WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., January 18, 2024 — West Liberty University will host Production Designer Molly Hughes on campus today, January 18, at 6 p.m. for a presentation in Kelly Theater. The event is open and free to the public.
Hughes, a Glen Dale, West Virginia native, has worked as the production designer for directors like Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard and has worked on the sets of all of the “Harry Potter” films, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” “The One and Only Ivan,” and “The Fault in Our Stars.”
She is back in her home state to be a part of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra’s Harry Potter concert this Saturday, January 20 at the Capitol Theater in Wheeling.
Hughes will present her design work from films she has worked on in addition to discussing her journey transitioning from theater into the film industry.
“I am excited for Molly to share her experiences with us on campus because of how many disciplines being a production designer crosses. From literature to theater to illustration and film. These are all areas that are explored in the College of Liberal and Creative Arts,” said Brian Fencl, the Interim Department Chair of Media and Visual Arts and Professor of Art at WLU. “I am grateful to the Wheeling Symphony for making this opportunity possible. We are lucky to have them in the community.”
Hughes is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Art Directors Guild, and British Film Designers Guild. She has also taught film design at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia and guest-lectured at Ohio University and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Within her work, she concentrates on narrowing the gender gap in the field of Production Design for feature films.
Most recently, she collaborated with David Yates to design his Netflix film “Pain Hustlers” which was released in October 2023.
For more information on the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra’s concert, please visit wheelingsymphony.com/events/harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone-in-concert.
West Liberty University is West Virginia’s oldest public university and offers more than 70 undergraduate majors and 12 graduate programs, both online and on campus. For more information, please visit westliberty.edu