The Exchange

Production designer Alex McDowell has one strict rule: Don’t repeat the same genre. His eclectic work history ranges from the graphic novel adaptation Watchmen, to the animated children’s film Bee Movie to the futuristic world of Minority Report, proving his rule has served him well. McDowell is also an advisory board member for The Exchange and as you can read below, he is not shy about expressing his love for science and science consulting.

Part of the “rapid response” team for the hit TV show Fringe, neurobiologist Ricardo Gil da Costa is “on-call” to answer questions for the science-curious Fringe writers. Not an easy task when you’re also researching neuroscience and biology in your laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies – but Ricardo pulls it off with ease. Since joining The Exchange as a science consultant in 2008, he’s consulted on Fringe as well as a number of film and television projects to be announced.

He’s the producer behind 300, Terminator: Salvation, Tron: Legacy, and more films than you can hardly imagine. But you might be surprised to learn Jeff Silver’s career in filmmaking started with a Bar Mitzvah gift from his aunt, a Super 8 camera. It’s a wonderful reminder of how a small moment can change everything, which might explain why Silver chose to use science advising for Terminator: Salvation and Tron: Legacy – those small science details could change anything, from a character to a storyline.