Cathy T. Marshall, SDSA (Set Decorators Society of America) East Coast VP, has honed her skills as a set decorator over several, multi-faceted years. Her most recent credits include decorating the 2020 Amazon Series Hunters, starring Al Pacino. Other projects include the Spike Lee-directed BlacKkKlansman, starring John David Washington and Adam Driver, which was nominated for 6 Oscars and won one for Spike Lee. Also working with Spike Lee, she decorated the revival of his classic movie She’s Gotta Have It as a series for Netflix. Cathy decorated the Sundance-nominated film Puzzle, and two seasons of the Amazon favorite Mozart in The Jungle, which garnered two Golden Globes and an Emmy nomination for Production Design.
Some other decorating film credits include the Millennium Pictures blockbuster feature Olympus Has Fallen, starring Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, and Angela Bassett, Gun Hill, directed by Reggie Blythewood, and Gimme Shelter with Brendan Frazier, James Earl Jones, and Vanessa Hudgens. Notable TV shows include: The Family for ABC (decorator), The Americans for Fox/FX (assistant decorator), Person of Interest for CBS (assistant decorator), and The Normal Heart for HBO (assistant decorator), which was directed by Ryan Murphy and written by Larry Kramer. The Normal Heart won both Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe awards.
With a BFA in Photography and Video from the High Museum of Atlanta’s College of Art, Cathy started her career in TV commercial production in NYC. She produced over 500 commercials including work for AT&T, American Express, IBM, Bank of America, among others, and art directed/designed spots for Lenscrafters, AIG, Zurich Financial, United Healthcare, Scientific American, and Cuisinart, ultimately becoming co-owner of the respected production company Manhattan FilmWorks with director/husband, Peter Marshall.
Her experience as a commercial producer, and love of design has made Cathy a formidable combination of both worlds. She says, “My favorite part of this business is visualizing the script and creating the worlds that the characters inhabit. I want the objects I choose for the characters to speak to the audience in the same way they speak to me when I find them. The show Hunters provides far-reaching social awareness of the atrocities of the Holocaust which should never be forgotten. The movie BlacKkKlansman was a totally immersive experience drawing from life growing up in the South, and addressing the cultural significance of these volatile and pivotal times…something of which I am very proud.”
Get to know Cathy Marshall and her experience working on Hunters in our interview with her below.