Biography
Jim Bissell is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BFA in Theater. After working in New York and L.A. on commercials and low budget features, he won an Emmy Award in 1980 for his work on Palmerstown, U.S.A. followed by a BAFTA nomination for production design on Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. He was the original chair for the Art Directors Guild Awards as well as a former Vice President of the Guild. He has taught at AFI, USC, UCLA extension and t...
Known For
Complete Filmography

The Lost City
2022
Production Design
Reclusive author Loretta Sage writes about exotic places in her popular adventure novels that feature a handsome cover model named Alan. While on tour...

The Bad Guys
2022
Thanks
When the Bad Guys, a crew of criminal animals, are finally caught after years of heists and being the world’s most-wanted villains, Mr. Wolf brokers a...

The Midnight Sky
2020
Production Design
A lone scientist in the Arctic races to contact a crew of astronauts returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe.

Velvet Buzzsaw
2019
Production Design
Big money artists and mega-collectors pay a high price when art collides with commerce. After a series of paintings by an unknown artist are discovere...

Skyscraper
2018
Production Design
Framed and on the run, a former FBI agent must save his family from a blazing fire in the world's tallest building.

Suburbicon
2017
Production Design
In the quiet family town of Suburbicon during the 1950s, the best and worst of humanity is hilariously reflected through the deeds of seemingly ordina...

Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story
2017
as Self
Working largely uncredited in the Hollywood system, storyboard artist Harold and film researcher Lillian left an indelible mark on classics by Alfred ...

Hidden
2015
Production Design
A family takes refuge in a fallout shelter to avoid a dangerous outbreak.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
2015
Production Design
Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet—eradicating 'The Syndicate', an International and highly-skilled rogue organization committed...

The Monuments Men
2014
Production Design
Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, The Monuments Men is an action drama focusing on seven over-the-hill, out-of-shape m...

Jack Reacher
2012
Production Design
One morning in an ordinary town, five people are shot dead in a seemingly random attack. All evidence points to a single suspect: an ex-military snipe...

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
2011
Production Design
Ethan Hunt and his team are racing against time to track down a dangerous terrorist named Hendricks, who has gained access to Russian nuclear launch c...

Leatherheads
2008
Production Design
A light hearted comedy about the beginnings of Professional American Football. When a decorated war hero and college all star is tempted into playing ...

The Spiderwick Chronicles
2008
Production Design
Upon moving into the run-down Spiderwick Estate with their mother, twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace, along with their sister Mallory, find themselv...

300
2007
Production Design
Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel, "300" is very loosely based the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae, where the King of Sparta led his army against t...

Good Night, and Good Luck.
2005
Production Design
The story of journalist Edward R. Murrow's stand against Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist witch-hunts in the early 1950s.

The Ring Two
2005
Production Design
After the ordeal with Samara, Rachel and Aiden move to a rural town. But soon Rachel learns about the death of a girl in a similar fashion. To save Ai...

50 First Dates
2004
Second Unit
Henry is a player skilled at seducing women. But when this veterinarian meets Lucy, a girl with a quirky problem when it comes to total recall, he rea...

Hollywood Homicide
2003
Production Design
Joe Gavilan and his new partner K. C. Calden, are detectives on the beat in Tinseltown. Neither one of them really wants to be a cop, Gavilan moonligh...

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
2002
Production Design
Television made him famous, but his biggest hits happened off screen. Television producer by day, CIA assassin by night, Chuck Barris was recruited by...

Cats & Dogs
2001
Production Design
When a professor develops a vaccine that eliminates human allergies to dogs, he unwittingly upsets the fragile balance of power between cats and dogs ...

The 6th Day
2000
Production Design
A world of the very near future in which cattle, fish, and even the family pet can be cloned. But cloning humans is illegal - that is until family man...

The Man on Lincoln's Nose
2000
as Self
Set design has been one of the most overlooked jobs in film, receiving little critical attention until recently. In this Oscar-nominated documentary s...

Making Jumanji: The Realm of Imagination
2000
as Self
This making-of documentary covers general aspects of the film's creation. We see movie clips, shots from the set, and interviews. The latter include r...

