Despite having seemingly countless television shows on the air at any given time, superproducer Ryan Murphy maintained very close attention to detail when it came to his new Hulu series “All’s Fair,” according to the artisans who worked with him on the show.

“He knows exactly what he wants and what he wants it to look like and it’s like watching an artist paint a painting,” said production designer Cat Smith to IndieWire during a panel on “All’s Fair” for our Pass the Remote panel series, presented in partnership with Disney.

Smith had never worked on one of Murphy’s shows before, but felt very prepared for the challenge of designing the sets of the legal drama starring the all-star cast of Kim Kardashian, Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash, Glenn Close, Sarah Paulson, and Teyana Taylor, saying “I know lawyer shows very well, and my dad was a lawyer, and those offices are so boring. They’re really probably the worst kind of office, and I kind of knew [Murphy] was not going to go for that.”

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One source of inspiration that Murphy cited to Smith was Belgian designer Axel Vervoordt, a minimalist who had worked on properties for both the showrunner and Kardashian. “Everywhere you look has to be architecturally interesting. And so that’s kind of the premise of the whole show. It’s all about the sculpting of space.”

The show’s director of photography Blake McClure also collaborated with Smith on the production design, having also taken inspiration from Vervoordt, and other references Murphy cited in pre-production. “We built in some lighting and changed a few windows here and there, just to make it a little bit easier and more production friendly, and shoot the schedule that we had to shoot.” Smith stressed the importance of she and the DP working together, saying “if you don’t, then you’re missing out on such a great appendage of your body. The lighting and the set go hand in hand.” Unreal Engine also became a helpful tool early on to make sure they could quickly tailor the sets to Murphy’s utmost specificity.

“All’s Fair” costume designer Paula Bradley shared that the feedback from Murphy that she got early on was a color palette for each character. “Naomi, he wanted her in the blushes and the creams and Niecy in the jewel tones,” she said. “He was very like, ‘I don’t want to see black for the first two episodes.”

Bradley has worked on several other Murphy projects like “American Horror Story,” so part of the difference with “All’s Fair” was the level of fashion, “and we don’t murder people every week,” she joked. But on the stylish, soapy series, just one character could have 15 costume changes in one episode. “They all have their own looks, their own styles. They are all huge lovers of clothes and fashion and looking good,” said Bradley. “So then it’s just a case of is there enough clothes in the world to get through one season of a certain level? Are there enough?”

Though her interactions with Murphy working on “All’s Fair” were less direct than her fellow panelists’, music supervisor Amanda Krieg Thomas shared that the M.O. was clearly “a through line of iconic women.” While a lot of Murphy’s other series like “Monster” or “American Crime Story” were period pieces, “All’s Fair” takes place in the present day, allowing for a wider range of music. For example, one inventive sequence starts off being soundtracked by the Dionne Warwick classic “Walk on By,” and then transitions into Doja Cat’s hit single “Paint the Town Red,” which samples the former song. “That was fully Ryan, let’s connect the new and the old,” said Thomas.

Watch the complete video of IndieWire’s “All’s Fair” panel above. More Pass the Remote panels are available as well on IndieWire’s website and YouTube channel.

“All’s Fair” Season 1 is now streaming in full on Hulu.

The IndieWire Pass the Remote Winter Edition, presented in partnership with Disney, will celebrate the art and craft of TV through a series of panels rolling out through early December 2025. Check back here for more.

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