---
name: "William Sandell"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/william-sandell"
fi1m_id: "william-sandell"
imdb_id: "nm0761367"
tmdb_id: 6877
wikidata_id: "Q2807980"
roles: ["Production designer"]
born: "9 August 1950"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 7
average_fi1m_score: 74
average_over: 7
updated: "2026-10-05T01:53:08.140280+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."
---

# William Sandell

## Identity

William Sandell

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/william-sandell
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** william-sandell
- **IMDb ID:** nm0761367
- **TMDB ID:** 6877
- **Wikidata ID:** Q2807980
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Sandell, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2807980, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0761367/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/6877

Production designer. Born 9 August 1950 in Los Angeles.

## Details

- **Work:** Production designer
- **Born:** 9 August 1950, Los Angeles
- **Active:** 1987–2006
- **Also known as:** Bill Sandell
- **Frequently works with:** [Wolfgang Petersen](https://film.one/person/wolfgang-petersen.md), [Gail Katz](https://film.one/person/gail-katz.md), [Duncan Henderson](https://film.one/person/duncan-henderson.md), [Paul Verhoeven](https://film.one/person/paul-verhoeven.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 91 (1), 1990s 74 (3), 2000s 68 (3)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 74 to 69 across 7 titles
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Action 6, Thriller 5, Adventure 4, Drama 4, Science Fiction 3, War 1
- **Screen time:** 14 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $1,542m across 7 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Sandell, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2807980, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0761367/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/6877

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*RoboCop*](https://film.one/film/robocop.md) (91), [*Air Force One*](https://film.one/film/air-force-one.md) (72), [*Outbreak*](https://film.one/film/outbreak.md) (66)
- **Apple TV:** [*Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World*](https://film.one/film/master-and-commander-the-far-side-of-the-world.md) (86)
- **Hulu:** [*Total Recall*](https://film.one/film/total-recall.md) (84)

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

## Biography

William Sandell is an American production designer. Born on 9 August 1950 in Los Angeles, he began in films as a set dresser and assistant art director on exploitation pictures such as *Invasion of the Bee Girls* (1973). His first production design credit was *The Promise* (1979).

Sandell has worked extensively with directors including Paul Verhoeven on *RoboCop* (1987) and *Total Recall* (1990), and Wolfgang Petersen on *Air Force One* (1997) and *The Perfect Storm* (2000). He designed the prehistoric town of Bedrock for *The Flintstones* (1994) and recreated a nineteenth-century Royal Navy frigate for *Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World* (2003).

For the latter he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Art Direction and won the BAFTA Award for Best Production Design.

*Sources: imdb.com, williamsandell.com.*

## On Fi1m (7)

- *Poseidon* (2006), Fi1m 55, Production Design, Production design — [page](https://film.one/film/poseidon.md)
- *Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World* (2003), Fi1m 86, Production design — [page](https://film.one/film/master-and-commander-the-far-side-of-the-world.md)
- *The Perfect Storm* (2000), Fi1m 63, Production design — [page](https://film.one/film/the-perfect-storm.md)
- *Air Force One* (1997), Fi1m 72, Production design, Production Design — [page](https://film.one/film/air-force-one.md)
- *Outbreak* (1995), Fi1m 66, Production design, Production Design — [page](https://film.one/film/outbreak.md)
- *Total Recall* (1990), Fi1m 84, Production design — [page](https://film.one/film/total-recall.md)
- *RoboCop* (1987), Fi1m 91, Production Design, Production design — [page](https://film.one/film/robocop.md)

## Complete filmography (36)

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

- *Sado Psychiatrist* (2020), series, as William Sandell
- *Hotel for Dogs* (2009), Production Design
- *Next* (2007), Production Design
- *Poseidon* (2006), Production Design — Fi1m 55, [page](https://film.one/film/poseidon.md)
- *Paycheck* (2003), Production Design
- *Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World* (2003), Production Design — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/master-and-commander-the-far-side-of-the-world.md)
- *The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest* (2002), Production Design
- *Dr. Dolittle 2* (2001), Production Design
- *The Perfect Storm* (2000), Production Design — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/the-perfect-storm.md)
- *Deep Blue Sea* (1999), Production Design
- *Small Soldiers* (1998), Production Design
- *Air Force One* (1997), Production Design — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/air-force-one.md)
- *The Glimmer Man* (1996), Production Design
- *Outbreak* (1995), Production Design — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/outbreak.md)
- *The Flintstones* (1994), Production Design
- *Hocus Pocus* (1993), Production Design
- *Newsies* (1992), Production Design
- *Nothing but Trouble* (1991), Production Design
- *Total Recall* (1990), Production Design — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/total-recall.md)
- *Big Business* (1988), Production Design
- *RoboCop* (1987), Production Design — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/robocop.md)
- *Generation* (1985), Production Design
- *His Mistress* (1984), Production Design
- *The Wild Life* (1984), Production Design
- *Young Lust: A Soap Opera* (1984), Production Design
- *Airplane II: The Sequel* (1982), Production Design
- *Dead & Buried* (1981), as Art Direction
- *Blood Beach* (1980), as Art Direction
- *Serial* (1980), as Art Direction
- *Fast Charlie... the Moonbeam Rider* (1979), as Art Direction
- *The Darker Side of Terror* (1979), as Art Direction
- *The Promise* (1979), Production Design
- *Something Queer at the Library* (1978), as Art Direction
- *Checkered Flag or Crash* (1977), as Art Direction
- *Crazy Mama* (1975), as Property Master
- *Truck Turner* (1974), Construction Manager

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 2004: Best Production Design (nominated), for *Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World*

*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/william-sandell