David L. Snyder
- Production Designer
- Art Department
- Art Director
David L. Snyder became obsessed with show business at an early age in his hometown of Buffalo, New York.
After stumbling through life as a rock 'n' roll drummer, architectural designer, graphic designer, and theatrical stage designer, he began his Hollywood career as the assistant art director at the 50th Annual Academy Awards©. Following a year in 'live' television, David was soon recruited by MCA Universal Studios and spent a year and a half art directing science fiction television series such as "Galactica 1980", "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century", "The Incredible Hulk" and "Captain America".
David went on to design Taylor Hackford's feature directorial debut, "The Idolmaker" and soon returned to science fiction as the art director of Ridley Scott's 1982 future-noir classic "Blade Runner". David received an Academy Award© nomination for Best Art Direction he shared with Lawrence G. Paull, the film's production designer. The film was also awarded the British Academy Award (BAFTA©) for Best Production Design/Art Direction.
Since that time he has designed nearly fifty feature films including Netflix® "The Most Hated Woman in America", "Crave", "The One", "Soldier", "Demolition Man", "Super Mario Bros.", "The Whole Nine Yards", "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" and Tim Burton's cult classic feature film directorial debut, "Pee-wee's Big Adventure". In 1994 he designed "Rainbow", the motion picture Industry's first live-action, digital to 35mm theatrical feature film starring & directed by Bob Hoskins.1n 2022 he appeared as himself in the documentaries "In Theaters Only" and "1982: Greatest Geek Year Ever!"
Snyder has appeared as a guest speaker on the subject 'the art of motion picture design' at The 1st Annual Tokyo International Film Festival; The American Film Institute; The University of California at Los Angeles and the 45th Annual New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center. There, an academic panel discussion was followed by the U.S. premiere of "Blade Runner-The Final Cut", celebrating the film's 25th Anniversary. David was invited by New York's Museum of Modern Art to introduce "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" at the 2009-10 Tim Burton Retrospective; he was a member of the "Blade Runner @ 30" panel at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con and a MAGI(TM) 3D seminar with "Blade Runner" and "Brainstorm" colleague Douglas Trumbull held at the China Central Television / CCTV headquarters in Beijing, China in January 2015. David appeared at the 2017 SCAD Savannah Film Festival production design panel to speak on the subject of the art direction of "Blade Runner"; was invited by the Academy Museum® along with colleagues Linda DeScenna and Mark Stetson to screen the film and soon returned to SCAD in 2022 along with Joanna Cassidy, costume designer Michael Kaplan, and "Final Cut" producer Charles de Lauzirika to celebrate the films 40th Anniversary screening and panel discussion.
Industry memberships include The Directors Guild of America®; The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® where he served on the Art Directors Branch Executive Committee for 4 years; The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences® and The Art Directors Guild, IATSE®
After stumbling through life as a rock 'n' roll drummer, architectural designer, graphic designer, and theatrical stage designer, he began his Hollywood career as the assistant art director at the 50th Annual Academy Awards©. Following a year in 'live' television, David was soon recruited by MCA Universal Studios and spent a year and a half art directing science fiction television series such as "Galactica 1980", "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century", "The Incredible Hulk" and "Captain America".
David went on to design Taylor Hackford's feature directorial debut, "The Idolmaker" and soon returned to science fiction as the art director of Ridley Scott's 1982 future-noir classic "Blade Runner". David received an Academy Award© nomination for Best Art Direction he shared with Lawrence G. Paull, the film's production designer. The film was also awarded the British Academy Award (BAFTA©) for Best Production Design/Art Direction.
Since that time he has designed nearly fifty feature films including Netflix® "The Most Hated Woman in America", "Crave", "The One", "Soldier", "Demolition Man", "Super Mario Bros.", "The Whole Nine Yards", "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" and Tim Burton's cult classic feature film directorial debut, "Pee-wee's Big Adventure". In 1994 he designed "Rainbow", the motion picture Industry's first live-action, digital to 35mm theatrical feature film starring & directed by Bob Hoskins.1n 2022 he appeared as himself in the documentaries "In Theaters Only" and "1982: Greatest Geek Year Ever!"
Snyder has appeared as a guest speaker on the subject 'the art of motion picture design' at The 1st Annual Tokyo International Film Festival; The American Film Institute; The University of California at Los Angeles and the 45th Annual New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center. There, an academic panel discussion was followed by the U.S. premiere of "Blade Runner-The Final Cut", celebrating the film's 25th Anniversary. David was invited by New York's Museum of Modern Art to introduce "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" at the 2009-10 Tim Burton Retrospective; he was a member of the "Blade Runner @ 30" panel at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con and a MAGI(TM) 3D seminar with "Blade Runner" and "Brainstorm" colleague Douglas Trumbull held at the China Central Television / CCTV headquarters in Beijing, China in January 2015. David appeared at the 2017 SCAD Savannah Film Festival production design panel to speak on the subject of the art direction of "Blade Runner"; was invited by the Academy Museum® along with colleagues Linda DeScenna and Mark Stetson to screen the film and soon returned to SCAD in 2022 along with Joanna Cassidy, costume designer Michael Kaplan, and "Final Cut" producer Charles de Lauzirika to celebrate the films 40th Anniversary screening and panel discussion.
Industry memberships include The Directors Guild of America®; The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® where he served on the Art Directors Branch Executive Committee for 4 years; The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences® and The Art Directors Guild, IATSE®
