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Hugues Tissandier

Few French production designers demonstrate more ingenuity and panache than Hugues Tissandier. After debuting with the Uruguayan prison drama "The Eyes of the Birds," Tissandier joined forces with director Jean-Marie Poiré for the friends reuniting comedy "Mes Meilleurs copains" and the spy farce "L'Opération Corned-Beef." However, it was their recreation of 12th-century France for "Les Visiteurs" that drew plaudits and sufficient box-office to ensure more time-travelling mayhem followed five years later in "Les Visiteurs 2: Les Couloirs du Temps." But Tissandier and Poiré parted company after the good vs evil romp "Guardian Angels" and he produced smart interiors for a trio of Francis Veber comedies -- "The Jaguar," "Le D"ner de Cons" and "The Closet" -- before forging a new creative link with Luc Besson. Tissandier once again revealed his affinity for medieval France with "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc." But he was faced with an altogether different challenge in creating the fantasy realm of the Minimoys for the live-action/CGI hybrid "Arthur and the Invisibles." He has since returned to the seven kingdoms for "Arthur and the Great Adventure" and "Arthur 3: The War of Two Worlds." But Tissandier excelled himself with the early 20th-century-set comic-book actioner "The Extraordinary Adventures of Adéle Blanc-Sec," although the forbidding urban locales he has fashioned for tough crime thrillers like "The Transporter," "District 13" and "Taken" have been equally effective.