-minute short film, resetting props between takes, decorating and tearing down numerous locations, set decor and prop continuity, and on-set design choices Grey Market won Best Web Series at the 2021 Toronto Indie Shorts Festival Best Web Series at the 2021 Berlin International Art Film Festival Official Selection at the 2021 Cannes Indie Shorts Awards Official Selection at the 2021 Flickfair Film Festival

Lock Up Production Assistant for The Batman. Duties included communicating with pedestrians to keep the public safe during filming in downtown Chicago.

Responsibilities were designing and decorating a haunted house including 1950s set decoration. I also bought, organized, cleaned, and aged all the set decoration.

Office PA for the Production Office. Duties included running errands, keeping the office organized, paperwork, computer work, and odd jobs.

I was a Runner for the Events team for the NBA All Star Week. I helped in the week leading up to the All Star Weekend in the Events Office. I ran errands for the Events team. I helped keep the office organized and stocked with supplies.

Picking up and dropping off equipment rentals, shopping, prop and costume returns, errands, craft services, and assisting on set.

I drove the talent to and from set in a 12 passenger van. I helped the art department set up furniture for the shoot. I ran errands and did returns for the costume department. I also did odd jobs.

On-Set Dresser. Duties included acquiring and managing props and set decoration for a thirty-minute short film, resetting props between takes, decorating and tearing down numerous locations, set decor and prop continuity, and on-set design choices.

Costume Production Assistant. Duties included shopping, returns of costume pieces, driving, running errands, organizing and cleaning, and processing paperwork.

A series of short internal commercials produced by Woodward Originals for a Quicken Loans awards ceremony in Detroit, Michigan. I was recognized for my work ethic and extensive knowledge of costumes, props, and set design.

Art Director for the documentary feature film "The Magic History of Cinema," directed by Tom Garrett and Adam B. Sutton, and starring J.J. Abrams. It explores the relationship between magic and movie making. I was responsible for creating the sets and costumes for the interviews in the film.

Edited footage from a choreographed duet shot in a studio for the University of Michigan School of Dance. Used Final Cut Pro X.

Director, cinematographer, and editor of an experimental landscape study shot entirely inside a laundromat with an asynchronous ambient soundtrack. Worked with a Black Magic cinema camera and Final Cut Pro X.

Director, writer, production designer, cinematographer, and editor of an improvised "screendance" film about pushing the boundaries of comfort and safety. Used a Black Magic cinema camera and Final Cut Pro X.

Director, writer, cinematographer, editor, and actor in "Still," a slow motion, black and white experimental film depicting everyday human emotions in detail, forming a series of “emotional portraits.” Runner-Up “Best Experimental” award at the 2015 Lightworks Film Festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Official Selection at the Cinetopia Film Festival’s “Detroit Voices” program.

Director, writer, cinematographer, and editor of a 16mm experimental short film. It's a series of images from the interiors of various bathrooms juxtaposed with a soundtrack composed of city sounds and casual conversations.

Director, writer, cinematographer, and editor. Two short camera variations of the same dance choreography filmed inside a bell tower.

Director, writer, production designer, cinematographer, editor, and actor in a short film that uses four women and a bed to challenge the view of the female body as “sexual object.” Won the “Best Screendance” award at the 2015 Lightworks Film Festival. Official selection at the 2016 Ann Arbor Film Festival Student Showcase.

Director, writer, production designer, and editor of a short music video with an electronic soundtrack. A man learns how to give up questioning himself, just let loose, and dance. Selected and created for the M-agination Film Festival and premiered at the historic Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Second unit production design assistant and wardrobe assistant. My position included constructing a trendy nightclub set, and assisting with costumes. A feature film directed by Jimmie Gonzalez with executive producer John Acquaviva. A successful DJ learns of a secret society aimed at killing fellow celebrities.

Director, writer, production designer, cinematographer, and editor of a 16mm experimental short film connecting the movement of the human body with the flow of liquid.

My position included helping decorate sets to look like a Catholic school, and assisting in the costume department with school uniforms. Created for M-agination Films. A single camera sitcom pilot about twins Bella and Chris who get kicked out of public school for selling test scores and are shipped off to a Catholic boarding school, separated by genders, only to team up with another pair of students to pull off a heist of a new kind.

Director, writer, and editor. A short animation using Adobe After Effects to bring to life a book from the 1970s found in a thrift store. Runner-Up “Best Animation” award at the 2014 Lightworks Film Festival.

