Visual History with Celia Costas

Encouraged by her father’s love of American films, specifically Westerns, Celia D. Costas’ passion for film began at a young age, consuming films with her father who did not turn the channel until the last of the technical credits rolled off the screen. Thus began her obsession with technical credits, what they meant, and what the titles entailed. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in creative writing, she began her film career as a researcher for John Avildsen, which lead to work as a production assistant on You Can’t Go Home Again (Ralph Nelson, 1979). She used her time as a production assistant as a training ground, learning what everyone’s jobs were, and anticipating the crew’s needs. It was not until she was Wendi Lazar’s assistant on Alan J. Pakula’s Rollover (1980), that Costas made the transition to location management when Pakula recognized her keen location scouting eye.

In addition to Rollover (1980), Costas was also a location manager on Pakula’s Sophie’s Choice (1982) and Orphans (1987); Ridley Scott’s Someone to Watch Over Me (1987); and Oliver Stone’s Wall Street (1987). Her association with Pakula continued when she became an assistant unit production manager under the auspices of Judith Stevens on See You in the Morning (1989) and Presumed Innocent (1990), among other features. She transitioned to a unit production manager on James Foley’s Glengarry Glen Ross (1992). As a unit production manager, she has worked on Pakula’s Consenting Adults (1992) and The Pelican Brief (1993); on Sidney Lumet’s Night Falls on Manhattan (1996); Betty Thomas’ Private Parts (1997) and 28 Days (2000); and Mike Nichol’s Closer (2004) to name a few. She has also unit production managed and produced features such as Meet Joe Black (Martin Brest, 1998), Zoolander (Ben Stiller 2001), and Doubt (John Patrick Shanley, 2008). As a producer, Costas’ credits include features such as Doug Liman’s The Instigators, Marc Foster’s A Man Called Otto, and Lin Manuel Miranda’s DGA Award-nominated tick, tick… BOOM!.