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eliotgrigo

@eliotgrigo

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Mainer in Los Angeles
@americanfilminstitute Alum

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PART 2 / BTS Production Designing @degreeofcertainty_film / THE BULLPEN

In addition to Production Designing, I also set decorated this project. Landing LA Center Studios for our Risk Analysis Bullpen set was a huge win! It has a great layout, bones, and feel of a 1980s office. Having cubicles and chairs already on site that we could move and adjust was also a win, but besides those pieces of furniture the space was - empty. So arose the question, how do we fill this enormous space tight budget - while also dressing all of our other sets, one of which was a 1980s Climate Laboratory - - but more on that set later!

To make use of the resources that we had, everything had to be specifically selected and placed to fill the space and create believable layers. If anything looked too modern - even a pen or a lamp - it could take you out of the world we were trying to create. We collected in advance and were able to fill the space with the generosity and discounts of the Warner Brothers @wbpropertydept prop house.

Then there was another challenge on how to dress the space in a timely way, since we only had a half day to dress the bullpen while we were setting up and filming some other sets LA Center Studios. Everything was organized and packed ahead of time, by desk or “zone” of the bullpen, with 1-2 set dressers for each zone. I told them to approach the space as if it was their own desk - and make it as believable and lived in as possible. We were able to acquire period computers and typewriters from History for Hire @historyforhireprophouse and prepped in advance to ensure that Risk Analyst Jackson Miller’s hero typewriter was 100% workable for the scenes in which he was writing his report - the hot-button report in our film in which he shares the findings from the science division that the practices of the oil company is causing a rise in global temperature - a rise which we now know of today as climate change.

Director / Writer: Simon Schneider @simonjschneider
Producer: Maxwell Kagan @maxphil996
Director of Photography: Elliot Grigo @eliotgrigo
Production Designer: Jessica Burnam @jessicaburnam
Editor: Jason Luo @jasonluo1998

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PART 1 / BTS Production Designing @degreeofcertainty_film. THE BULLPEN.

To construct the interior world of a 1982 gas and energy company, there was an incredible amount of research that needed to be done to make the film as period-accurate as possible. How did the different divisions and floors within companies like Exxon function, look like, and feel like in the early 80s? And specifically, what would the floor and bullpen of the risk-analysis division be like for our story? It became a deep dive into watching documentaries with the team about Oil companies and the oil and climate crisis - - and also a study of general early 1980 office life and aesthetics as a whole.

Although we filmed in May of 2025, I was brought on and attached to the project the year before, in September 2024 to start researching and developing design ideas. Location scouting to find a location with the right layout and period presence was key. Our dream location all along was LA Center Studios, the home of productions such as MAD MEN and THE LINCOLN LAWYER and we are so thankful that we were able to film there for the Bullpen, among other sets. The cubicles and chairs were already provided in the space, but we moved and rotated them for our ideal placement and brought in our own set dressing.

DEGREE OF CERTAINTY shows TODAY!, at 4:20pm in the Showcase 5 Block at @afifest “When a young risk analyst at a major US oil company in 1982 learns that the climate research department has just discovered a rapid rise in global temperatures, he has to decide on which side of history he wants to be.”

Director / Writer: Simon Schneider @simonjschneider
Producer: Maxwell Kagan @maxphil996
Director of Photography: Elliot Grigo @eliotgrigo
Production Designer: Jessica Burnam @jessicaburnam
Editor: Jason Luo @jasonluo1998
Script Consultant: Lia Kulakauskas @kulakauskas
Cast: Trace Guzman @traceguz Peter Mackenzie @pmack61, John Billingsley @jab2060, Rob Nagle @nagdoggie, Jonathan Von Mering @jonathanvonmering, Christian Haines @haines.xtian

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Montana 💙

🍁❄️

treasure state

proud gf moment

awards ⭐️⭐️⭐️

superstar

fall meets winter

drive to Yellowstone

snowflakes ❄️

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After three years of living in Los Angeles and studying at the @americanfilminstitute, I’m happy that my thesis film @degreeofcertainty_film is playing at @afi.fest on Friday, October 23rd, at the @chinesetheatres in AFI Conservatory Showcase 5. Screening at AFI Fest, in the heart of Hollywood, with the film my team and I worked on for more than a year at the Conservatory feels like a full-circle moment.

