James Pearse Connelly creates “worlds” for some of entertainment’s biggest productions
By Laura D.C. Kolnoski
If you’ve watched “The Voice,” “Wheel of Fortune with Ryan Seacrest,” “The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady,” or “Ru Paul’s Drag Race,” you’ve viewed the work of Belford native James Pearse Connelly, whose career began at Middletown North High School.
Connelly’s “visual storytelling” also defines “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” “The Masked Singer,” “The MTV Music Awards” and Peacock’s “Olympic Highlights with Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson.” Over two decades, the prolific designer has created colorful, inventive, and effects-filled sets for those and more, garnering three Emmy Awards, 18 nominations, and nine Art Directors Guild Award nominations.
Connelly, now principal creative and CEO of JP Connelly, a Los Angeles design services company, joined Middletown North’s theater program freshman year, making scenery and props for the school’s production of “Hello, Dolly!” The 1998 graduate earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theater arts and set design from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts in 2002 before heading to New York City and then California.
His first West Coast job, prop master at a local San Diego theater, paid $575 a week. The production was “Working,” a musical based on the 1974 Studs Terkel nonfiction book that was also adapted into a 2023 documentary featuring Barack and Michelle Obama. Productions of “Proof” and “A Christmas Carol” at venues like The Shakespeare Grove in Hawthorne and the Old Grove Theatre in Balboa Park followed.
“Budgets back then were not big,” Connelly recalled. “I was 23 with a pickup truck, perusing newspaper classified ads and taking long haul drives. I would scour Los Angeles for random vendors, went to Tijuana for cheap fabrics and rugs, and found oak barrels for ‘A Christmas Carol’ at a small winery for next to nothing.”
Such resourcefulness was forged during his modest childhood in a small bungalow west of Route 36, the son of Brian, an architect with NBBJ in Manhattan, and mom, Mary Ellen who taught at New Monmouth Elementary School and Thorne Middle School in Port Monmouth. Connelly said he “grew up watching my mother collect things and was inspired by her love of finding creative ways to decorate around the house.”
“The variety of what I do is wild,” he said. “I love big, colorful designs.” When he oversaw prop design and creation for stage shows, Connelly hired his own crew and built his own props, making his way to Los Angeles where he worked as a production assistant for shows like “The Simple Life” and “Flavor of Love.” He was also principal art director for the 2010 Oscar-nominated film “The Kids Are All Right,” starred as a judge on the HBO Max series “Craftopia,” and hosted his own show, “We’re Moving In” for FYI network. He founded JPConnelly in 2009 with “a large team of dreamers, do-ers, creatives, and technicians.”
The multi-hyphenate’s work extends to private clients too, along with “experiential activations” for brands Fifa, Twitter and Activision. For Bad Bunny, Connelly was tasked with creating a rehearsal studio upstairs in the rapper’s guest house.
“He wanted it to be vintage 1970s retro,” described the designer. “It was a standout with a lot of bells and whistles. I found stuff online from throughout the U.S. over seven days.”
After Connelly created her talk show studio at 30 Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, Kelly Clarkson enlisted him for her office, as well as her personal make-up room. Maria Menounos and Sarah Silverman are also clients. Over the years, he’s learned to balance being surrounded by bold face names.
“I’m always starstruck! I just saw Vanna White at ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ which was insane,” he said last week. “You sweat some, but you must get out of your own head. The hardest part can be their availability, connecting and communicating with them. They are very busy and have limited time; sometimes traveling or on tour. You’re dealing with their personal tastes and things. Some decisions they must make themselves. Also, finding their aesthetic can be challenging. Some aren’t sure and you show them options. Making sure they are happy is my goal.”
A member of the Television Academy since 2007, Connelly has been in the Art Directors/Set Decorators peer group since 2008 and has served on the Television Academy’s Board of Governors since 2014.
“People might be surprised to learn every television show is prepared for at least two-and-a-half years from idea to selling it to an outlet like CBS or Peacock,” Connelly said. “What I’m involved in takes nine months to a year for visualizing and drawing it. Working with contractors, I build a whole world. It’s a big operation. The show is edited for another year until it reaches the viewer. When it all goes right, it’s like running on a treadmill; you’re in the zone.”
Connelly is currently working on Season 26 of “The Voice,” including a live arena episode, as well as the Nov. 15 boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. There are upcoming Netflix, Christmas, and other specials he can’t discuss, and last Saturday, his latest – the professional roller-skating competition show “Roller Jam” – brainchild of TV home flipper and amateur skater Joanna Gaines – debuted on Magnolia Network/Max.
During the pandemic Connelly and his company pivoted from in-person projects to using 3D graphics software tools to build simulations that transferred to the in-camera technology of virtual production. He also provided virtual content for “Master Class” and “Oh Hell No! With Marlon Wayans.”
“People need to pay attention to this,” he said of the new technology, adding, “I’m all on board. It’s rapidly getting better and is so exciting. I can send pictures all over the world cheaply and efficiently. It’s another vertical in our studio.”
To “organize his stress” Connelly reviews action items with staff and is “a firm believer in an eight to six workday.” He and husband Wallie have a son, Cates, and two French bulldogs. The couple are expecting a second son in January.
With a satellite office in Connecticut and work assignments at “30 Rock” Connelly travels back east periodically. He is watching the progress of the planned 12-soundstage Netflix Fort Monmouth production studio complex in Eatontown and Oceanport.
“It’s very exciting,” Connelly said of the prospect of new opportunities for industry talent.
The article originally appeared in the October 17 – 23, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
