For our Alumni Q&A series, we caught up with Victoria Tam BFA ’13, about working on the Emmy-winning comedy Hacks, missing her college cohort and her best advice to current students of Theatrical Design.

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Tell us a little bit about your professional background.

Following graduation, most of my professional work has been freelance.  I began by assisting on theatre productions and working as an art PA for television. Along the way, I started collaborating with colleagues and artists, designing for theatre, commercials, editorials and music videos. I’ve taken a step aside to focus on working in film and television and joined the Art Directors Guild in 2019. I’ve been working consistently as an assistant art director/art director and came up through commercials and reality challenge competition television. I ultimately found my footing in scripted television and features and am now working towards a career in production design. 

What are you currently working on professionally?

I recently finished loading in the permanent sets for the first six episodes of Doctor Odyssey (ABC), a new medical procedural set on a cruise ship, working with production designer Jamie Walker McCall and the art department. I’m now preparing to return to Season 4 of Hacks (HBO), where I’ll be working under production designer Rob Tokarz and alongside fellow SDA alum Selby Souza (BFA ’14).

What do you miss about college, SDA specifically?

I miss our BFA cohort, which extended beyond my graduating class. It was a network of support and camaraderie. I miss the late nights in the design lab above the Bing Theatre, where we’d go to work on build drawings, lighting plots or finish a model before a deadline. It’s a bit of a quirky space – you can gain access to the perms and watch a performance from there, and there aren’t any windows, so you lose track of time, but it’s always a fun surprise when people shuffle through at different hours of the night. Before you know it, you’re surrounded in a room with your friends working on shows together, cracking jokes at each other (sometimes crying, too), taking breaks to grab coffee/milkshakes or even asking/giving advice on design choices at 2 a.m. You just can’t get that anymore.

Was there a class or professor that was particularly meaningful or influential during your time at the School? Why?

I had a handful of great professors that have contributed to my education and career, but I had been deeply impacted by my design-specific professors. 

Sibyl Wickersheimer expanded my worldview in theatre design and introduced me to immersive and site specific theatre, and even brought me on to projects that have explored spaces inside and out of a traditional theatre space. She introduced me to the Prague Quadrennial, too, which changed my entire perspective on design.

Takeshi Kata taught me the importance of designing with the intention of supporting the narrative rather than designing for aesthetics and encouraged students to discover their own process of formulating design ideas. He would always ask the difficult questions and his “-isms” still resonate with me. He also brought me onto a myriad of theatre productions where I was able to assist him and fine tune skills. His mentorship kickstarted my career in design and also became the gateway info film and tv by introducing me to designers in the field.

I also credit a lot of my practical learning experience to THTR 397/497. As undergraduates, it was extremely valuable to be able to walk through the different stages of a production – meeting with the director, designing and drafting, production meetings, monitoring set progress through shop visits, scenery load in, tech rehearsals. For that, I am very grateful for Duncan Mahoney and Els Collins, who put a lot of energy and resources into making that happen. 

What (if any) productions did you work on?

When I entered SDA, I immediately wanted to get my hands dirty and involved myself in a myriad of independent student productions. The first that comes to memory were Fool for Love, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Little Shop of Horrors and Peter Pan, Or the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up. I also had the opportunity to design a number of productions through SDA including 12 Ophelias, Midsummer Saturday Night Fever Dream and Taming of the Shrew, to name a few.

What are some of the skills or experiences you learned in the BFA program that have translated to your career?

It’s surprising (though perhaps not!) how the theatre processes we learned in the program closely mirror those used in film and television. I mentioned briefly how designing for SDA productions as an undergraduate provided a lot of practical experience.

Once you’re in applied settings, you gain a wealth of knowledge beyond the classroom. Much of this is experiential, especially learning how to communicate and collaborate effectively. You’ll find yourself constantly giving direction, working with team members and other departments, and conveying ideas to producers and directors.

The BFA design program gave us a strong foundation in breaking down scripts, drafting plans and elevations, building models and paint elevations—all of which align with various methods for communicating your designs. However, once you see your designs realized in a production, you also learn how you could improve and monitor the process. 

I definitely could’ve spent more attention overseeing set builds in the scene shop at school, as those have later become pretty crucial to art directing – knowing you had to specify a material or a finish in drawings, specifying a height to a door lever, how distressed you want a paint treatment, double checking the distance of scenery pieces, etc. 

What was special about the BFA in Theatrical Design at SDA?

The opportunity to design as a BFA undergraduate, along with the access to professors that were current working professionals. 

You’ve worked in theatre, television, film and music—how do you make adjustments to work in these different media?

When I started freelancing, I accepted every job that came my way to gain as much experience as possible, regardless of the content. The work ranged widely across theatre, TV, film, music videos, commercials and editorial projects. While the demands, budgets and project durations varied, the biggest adjustment was learning how each project’s objectives defined my role.

When working on commercials, photo shoots and music videos, the focus is often on promoting a product or brand rather than on narrative storytelling. In this environment, you’re more likely to answer to a client than to a director.

Whereas theatre, television and film are narrative-driven, and your role involves developing the visual concept of the production and creating the setting where the story unfolds. These projects require more attention to detail and respect for the craft, often resulting in longer timelines, larger budgets and more substantial support. This generally leads to better job security, resources and benefits.

At the end of the day, a narrative piece is likely to resonate with and engage an audience more deeply than a 30-second advertisement.

Hacks has been nominated for several Emmys this year, including for production design, and won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. What has it been like to work on this show?

I’ve been incredibly lucky and grateful to have worked on this season of Hacks. It’s a rare opportunity to contribute to a show I was already a fan of. While there have been some interesting challenges adapting to a frequently shifting schedule (thanks wga/sag strike), our team in the art department has brought so much talent, creative problem solving, collaboration and positive energy, making the experience both enjoyable and rewarding.

Our production designer and art department were nominated for the “Yes, And” episode, which includes several scenes filmed around the USC campus, including those in our very own Scene Dock Theatre – which makes it extra special. 

What advice would you give to current students hoping to make their careers in design?

Build a portfolio that highlights your “hard skills,” such as drafting, 3D models (both analog and digital), previs, illustrations, and graphics. While finished production photos can be included, these core elements are what will help you secure work. If you’re just starting out, include any existing work and continuously build upon it as you develop new skills and complete more projects. A portfolio serves as a baseline for conversation—it demonstrates your interest and seriousness while showcasing your abilities. As you establish yourself, keep asking questions, showing interest and maintain your professional relationships.