British costume designer Jill Taylor chats today with Richard and together they explore Jill’s well-established and respected career designing many illustrious film and tv productions.
After graduating from Northumbria University with a degree in fashion design, Jill decided to refocus on costume design when an opportunity arose for her to relocate to London and join the pool of assistant designers within the highly respected and busy BBC costume department.
It is well known that during the 1980’s and 90’s the working environment at the BBC (costume department) was considered the ultimate place to learn, gain experience and hone your craft. During her time there, Jill went on to become a designer working on a number of the BBC’s Screen One and Screen Two prestigious series of one-off films, including Antonia Bird’s Priest.
During this period of intense productivity, Jill forged great, life – long associations with an amazing variety of co-designers, producers, directors and performers; enabling her, at the right point, to seamlessly transition into the freelance sector. She went on to design three films for Woody Allen, Matchpoint, Scoop and Cassandra’s Dream. Her work on The Life and Death of Peter Sellers and My Week with Marilyn was acknowledged with multiple award recognitions from BAFTA, The Emmy’s and the US Costume Design Guild. Further credits include Johnny English, The Full Monty and Sliding Doors.
When it comes to Jill deciding if a project is right for her, she explains that there are two prime considerations; the script and the director. With those factors in place, the process of creating the costume narrative and her subsequent journey will fall into place resulting in many months of enjoyable and intense application and focus.
Introduction by Jeremy Angel Richard Green Jonathan Lipman