I’m especially grateful to be screening alongside my amazing and talented fellow AFI filmmakers, as well as a whole crowd of other German-speaking filmmakers, including @wernerherzogofficial (Bucking Fastard), @sandra.wollner (Everytime), #İlkerÇatak (Yellow Letters / Gelbe Briefe), @markusschleinzer (Rose), @mariekreutzer (Gentle Monster), @farazshariat (Staatsschutz), @kaistaenicke (Trial of Hein / Der Heimatlose), and @kiana_naghshineh (With Tapes and Toasts in the Car / Im Auto Tapes und Toast).

The photo was taken on our last day of shooting in May 2025 at the John Ferraro Building, which, besides being the @ladwp1 headquarters, has served as a location for films like Inception, The Terminator, and The Omega Man.

Here, we’re shooting one of the final scenes of the film with our fantastic lead actor @traceguz, who plays Jackson Miller, a young risk analyst at one of the biggest US oil corporations who discovers the climate crisis in 1982 and then decides to deny it. The film tells the origin story of corporate climate denial, offering an inside look at how we ended up living through what has become the biggest environmental and disinformation crises in human history.

I’d love to see as many of you as possible at our screening! Free tickets are available at www.degreeofcertainty.xyz

#DegreeofCertainty #shortfilm #AFI #climatecrisis

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The lads! I highly recommend you have your groomsmen throw you in the air. I highly recommend you have a wedding party. I highly recommend you do a bachelor. Do all of the things, you’ll be happy that you did

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We are thrilled to share that @degreeofcertainty_film is an Official Selection of this year’s Academy Award and BAFTA Qualifying Foyle Film Festival (@foylefilm , @nerve_centre), where it will be making its Irish premiere.

We are so honored to be among the four U.S. live action shorts programmed this year!

It will be screening as part of the International Short Film Programme 2 on Saturday, Nov 28 2026 at 1:15 PM at the Nerve Cinema.

#DegreeofCertainty #shortfilm #AFI #climatecrisis

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Act like you are already where you want to be

#golf #golfaddict #larp #larping

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hug a tree 🌲

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my birthday wish came true 🎈

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🏆🏆AND THE WINNER IS …. DEGREE OF CERTAINTY! 🏆🏆

We are so honored to share that @degreeofcertainty_film took home the prize of Best Narrative Short this weekend at @climatefilmfestnyc in NYC, especially amongst a lineup of other incredible films and filmmakers we had the privilege of meeting.

“Our Narrative Short Award is being given to a film that shows us exactly how much the fossil fuel industry knew, and what they hoped we’d never discover. It might be a narrative period piece, but the story it tells is all too real and present. This year’s Narrative Short Award goes to DEGREE OF CERTAINTY” - Senior Programming Director, Jesse Tendler

Thank you to the jury, the CFF team, the NYC audiences, our amazing cast, crew and all of our supporters. We share this with all of you!

#DegreeOfCertainty #ClimateWeek #AFI #shortfilm #award

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Throwback to the West Coast Premiere of our AFI thesis film, @degreeofcertainty_film, at @hollyshorts. Thank you so much to the festival for having us, and to all my cast and crew for making this movie possible.

Follow along so you don’t miss the rest of our festival journey. ✌️

#DegreeOfCertainty #HollyShorts #ShortFilm #AFI #FilmFestival

My beloved thesis team from left to right: Editor @jasonluo1998 · Producer @maxphil996 · Lead Actor @traceguz · Cinematographer @eliotgrigo

Being interviewed on the red carpet by @tatulloo for the @shesallovertheplacepodcast

The big group photo with Producer @maxphil996 · Mr. Bennet @nagdoggie · Cinematrographer @eliotgrigo …

… Jackson Miller @traceguz · Mr. Fischer @haines.xtian · Editor @jasonluo1998 · Composer @kolebutler_

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We are thrilled to share that @degreeofcertainty_film will have its New York premiere next week at the Climate Film Festival (@climatefilmfestnyc) Saturday Sep 19th at 11:30 AM.

If you are in New York City, please join us at the screening! We’d love to see you there. Ticket link in bio

#DegreeofCertainty #shortfilm #AFI #climatecrisis

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