Leo Yoshimura

In his 75-minute interview, Leo Yoshimura talks about his early life, his first production design jobs in college, and attending the Yale School of Drama. He speaks of his production design work in the theater, and being hired by Saturday Night Live. He details his long career at SNL, including working with creator Lorne Michaels, designing the early home base set, and a typical workweek on the show. He recalls playing “Sulu” in several Star Trek sketches over the years, which leads to a discussion of the lack of representation of Japanese people on television. He concludes with giving advice to aspiring production designers, and discussing how he’d like to be remembered. Jenni Matz conducted the interview on May 17, 2017 in New York, NY.

In their two-hour joint interview, the Saturday Night Live production design team, Eugene Lee, Keith Raywood, Leo Yoshimura, and Joe DeTullio, talk about how each of them came to join the staff of Saturday Night Live. They recall designing the various “home base” sets for the show over the years, and consulting with executive producer Lorne Michaels for his input. They describe how they collaborate with each other, and with other departments on the show. They describe working with the various directors of the show, and on the unique challenges of doing production design for a live broadcast. They chronicle some of their favorite sets and most memorable moments, and working with the musical guests. Finally, they opine on why Saturday Night Live has endured, and speculate on how much longer they might stay with the show. Jenni Matz conducted the interview on May 17, 2017 in New York, NY.