My Fellow Americans
1996
as Secret Service Agent
They used to run the country. Now they're running for their lives! Two on-the-lam former Presidents of the United States. Framed in a scandal by the c...

My Fellow Americans
1996
Production Design
They used to run the country. Now they're running for their lives! Two on-the-lam former Presidents of the United States. Framed in a scandal by the c...

The Making of 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'
1996
as Self
A behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of Steven Spielberg's 1982 film "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial."

Tin Cup
1996
Production Design
A washed up golf pro working at a driving range tries to qualify for the US Open in order to win the heart of his succesful rival's girlfriend.

Jumanji
1995
Production Design
When siblings Judy and Peter discover an enchanted board game that opens the door to a magical world, they unwittingly invite Alan -- an adult who's b...

Blue Chips
1994
Production Design
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future ar...

Dennis the Menace
1993
Production Design
Mr. Wilson's ever-present annoyance comes in the form of one mischievous kid named Dennis. But he'll need Dennis's tricks to uncover a collection of g...

The Pickle
1993
Production Design
Harry Stone always dreamed of making "The Great American Movie." Instead he made The Pickle - a teenage sci-fi flick about a flying cucumber. Harry ju...

The Rocketeer
1991
Production Design
A stunt pilot comes across a prototype jetpack that gives him the ability to fly. However, evil forces of the world also want this jetpack at any cost...

Arachnophobia
1990
Production Design
A large spider from the jungles of South America is accidentally transported in a crate with a dead body to America where it mates with a local spider...

Always
1989
Production Design
The spirit of a recently deceased expert pilot mentors a newer pilot while watching him fall in love with the girlfriend that he left behind.

Twins
1988
Production Design
Julius and Vincent Benedict are the results of an experiment that would allow for the perfect child. Julius was planned and grows to athletic proporti...

Someone to Watch Over Me
1987
Production Design
Claire Gregory, an upper class New York personality, witnesses a murder in a luxurious nightclub. Detective Mike Keegan, recently promoted, is assigne...

Harry and the Hendersons
1987
Production Design
Returning from a hunting trip in the forest, the Henderson family's car hits an animal in the road. At first they fear it was a man, but when they exa...

The Boy Who Could Fly
1986
Production Design
Milly and Louis, and their recently-widowed mom, Charlene, move to a new neighborhood. Once there, they all deal with a variety of personal problems, ...

The Falcon and the Snowman
1985
Production Design
The true story of a disillusioned military contractor employee and his drug pusher childhood friend who became walk-in spies for the Soviet Union.

The Last Starfighter
1984
Art Direction
Video game expert Alex Rogan finds himself transported to another planet after conquering the video game The Last Starfighter, only to find out it was...

Twilight Zone: The Movie
1983
Production Design
An anthology film presenting remakes of three episodes from the "Twilight Zone" TV series—"Kick the Can", "It's a Good Life" and "Nightmare at 20,000 ...

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1982
Production Design
An alien is left behind on Earth and saved by the 10-year-old Elliot who decides to keep him hidden in his home. While a task force hunts for the extr...

Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy "Satchel" Paige
1981
Art Direction
The story of Leroy "Satchel" Paige, the legendary pitcher, from his barnstorming days in the 1920s, hoping to break into organized "negro" baseball, t...

Valentine
1979
Art Direction
A feisty widow falls in love with a zestful widower in a retirement community, much to the disapproval of her married daughter.

Anatomy of a Seduction
1979
Art Direction
The story of a divorced woman who begins an affair with the college-age son of her best friend, and the effects it has on her relationship with her ow...

Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff
1979
Art Direction
An abusive sexual relationship between a white spinster schoolteacher and a young black janitor in 1956 Kansas complicates her struggle to come to gri...

Flatbed Annie & Sweetie Pie: Lady Truckers
1979
Art Direction
This engaging made-for-television movie follows the adventures of Ginny "Sweetie Pie" LaRosa (Kim Darby), who needs money after her trucker husband, J...