Designing Sinners: Hannah Beachler & Monique Champagne on Ryan Coogler’s Southern Gothic Vampire Epic

Dec 16, 2025

Guest

Monique Champagne

Guest

Hannah Beachler

Monique Champagne, set decorator known for detailed, historically grounded dressing, and Hannah Beachler, Oscar-winning production designer famed for immersive, research-driven worlds, discuss building a 1930s Mississippi Delta filled with lived-in churches, stores, and a full 360º juke joint. They cover protecting oaks, crafting Annie’s hoodoo-infused house, resurrecting a downtown, practical scenic aging, and a bold red/white/blue color story.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Land As A Character In Southern Gothic Design

Hannah designed small buildings as isolated shapes on vast plantation landscapes to make land ownership itself feel like a character.
She intentionally placed churches, stores, and houses like islands to highlight disparity and permit visible connections between locations on one site.

ANECDOTE

Annie’s House As Hoodoo Pharmacy And Plantation Store

Annie’s house was built as a communal healing hub doubling as a store where plantation currency circulates and feels worthless.
Hannah referenced hoodoo practices like flattened dimes and mixed spiritual objects to show practical healing and economic reality.

ANECDOTE

Aging Roof Shingles By Hand For Authenticity

Scenic nailed aging by individually soaking and warping hundreds of roof shingles and rebuilding with rough-sawn wood.
Tim the art director remade his first set from new wood to properly aged materials after Hannah insisted on authentic aging.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Sinners is the kind of movie where you can pause any frame and feel the history.

Ryan Coogler’s 1932 Mississippi Delta vampire epic follows twin brothers (both played by Michael B. Jordan) who open a juke joint in an old sawmill, only to collide with vampires, the Klan, and a century of American sins. The film has become one of 2025’s most acclaimed releases, with strong box office, critics’ scores, and early awards – putting it squarely in Best Picture conversations. (Wikipedia)

In this episode of Decorating Pages, Emmy-winning set decorator Kim Wannop sits down with Oscar-winning Production Designer Hannah Beachler (Black Panther) and Set Decorator Monique Champagne (Nickel Boys, Sinners) to talk about how they built the film’s world from the ground up:

Churches, houses, and stores placed like tiny islands on vast plantation landscapes
Annie’s house as a warm, healing, hoodoo-and-capitalism space, one of the emotional hearts of the movie
A downtown resurrected from empty, moldy buildings into a living 1930s Black business district
The juke joint as a complete building you can shoot 360º – including upper levels, real water, and safely-distanced alligators
The film’s bold red/white/blue color story and how production design, set decoration, costume, and lighting keep that palette humming across the film

If you loved Sinners or you’re tracking the craft side of awards season, this conversation is a deep dive into how design and decoration carry history, politics, and horror in one of the year’s most visually powerful films.

Discover the Art of TV & Film Design with Decorating Pages Podcast

Hosted by Emmy-winning Set Decorator Kim Wannop, this podcast takes you behind the scenes of your favorite shows and movies. Each episode features in-depth conversations with the industry’s top production designers, set decorators, prop masters, and art department professionals, offering rare insight into the creative process of visual storytelling.

Whether you’re a film and TV fan, aspiring designer, or entertainment industry pro, Decorating Pages Podcast is your backstage pass to the world of production design. Learn how sets are built, stories are shaped visually, and characters come to life—one episode at a time.

🔔 Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher, TuneIn, and iHeartRadio so you never miss an episode.

📲 Follow for daily design contentInstagram: @decoratingpagesTikTok: @decoratingpagespodcastYouTube: Decorating Pages Podcast

🎬 Explore More from Decorating PagesLove the behind-the-scenes world of TV + film design? Check out these exclusive resources curated by Kim Wannop, Emmy-winning Set Decorator and host of Decorating Pages Podcast:

🎓 Learn Set DecoratingTake my Set Decorating Masterclass—15 audio lessons packed with insider tips for breaking into the film & TV industry. Includes FREE Quick Reference Template. Start here: https://www.decoratingpagespodcast.com/masterclass