---
name: "Joe Alves"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/joe-alves"
fi1m_id: "joe-alves"
imdb_id: "nm0023469"
tmdb_id: 8558
wikidata_id: "Q1691324"
roles: ["Production designer","Director"]
born: "21 May 1936"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 83
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-05T04:28:08.361951+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Joe Alves

## Identity

Joe Alves

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/joe-alves
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** joe-alves
- **IMDb ID:** nm0023469
- **TMDB ID:** 8558
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1691324
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Alves, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1691324, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0023469/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8558

Production designer and director. Born 21 May 1936 in San Leandro, California, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Production designer, Director
- **Born:** 21 May 1936, San Leandro, California, USA
- **Active:** 1975–1984
- **Also known as:** Joseph Alves Jr.
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 5: 1 directing, 4 crew
- **Frequently works with:** [Carl Gottlieb](https://film.one/person/carl-gottlieb.md), [Richard Dreyfuss](https://film.one/person/richard-dreyfuss.md), [Steven Spielberg](https://film.one/person/steven-spielberg.md)
- **BAFTA Film Awards:** 1 BAFTA (1 won)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1970s 89 (2), 1980s 63 (3)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 83 to 78 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Science Fiction 3, Drama 2, Thriller 2, Action 1, Adventure 1, Horror 1
- **Screen time:** 8 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $857m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Alves, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1691324, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0023469/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8558

## Streaming the US now

- **Netflix:** [*Jaws*](https://film.one/film/jaws.md) (93), [*Jaws 3-D*](https://film.one/film/jaws-3-d.md) (36)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Close Encounters of the Third Kind*](https://film.one/film/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind.md) (85), [*Escape from New York*](https://film.one/film/escape-from-new-york.md) (76)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Joe Alves is an American production designer and art director. Born on 21 May 1936 in San Leandro, California, he began his career in the 1950s and worked on numerous films and television productions.

He is known for his production design on *Jaws* (1975), *Close Encounters of the Third Kind* (1977), *Jaws 2* (1978), *Escape from New York* (1981) and *Jaws 3-D* (1983), which he also directed. Alves designed three features for Steven Spielberg, starting with *The Sugarland Express* (1974). He was nominated for an Academy Award and won a BAFTA for Best Art Direction for *Close Encounters of the Third Kind*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

### Directed (1)

- *Jaws 3-D* (1983), Fi1m 36, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/jaws-3-d.md)

### Crew (4) — the average rests on these

- *Starman* (1984), Fi1m 77, Second Unit Director — [page](https://film.one/film/starman.md)
- *Escape from New York* (1981), Fi1m 76, Production Design, Production design — [page](https://film.one/film/escape-from-new-york.md)
- *Close Encounters of the Third Kind* (1977), Fi1m 85, Production design, Production Design — [page](https://film.one/film/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind.md)
- *Jaws* (1975), Fi1m 93, Second Unit Director, Production design — [page](https://film.one/film/jaws.md)

## Complete filmography (25)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Viaggio nel cinema in 3D: Una storia vintage* (2016), Actor
- *3D: A Brief History* (2004), Actor
- *Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists* (2000), Production Design
- *Fire Down Below* (1997), Production Design
- *Shadow Conspiracy* (1997), Production Design
- *Drop Zone* (1994), Production Design
- *Geronimo: An American Legend* (1993), Production Design
- *Everybody's All-American* (1988), Production Design
- *Starman* (1984), Second Unit Director — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/starman.md)
- *Jaws 3-D* (1983), Director — Fi1m 36, [page](https://film.one/film/jaws-3-d.md)
- *Escape from New York* (1981), Production Design — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/escape-from-new-york.md)
- *Jaws 2* (1978), Production Design, Second Unit Director
- *Close Encounters of the Third Kind* (1977), Production Design — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind.md)
- *Embryo* (1976), Production Design
- *Jaws* (1975), Production Design, Second Unit Director — Fi1m 93, [page](https://film.one/film/jaws.md)
- *The Sugarland Express* (1974), as Art Direction
- *Scream, Pretty Peggy* (1973), as Art Direction
- *Double Indemnity* (1973), as Art Direction
- *Isn't It Shocking?* (1973), as Art Direction
- *See the Man Run* (1973), as Art Direction
- *Sarge: The Badge or the Cross* (1971), as Art Direction
- *Pufnstuf* (1970), as Art Direction
- *The Young Country* (1970), as Art Direction
- *Change of Habit* (1969), Assistant Art Director
- *Winning* (1969), as Art Direction

## Gallery

- ![Joe Alves](https://film.one/media/person/59853/gallery-398227462ca5.jpg) Joe Alves — Jamezcd, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Joe_Alves_in_San_Francisco%2C_2013.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Photo of Joe Alves in San Francisco, September 2013.](https://film.one/media/person/59853/gallery-bdb3fdaa8d7d.jpg) Photo of Joe Alves in San Francisco, September 2013. — Jamezcd, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Joe_Alves_in_San_Francisco%2C_2013_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 1978: Best Production Design (nominated), for *Close Encounters of the Third Kind*

### BAFTA Film Awards — 1 won

- 1979: Best Production Design (won)

### Other awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director 1984: Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director (nominated), for *Jaws 3-D*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/joe-alves