Also see: IMDB
Download Set Decorator Resume here: portia-iversen-set-decorator
Background:
I came to Hollywood in the early 1980s after graduating from the University of Illinois in Fine and Applied Arts, having studied filmmaking and hoping to find work in the “movies” – unsure of what that even meant. I soon found myself, along with my recently graduated friends, riding the giant wave of the independent film movement and readily finding work in the art department, on films, television series, music videos and commercials. Some of my first jobs included working in the art department on the movies ‘Valley Girls’, To Live and Die in LA’ and ‘Invaders From Mars’.
I quickly worked my way up to set decorator, joined the union and continued to work steadily, decorating television series and pilots including ‘The Tracey Ullman Show’, ‘Murphy Brown’ and ‘Carole and Company’ (Carole Burnett). As a set decorator I also worked on mini-series, commercials as well as music videos for Michael Jackson, Madonna, Billy Idol and others.
I became inspired to write for television while working on the ‘Tracey Ullman Show’, for which I won an Emmy Award for Set Decorating. Eventually I became a TV writer, working first on ‘Baby Talk’ and then on ‘Blossom’.
AWARDS
Emmy Award
Set Decoration, Tracy Ullman Show
1989
Emmy Nomination
Art Direction, Carol and Company
1990
WRITER
Blossom -TV Series (story editor) (1991-1992)
Two episodes, 1991-1992:
– Wake Up Little Suzy (1992) TV Episode (written by)
– You Can’t Go Home (1991) TV Episode (written by)
PRODUCER
Baby Talk (1991) TV Series (co-producer)
Amos ‘n’ Andy:
Anatomy of a Controversy (1986) (TV) (associate producer)
ART DIRECTOR
Carol & Company (1990) TV Series
The Tracey Ullman Show (1987) TV Series
SET DECORATOR
Murphy Brown (1988) TV series
– Respect (1988) Pilot Episode
Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1987) Motion picture
Downtown (1986) TV series
Tales From the Hollywood Hills (1988) Mini-series
ART DEPARTMENT
Invaders from Mars (1986) Motion picture (set dresser)
To Live and Die in LA (1885) Motion picture (set dresser)
PORTIA IVERSEN 