Lauren Abiouness never imagined a nannying job would change the course of her life.
Fresh out of the University of Notre Dame, in Indiana, with a degree in design and photography, she found herself caring for three young girls, moving into their home, travelling with the family, and flying out to Los Angeles.
The girls’ father worked in film, and before long, Abiouness was spending her afternoons helping with homework and her evenings wandering studio lots, watching entire worlds come to life from the ground up.
“I didn’t know much about construction or architecture back then,” she said. “But I loved watching people build something that only existed on paper the day before.”
Curiosity led her deeper into the craft. Between school pickups and routines, she interned at a design magazine and with Los Angeles interior designer Peter Dunham, learning about textiles, colour theory and visual balance.
“I was taking hand-drafting classes at night,” Abiouness said. “I didn’t know it then, but I was preparing for a completely different career.”
That shift came when production designer J. Michael Riva, the father of one of the children she babysat, invited her to dinner and offered her a position as his assistant.
“I apprenticed under him, sat in on director meetings, took notes, and relayed information to the art department. It was my crash course in film.”
Building worlds, one set at a time
Her first major project, Iron Man 2, became the start of a career that’s now spanned more than 15 years. Since then, she’s helped design some of Hollywood’s biggest franchises: Avengers: Infinity War, The Suicide Squad, Loki and Jurassic World amongst others.
On Infinity War and Endgame, Abiouness and her team spent 18 months transforming blank studio walls into entire universes.
“We started with empty studios – just concrete floors and walls,” she said. “We brought in everything from construction equipment to computers and furniture until it felt like a living city.”
Her work blends precision with imagination. “Our job is to serve the story,” she said. “Sometimes the director doesn’t know exactly what they want, and that’s when we get creative.”
On Loki, for instance, the director wanted alien plants but didn’t know what they should look like.
“We went to a craft store, bought fake plants, spray-painted them, and glued together strange shapes until we found something that worked,” she said. “Those little experiments are what make filmmaking exciting.”
Inspiring the next generation
When she visited Durham College (DC) this fall to speak with Animation and Game Art students, Abiouness walked them through the process behind one of her largest builds: The Suicide Squad’s Jotunheim fortress.
Spanning 80,000 square feet, the set included five major changeovers and over 50 construction drawings.
“James Gunn wanted everything practical,” she said. “We even did sun and tree studies to see how natural light would hit the set.”
But it wasn’t just the scale of that work that impressed students. It was her honesty about the realities behind it.
“I don’t have much of a personal life when we’re filming,” she admitted. “It’s 12 to 14-hour days, six or seven days a week. But I love the team dinners, the laughter, signing the studio walls after a project wraps — those are the moments that make it all worth it.”
Abiouness credits her family for shaping that mindset.
“My dad travelled a lot for work and encouraged adventure, while my mom was creative and artistic,” she said. “She never thought pursuing art was strange — she just said, ‘Go make art.’ I know not everyone has that kind of support, so I’m very grateful.”
Jeremiah Seiden, an illustration professor in the Faculty of Media, Art and Design (MAD), said her visit left a lasting impression.
“Her work touches on everything we teach here: storyboarding, 3D modelling, visual effects,” Seiden said. “You could see the excitement in the room. She showed students how the skills they’re learning can lead to real-world careers.”
Despite her success, she remains grounded by curiosity and gratitude.
“I thought I’d be a graphic designer laying out medical textbooks,” Abiouness said with a laugh. “I’d tell my younger self to say yes to the crazy opportunities. They’re the ones that change everything.”