Italian born and bred, and now London based, Francesca Massariol came to production design through a love of space, storytelling, and performance. She trained initially in Architecture for Theatre Design at the Venice Academy of Fine Arts, before moving to London in 2005 to complete a BA in Design for Performance at Central Saint Martins in 2007 — a shift that set the foundations for her screen work.
Her move into feature films came naturally from a strong theatrical sensibility and a curiosity for character-driven worlds. In 2014, Francesca designed her first feature film, Spaceship, directed by Alex Taylor and supported by the BFI, BBC Films and Creative England. The film premiered at SXSW in 2016 and marked the beginning of a close relationship with independent cinema.
She went on to production design Pin Cushion, Deborah Haywood’s debut feature, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival’s International Critics’ Week in 2017. Alongside her work as a production designer, Francesca has collaborated as an art director on distinctive auteur projects including Jessica Hausner’s Little Joe and Hong Khaou’s Monsoon, further shaping her precise yet emotionally grounded visual language.
In 2019, she production designed Bassam Tariq’s debut feature Mogul Mowgli, which went on to win the International Critics Prize 70th Berlinale Panorama 2020 (FIPRESCI) and nominated for the BAFTA for Outstanding British Film with 7 Bifa Awards Nominations. Over the following years, her work continued to move fluidly between genres, from the psychological horror Amulet (premiered at Sundance 2020), to Reggie Yates’ debut Pirates (SXSW 2022), and Faye Gilbert’s Zero for BFI and BBC Film.
More recent projects include The Strays (2022) for Netflix, directed by Nathaniel Martello-White, and Starve Acre, written and directed by Daniel Kokotajlo, which premiered at the London Film Festival in 2023.
Her latest work includes Harry Lighton’s acclaimed debut feature Pillion, produced by Element Pictures and distributed by A24, starring Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2025, where it won the Un Certain Regard Award for Best Screenplay. Pillion has since received three 2026 BAFTA nominations — Outstanding British Film, Outstanding Debut, and Adapted Screenplay — and went on to win multiple 2025 BIFA awards, including Best British Independent Film.
Following Pillion, Francesca went to design her first Studio Film, Reminders of Him, directed by Vanessa Caswill and produced by Universal Pictures, starring Maika Monroe and Tariq Withers.
Francesca has recently wrapped Everybody Wants to Fck Me*, directed by Jonathan Schey and produced by LuckyChap Entertainment, StudioCanal, Channel 4 and Parkville Pictures.
Alongside her work in feature films, Francesca also works extensively in commercials, where she brings the same character-led and visually precise approach to shorter formats. Her commercial collaborators include directors Phoebe Arnstein, Dave Meyers and Haya Waseem, as well as creative studios and collectives such as THIRTY TWO and Zhang + Knight. She enjoys moving fluidly between long-form storytelling and commercial work, valuing collaboration and strong visual authorship across both worlds.
Across her work, Francesca is known for creating environments that feel grounded yet expressive, often blending naturalism with heightened or surreal elements when the story demands it. Whether building an entire world or shaping a single room, she is drawn to details that feel imperfect, and human — spaces that quietly hold history rather than announce themselves.
Francesca is also an active member of the Production Designer Collective, a global community founded by Inbal Weinberg and Kalina Ivanov dedicated to sharing knowledge, supporting collaboration, and championing the craft of production design.
Represented by: ECHO ARTISTS
FILM + TV
ELLIE COOK : ellie@echoartists.com
COMMERCIALS + MUSIC VIDEOS
JADE JOBES : jade@echoartists.com
Direct Contact E: francesca@francesca-massariol.com