Liz Toonkel is a Production Designer and creative force who believes in the storytelling power of design in film, television, theater and advertising.
Having contributed to over 40 projects, her recent credits include Roadside Attractions’s Independent Spirit Award nominated tense thriller “Emily the Criminal” (starring Aubrey Plaza), which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, and A24’s Oscar nominated animated feature “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” (starring Jenny Slate) for which her work was nominated for a 2023 Art director’s guild award.
As a production designer, Liz builds new worlds that allow audiences to reflect and question our own. She is passionate about designing films where you don’t always see the production design, but you can feel it. Through her work, she strives to wield a power that serves the LGBTQIA community, BIPOC and womxn. Liz is passionate about projects that inspire social change through humor, spectacle and transgression.
In addition to her production design credits, Liz is a performance artist, filmmaker and MAGICIAN. She is currently touring her one-woman vegan magic show Magic for Animals that explores the way we treat animals and one another. Toonkel thrives on storytelling being deemed “a fantastic storyteller” (The Sappy Critic) and “an irresistible performer who deserves to break out in the UK and worldwide” (To Do List). Liz translates magic into her on-screen designs by making the simple theatrical.
She recently performed and displayed her artwork at the 2024 Hollywood Fringe Festival (Winner Best Costume Design, Nominated for Best Cabaret & Variety, The Splash Award and The Soaring Solo Social Impact Award), The Center for the Arts at Kayenta, the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival (4 stars (To Do List), Highly Recommended Show (Fringe Review)), the 2023 Cincinnati Fringe Festival, Aarhaus Festuge with Live Art Denmark, Honor Fraser Gallery, LAX Festival, ltd Gallery and the 2016 Queer Biennial in Los Angeles. Liz was the first time recipient of the Calarts Distinguished Young Alumnx of the Year Award in 2023 for her work across visual art and film.
Liz is a proud member of the Art Director’s Guild, United Scenic Artists and the Academy of Magical Arts at the Magic Castle.
Born in Chappaqua, NY, Liz earned her BFA in Film & Television Production with a minor in Gender & Sexuality from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She later went on to earn a dual MFA from the California Institute of the Arts in Art & Technology and Scenic Design. Liz has been a resident at Asylum Arts, Automata, PAM, The Marble House Project and the Transart Institute in Berlin. She has studied clown and performance with Spymonkey, Dr. Brown and the Idiot Workshop. She is a bicoastal Jewish New Yorker who loves goth culture, poker, theme parks, musical theater and her rescue dog Creature.
Check her artwork and films out at www.liztoonkelstudio.com
Portrait by Myles Pettengill