From Bathtub Auditions To Ebay Treasures, How Set Decorator Anna Pinnock Transformed The Phoenician Scheme Into A Wes Anderson Wonderland

From the moment a Wes Anderson film starts, you know exactly what you’re in for – quirky characters, sharp dialogue and a visual world brimming with pastels, symmetry and retro flair. His unmistakable aesthetic is more than a style – it’s a signature. 

Bringing this vision to life is a talented team of set designers, notably Oscar-Winning set decorator Anna Pinnock, who’s worked on iconic films like The Grand Budapest Hotel. Now, she’s back for The Phoenician Scheme, set to be released this month and already being hailed as “Wes Anderson’s most Andersonian film” to date.

Without giving too much away, this dark comedy follows a tale of espionage, and a strained father-daughter relationship entangled in family business. It also pushes the boundaries of what we’ve come to expect – and love – from the American auteur. One of its standout features? The sheer scale and ingenuity of its sets. There’s a veritable carousel of them: from Anderson’s signature modes of transport (boats, planes, trains) to subterranean tunnels and opulent nightclubs.

To get a glimpse into what it’s like to build these intricate worlds, we spoke with Anna who shares how she collaborates with Wes to bring his vision to life, why old-school research still reigns supreme – and what she would be doing if she weren’t crafting movie magic...

WHEN CONCEPTING A SET, YOU ALWAYS BEGIN WITH... A read of the script and make your notes. Very often, at least a portion of the film – or the initial sequences – will be done as a kind of cartoon storyboard, which is a tool Wes uses. That’s enormously helpful. You can see how the film’s going to be shot and what the key elements are in each frame. It really helps focus our attention.

Then comes the mountain of research. For The Phonecian Scheme, we had researcher Emily Luin, uncovering everything from historical references to visual inspiration whether for me or production designer? Adam Stockhausen (a longtime Wes collaborator and Oscar winner for The Grand Budapest Hotel). From there, we shape the world through character discussions, while Adam develops the set design and I focus on the decoration – the collaboration between set decoration and production design is essential.

I GOT MY ‘START’ IN THE INDUSTRY... Years ago as a runner on The Bostonians. I was washing costumes at night! But I spent time with the drapes department and the set decorator and just found myself drawn to the visual storytelling of set decoration. My degree was actually in English and Drama, not theatre design or anything like that. I actually lived around the corner from Stephanie McMillan, she was the set decorator for all the Harry Potter films. She’s sadly no longer with us, but she helped me hugely in the beginning – I owe a lot to her.

I’VE WORKED WITH ALL KINDS OF DIRECTORS... Some are very hands-on, others less so. I recently worked on set with Alejandro Iñárritu and he was right there in the trenches, incredibly detailed – which I love. Wes often comes in with something already crystal clear in his head. Not always, but often. And more often than not, that initial vision sticks!

WORKING WITH WES IS... Collaborative, in the best way. There’s a constant back-and-forth: sharing images, ideas, references. Sometimes Wes or Adam would come to me with a very specific idea, like a colour palette or a key object, which is brilliant, because then I can anchor everything else around that. And I always build mood boards – that way, I know what to look for, what to offer up and how to build the world.

WES ALWAYS DRAWS FROM A HANDFUL OF CINEMATIC INSPIRATIONS... For some reason, The Red Shoes I can’t quite remember why – felt quite significant stylistic for The Phoenician Scheme. There was also this very obscure John Wayne film I watched that was oddly useful. It dealt with excavation works, which mirrored the tunnel scenes we were working on. We also looked at a lot of old photos and postcards – one of our biggest resources was the Library of Congress, which has a fantastic visual archive. We explored industrialists and collectors, as we wanted one character to feel distinctly European, and we loosely referenced Calouste Gulbenkian, who was a fascinating figure. He was, I think, in oil and a very big collector.

WE ALWAYS DRESS THE SET... The day before filming. Wes might have seen photos, but often the day before filming is the first time he sees it in real life. Once he’s happy, I don’t usually stay – I’m off to the next one. We had so many sets on this film, it was non-stop.

WE WORKED ACROSS SEVERAL ‘REAL’ LOCATIONS... As well as working at Studio Babelsberg, which is just outside Berlin in Germany. The scenes in the corn field for The Phoenician Scheme were shot in a village near Berlin. The hotel was shot in an old municipal building in Potsdam. The attic playroom and hovel were in another reclaimed building nearby. The restaurant and kitchen were actually the disused washrooms of the old plaster department in Babelsberg, which was great fun to bring back to life! The greenhouse was in a part of the studio called the Schlepdeck, which is basically a lean-to storage area. Wes loves using ‘found’ spaces, it adds such authenticity.

ONE SET IN THE PHONECIAN SCHEME I REALLY LOVED IS... The hovel where Liesl (played by Mia Threapleton) ends up with her brothers. Dressing that was like painting a picture. It started as a massive pile of junk that we sourced and assembled, but piece-by-piece it turned into this textured tableau. It was like composing a jigsaw puzzle with a paintbrush. Some pieces came from salvage yards in Germany, some from hire companies in London, others from eBay – it was a real mix. None of it looked like much on its own, and at first we were like, “What are we going to do with this?” But slowly, it took shape – and it was so satisfying.

A FILMING MOMENT THAT STILL MAKES ME LAUGH... Is when we had to source the stone bath for the bathroom scene at the start of The Phoenician Scheme. Because Benicia del Toro, who plays the lead role, Korda, is very tall, it needed to be a large bath. To make sure it was suitable, in terms of length, we ended up contacting bath companies all over Europe and asking their staff to lie in the tubs and report back. We had these hilarious photos pinned up in the office, staff from French salvage yards lying in baths, helping us test them. Eventually, we found one from a guy in a place called Lapa in Yorkshire in the UK. When I asked if they could test it by having someone sit in the bath, they were totally unfazed and just said, “Oh yes, we’ve got people in all shapes and sizes, not a problem at all.”

ONE KEY LESSON I’VE LEARNT IN THIS BUSINESS IS... to never over-prop. I learnt that from Stephanie. She believed in putting only what was necessary, choosing a few perfect things rather than overwhelming the space with too many options so that’s stayed with me. I’ve also come to realise that I like to be challenged. If the film sounds interesting, I’m in. You still have to be invited to work on these projects, of course!

I NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE VALUE OF... Research. I used to immerse myself in reference books – art, architecture, furniture history and I love the London Library. These days everything’s online, and while that has its place, I still believe in the value of deep, physical research. I now carry these inspirations around in my head. I might go to a museum or bookshop, but often it’s just thinking about the set I am building – constantly. It becomes a puzzle you’re trying to unlock. The answer usually comes from something I’ve seen or experienced and it will suddenly click.

IN ANOTHER LIFE, I’D WORK IN... Museum curation, but the pace is so different. In film, we work fast. Decisions are instant. In museums, everything is slow and bureaucratic. I’m not sure I could adjust, actually... but maybe one day.