Rick Carter
Rick Carter (born 1950, Los Angeles, California) is an American production designer and art director. He is known for his work in the film "Forrest Gump", which earned him an Oscar nomination, as well as numerous nominations of other awards for his work on "Amistad" and "A.I. Artificial Intelligence". Notable films include "", "Jurassic Park", "Avatar", and "Back to the Future Part II" and "Part III". Other films include "Cast Away", "War of the Worlds", "What Lies Beneath." Many of the films that he has worked on are directed by Steven Spielberg or Robert Zemeckis. For his part in  the Art Direction of "Avatar", he was awarded the Academy Award for Best Production Design alongside Robert Stromberg and Kim Sinclair. In 2013, Carter won his second Academy Award, for production design on Steven Spielberg's biopic, "Lincoln". Early life and education. Carter's father was publicist, and later, motion picture producer, Dick Carter. His mother, Ruth, was a one-time Life magazine staffer, and later Realtor in Southern California. Carter's student days at UCSC were spent painting. Participating in a film panel at 2011's "Bridging the Gap" Arts Division event, the former Art major joined then Arts  Dean David Yager in revisiting his alma mater and reliving the unique experience of his UCSC days. Career. Beginnings. A conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, he dropped out of the University of California at Berkeley and eventually entered the art department for the first time as an assistant on Hal Ashby’s "Bound for Glory" (1976) followed by James Bridges’ "The China Syndrome" (1979). Film His first credit as art director was with Ashby again on "Second-Hand Hearts" (1981), but art-directing "The Goonies" in 1985 was a pivotal job for the designer, as it led to another  key meeting for Carter: with that film's writer and producer Steven Spielberg. The two hit it off and began a close working relationship that endures to the present day.