John Silvestro

Production Designer

Crafting beautiful experiences for film and television since 1996

A seasoned Australian production designer whose work has won numerous accolades for Best Production Design, John’s work is defined by a deep respect for story, space, and the emotional language of the visual world. With a background spanning four decades across independent film, television, and music videos, he brings a collaborative spirit and a hands-on design sensibility to every set he creates.

John has experience with designing & building practical sets, including CAD (Rhino) and CAM (3D printing, laser cutting), the incorporation of virtual production volumes, as well as all aspects of art department roles including swing gangs, set dec, graphic design, buying and dressing.

Whether building evocative spaces from scratch or transforming real-world locations into cinematic worlds, John’s strength lies in his ability to balance creative ambition with practical production needs.

Check out the gallery

Check out past projects

Design Process

Production design is the art of turning words on a page into worlds an audience can step into. Long before the cameras roll, the process begins by pulling apart the script — discovering the mood, the themes, the hidden details, and the emotional heartbeat of the story. From there, ideas evolve through research, sketches, textures, colour palettes, references, and endless collaboration with directors, cinematographers, and craftspeople.

JB on set

Every set, location, prop, and visual detail is designed with intention. A room can reveal character. A colour can shift emotion. A space can make a scene feel intimate, unsettling, nostalgic, or epic without a single line of dialogue being spoken. Whether building entire environments from scratch or transforming real locations, production design is about creating worlds that feel believable, cinematic, and alive — worlds that quietly shape the way audiences experience a story.

About

Passionate about visual storytelling and the collaborative nature of filmmaking, John brings depth, texture, and intention to every frame.

John’s love of cinema began in 1980 when he saw The Empire Strikes Back on the big screen. From that moment, film became an obsession. As a teenager, he built a personal collection of more than ten thousand films, rewatching them constantly to study how they were constructed, why certain stories resonated, and how visual language could shape emotion and atmosphere. Among the films that have had the greatest influence on him are North By Northwest, The Poseidon Adventure, Underground, and The Life Of Chuck.

While studying at univeristy, his first professional role in the industry came in 1996 as a camera operator on a music video. Since then, John has worked across a wide range of film and television productions where he developed a broad technical and creative understanding of production from the ground up, including filming live sporting events, directing live-to-air broadcasts, and worked on creating over 2000 TV commercials.

John’s passion for production design was sparked by the visionary work of Ken Adam, particularly his iconic designs for the James Bond films and especially Moonraker. The bold scale, atmosphere, and architectural imagination of those worlds inspired a lifelong fascination with how environments can shape story, character, and emotion on screen. Today, that influence continues to inform his approach to design — creating spaces that feel cinematic, immersive, and emotionally grounded.

When he’s not designing sets or working on set, John can usually be found reading, sketching, or searching for the next great film to add to the watchlist.