What connects the immersive worlds of cinema with the experiential spaces of museums? This panel examines how production design strategies can be adapted for museums to shape immersive audience experiences. Using the Academy Museum of Motion Picture’s exhibition Barbie to Anna Karenina: The Cinematic Worlds of Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer as a case study, the conversation will highlight the creative strategies that shape both film sets and gallery environments. Academy Award–nominated production designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer will discuss how they collaborated with curator Michelle Puetz and exhibition designer Laura Belevica to translate their work into immersive museum experiences. Together, the speakers will reflect on the shared principles of production and exhibition design and the ways visual storytelling can transport audiences beyond the cinema and into the gallery.
Sarah Greenwood is an Academy Award-nominated Production Designer. Born in the UK, she studied Theatre Design and worked in theater before moving to television at the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) in the mid-1980s. Katie Spencer is an Academy Award-nominated Set Decorator. Born in the UK, she studied Stage Management and worked in theater for several years before joining the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) and re-training as a production buyer and then set decorator.
The duo met while working at the BBC, and they have consistently worked together since then. The pair is known for their long-standing collaboration with director Joe Wright. Together, the trio has worked on Pride and Prejudice (2005), Atonement (2007), Anna Karenina (2012), Darkest Hour (2017)–all of which received Academy Award nominations for Production Design for Greenwood and Spencer– as well as Hanna (2011) and Cyrano (2021). Other notable projects include director Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes (2009) (for which they received another Oscar nomination) and its sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011). Beauty and the Beast (2017), directed by Bill Condon, gave them the opportunity to create not only fantastical fairytale locations, but also living characters in the form of the enchanted household objects who inhabit the Beast’s castle. The film brought them another Oscar nomination. Greenwood and Spencer received their eighth Academy Award nomination for their creation of the pink-hued universe of writer-director Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (2023).
Laura Belevica is Director, Exhibition Design at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, where she lead the design of various exhibitions such as John Waters: Pope of Trash (2023-24), Cyberpunk: Envisioning Possible Futures (2024-25), Color in Motion: Chromatic Explorations of Cinema (2024-25) and Barbie to Anna Karenina: The Cinematic Worlds of Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer (2025-26). She is also an architect, multi-media artist, children’s book illustrator, and the founder of CONNECTEDkind. Previously she has focused on storytelling, design, and creative direction – ranging from print, animation, and film to art installations, buildings, and large-scale urban environments. Her artwork and building designs have been exhibited, published, and awarded in the US, UK, China and Japan. She has a MSc. in Architecture from the Washington University in St. Louis.
Michelle Puetz is exhibitions curator at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, where she curated Director’s Inspiration: Bong Joon Ho (2025-27) and Barbie to Anna Karenina: The Cinematic Worlds of Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer (2025-26). Previously, as the Pick-Laudati Curator of Media Arts at the Block Museum of Art, she co-curated A Feast of Astonishments: Charlotte Moorman and the Avant-Garde, 1960s-1980s and Salaam Cinema! 50 Years of Iranian Movie Posters. She curated Body Doubles and solo exhibitions with the artists Lilli Carré and Phil Collins at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. She has a PhD in cinema and media studies from the University of Chicago.
Presented by Rosco Labs.
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About the Organizer:
Founded in 1910, Rosco is a trusted name in the film and entertainment industry, known for its color filters, gobos, scenic paints, and atmospheric effects that have shaped cinematic storytelling for over a century. Today, Rosco continues to innovate with LED lighting, backdrops, image projection, and studio flooring solutions used by production designers and scenic artists worldwide. With four Academy Awards recognizing its technical achievements, Rosco remains a creative partner to the production design community—helping bring directors’ and designers’ visions to life on screen.
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is the largest museum in the world devoted to the arts, sciences, and artists of moviemaking. Global in outlook and grounded in the unparalleled collections and expertise of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy Museum offers exceptional exhibitions and programs that illuminate the world of cinema. They are immersive and dynamic and tell the many stories of the movies—their art, technology, artists, history, and social impact—through a variety of diverse and engaging voices. The Academy Museum tells complete stories of moviemaking—celebratory, educational, and sometimes critical or uncomfortable.
The event is organized by Rosco Labs and Rosco Digital Imaging.
