Lawrence Paull, the production designer for Blade Runner and Back to the Future, has died. He was 81. Paull was nominated for an Academy Award in art direction with David L. Snyder for Blade Runner, based on a novel by Philip K. Dick. In a statement, Ridley Scott told Variety, “I was always struck by his staunch and faithful support of the strange plan for the unique world of Blade Runner.†Paull won a BAFTA for Blade Runner and was nominated again for Back to the Future. After retiring from production design, he helped establish MFA curriculums in production design at Chapman University and the AFI Conservatory.
Paull lived to see the month in which his most lauded work is set. Blade Runner takes place in November 2019 Los Angeles, which Paull imagined as rain-soaked and glowing with neon. Paull collaborated with Scott, Snyder, and futurist Syd Mead to build the world of Blade Runner. Other films on which he served as production designer include Escape from L.A., City Slickers, Predator 2, and Romancing the Stone.