A King in Kensington

Set Decorator Gord Sim on Winning an Oscar and Working in Canada

By Jennifer Goldberg

For Academy Award winning set decorator Gord Sim, the look of a film is not what's important. The man who made the world of Chicago come to glittering life hopes the sets he works so hard to create fade into the background.

"If people are in the movie theatre looking at your sets, I think it's not good," he explains over a cup of green tea and cookies. "I think the story and the actors are the most important things and what we want to do is support that."

Sim is a man who loves his work. It's apparent in every descriptive gesture and excited anecdote. It doesn't seem to matter what movie he's working on. He says he finds most film experiences rewarding, even working on the "B movies."

"Mostly there's something to challenge you," he says. "Sometimes it's really stupid stuff, like a hideous schedule."

It seems Sim values the process of filmmaking above the finished product. That may explain why his Oscar isn't prominently displayed in his home. He keeps the most esteemed award in filmmaking upstairs on his desk. You have to ask to see it.

Sim's Kensington Market loft is every bit the picture of an award winning set decorator's home. It's chic with a touch of whimsy. A black cat named Adam snoozes on an elegant, striped chaise under the gaze of a signed print of Andy Warhol's Mick Jagger. Sim was here when he first heard he'd been nominated.

"My phone rang constantly for a week," he recalls.

Today, with Toronto's film industry slump, Sim's phone isn't ringing quite so much. Despite the coveted golden doorstop, he hasn't worked in six months. He says he's doing a couple commercials now because work is so slow.

Ironically, Sim began his career on a commercial set. He says that's a good place to start because a film set can be very hierarchical.

"Commercials are really good training ground for people. It's not as strict or complicated as a film set."

Sim chuckles when asked how he came to do what he does so well.

"It wasn't a thing I ever planned to do. I never studied interior design or anything like that. I'm not sure you need to do that to do what I do."

As a set decorator, it's Sim's job to fill a movie with stuff.

"Everything that's within the set is my responsibility," he explains. "So its furnishings, draperies, flooring, plants."

 

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