Biography
James Chinlund is an American production designer. He was born on 17 March 1971 in New York City and studied fine art at CalArts in Los Angeles, focusing on sculpture and large-scale installation work. After graduating, he returned to New York and began working in film as a carpenter before moving into production design on music videos and independent films.
His early feature credits include production design on Requiem for a Dream (2000) and The Fountain (2006) for Darren Aronofsky, 25th Hour (2002) for Spike Lee, and Auto Focus (2002) for Paul Schrader. Later credits include The Avengers (2012), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), The Lion King (2019) and The Batman (2022). He served as production designer on The Smashing Machine (2025).
Chinlund has also worked in commercials and fashion, designing sets and campaigns for brands including Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Gucci.