I was chosen out of hundreds of students to direct this film for the University of Michigan’s capstone film production class. I directed a cast and crew of over 30 people from all different disciplines to write, film, and edit a 30 minute short film within one school semester. This film premiered at the 2014 Traverse City Film Festival, founded by Michael Moore. Runner-Up “Best Drama” award at the 2014 Lightworks Film Festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Winner of the Alice Webber-Glover Scholarship Award for Film Production.

My position required decorating sets and purchasing costumes. Created as a doctoral thesis film for University of Michigan Professor Victor Fanucchi. A boy receives a gift from his grandfather that he will not truly appreciate until twenty years later at the grandfather’s funeral.

I worked to produce costumes from the 1990's as well as set decor for a nursing home. A washed up, former curling star must defeat the head jock of his father’s nursing home in a game of shuffleboard in order to gain his father’s respect.

Position included designing an entire wedding set, including the costumes, decorations, and prop food. Created for FourFour Pictures. A wedding rehearsal takes an awkward turn when groomsman Austin has to confront his two ex-best friends, who don’t know he’s mad at them, and in the process, drunkenly invites a man he just met to be his date to the wedding.

Director, writer, and sound recordist. One man will do whatever it takes to make it to the Traverse City Film Festival. Created for the 2014 Traverse City Film Festival Bumper Contest. Won “Honorable Mention” and screened before some of the films at the festival.

My position included coordinating crews and aiding in communication on set. In a not-too-distant-future when a system called IRIS monitors and manipulates the citizens of the world, an idyllic broadcast journalist must go off the grid and evade the all-seeing government to rescue her kidnapped brother and uncover the motives behind his disappearance.

Director, assistant writer, and production designer. “Best Drama” award at the 2013 Lightworks Film Festival. Winner of the Alice Webber-Glover Scholarship Award for Film Production. "Grasp" is the story of Lizzie, a pious high school girl looking to reconnect with her mother, but after Lizzie experiences a traumatic event, she is plagued by violent visions that threaten to destroy her perception of reality and her mother's safety.

I played the "New Girl" in this short film about a mailman who tries to use the post to win back his girlfriend. Created for M-agination Films.

Production assistant, wardrobe assistant, and extra. Created for award-winning Sundance director Sultan Sharrief. My position included helping with various production tasks on set, such as assistant camera work, running errands, assisting wardrobe, and working the clapperboard. Lucky, a free-spirited rugby player, refuses to alter his life after being diagnosed with a rare disease, but after meeting a young counselor who challenges his ways, Lucky gains new perspective on life and love.

Production designer, and assistant editor. Created for SnowDay Productions. My position included sourcing a variety of furniture and chairs, as well as creating certain chairs from scratch. I designed and purchased the costumes, and did hair and makeup. I also created and decorated the sets and props for the film. After a public meltdown, furniture scholar Zak Sparks winds up at Sunrise Meadows: an off-the-grid rehab facility for the famous.

Created for the University of Michigan’s capstone film production class. Premiered at the 2013 Traverse City Film Festival. My position included designing each room of a house to look like a high school party. This included costumes for the party members, specialized props such as fake alcohol, and extensive set decor. I also sourced hard-to-find items such as prop guns, ambulances, and cop cars. “Open House” is a murder mystery whodunit set in a dark world full of deceit, treachery, and danger: a high school party.

Director, writer, and editor. Created for a dramatic narrative film class at the University of Michigan. After an accident, a young girl learns that her body no longer responds to a government-distributed drug aimed at reducing emotions and she begins to “feel” again.

I was the camera operator for this short film created for a dramatic narrative film class at the University of Michigan. After a car crash caused him to lose his hearing and took the life of his wife, Renee, Jude has shut himself in his apartment, but with the help of his wife’s ghost he begins to readjust to his new life and steps outdoors again.

I played “Annabelle” in this short film about a nervous, introverted college student who takes his date to a night at the theater. While there, he experiences a projection of his missed opportunities. Created for M-agination Films.

I was an extra in the film.

I played “Rachel” in this short film about a senior in college who goes to extremes when she finds out she’s been waitlisted for a class she needs to graduate. Created for M-agination Films.

I played the “Librarian” in this short love story between a robot and a dinosaur. Created for M-agination Films.

Gaffer, and camera operator for this short 16mm film about a man tuning his guitar. Created for a film class at the University of Michigan.