Charles William Breen

After studying architecture at Cranbrook the world-renowned art and design school in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Charles moved to California to pursue his career. Once in Los Angeles, he quickly gravitated to the film industry and began working at Universal Studios as a set designer and assistant art director. His credits include working with Ridley Scott on Blade Runner (1982), Mike Nichols on Postcards from the Edge (1990), Richard Attenborough on Chaplin (1992) and James Cameron on Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). As an art director he worked with Barry Levinson on Disclosure (1994), Clint Eastwood on The Bridges of Madison County (1995) and William Friedkin on Jade (1995). As a production designer, he designed the controversial, yet critically acclaimed films, Your Friends and Neighbors (1998) and Nurse Betty (2000), directed by Neil LaBute. He has designed a number of feature films, including the comedy, Boat Trip (2002) and the effects driven thriller, Eight Legged Freaks (2002), produced by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. In addition, he designed the commercially successful comedies, She's All That (1999), Dude, Where's My Car? (2000) and A Cinderella Story (2004). He collaborated with director Bryan Barber on Idlewild (2006), a 1930's musical set in the Prohibition South which stars popular recording artists, Outkast. He also worked with Barber on several music videos including "Ain't No Other Man" by Christina Aguilera and "Mesmerized" by Faith Evans. Recently, he worked with director Dan Pritzker on Bolden (2019) and Louis (2010), companion period films set in turn-of-the-century New Orleans about legendary jazz musicians, Buddy Bolden and Louis Armstrong. He also worked with director Fred Durst on The Longshots (2008). Nominated for an Emmy for Best Art Direction for HBO's Weapons of Mass Distraction (1997), Charles is also a member of the Art Directors Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and sits on its Executive Committee.