Anna Fleischl
production designer
Bring receipts: During Lily Allen’s “West End Girl” tour, production designer Fleischl had the singer wrap up sheets with printed receipts for items her ex-husband had allegedly gifted to other women. It was one of the concert’s many powerful moments, and its lauded visual and production values were shaped by Fleischl’s long career on the London stage, which included winning an Olivier Award.
West End Girl, Literally: The intimacy of this set allowed concertgoers to see Allen’s heartbreak up close, revealing as much as her lyrics. There is also talk that it will become a full-fledged theatrical production.
Guillaume Brochu
CEO and Creative Director, Sandfall Interactive
Ready Player One: Broche set the bar high with the French video game company’s first release, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. His epic tale to save humanity was the most awarded title at the 2025 Game Awards, winning nine trophies (out of 13 nominations), including Game of the Year. It sold 5 million copies in six months and was named the top game of the year by multiple outlets.
Expert help: Broche, formerly of Ubisoft, was inspired by the Final Fantasy series and turned to his mother for plot guidance on important character arcs.
Harriet Cadeford
Psycho Entertainment Creative Director
Directing History: Harriet Cuddeford directed Bad Bunny’s 2026 Super Bowl LX Halftime Show, crafting an homage to Latino culture, utilizing the entire field as a stage, and taking viewers on a tour of Puerto Rico’s iconic scenes.
Best performance: The script, starring Ricky Martin and Lady Gaga, was no mean feat for Cadeford. She worked her way up from Creative Assistant to Global Creative Director at Syco Entertainment, where she helped shape the visual identity for live events such as America’s Got Talent, The X Factor UK and even the MTV Video Music Awards.
Joe Sacco
cartoonist, journalist, writer
A new genre: Long before there was a name for graphic journalism, Sacco was using sketchbooks to report from conflict zones, blending comics and frontline reporting into something entirely new. Sacco’s unique storytelling style allows for multiple and conflicting perspectives, giving voice to those who would otherwise be left unspoken.
A Long Tragedy: The Maltese-American graphic novelist is best known for his groundbreaking 1993 book Palestine, which won the American Book Award. Since then, he has revisited the war-torn region in his work, most recently in a 2024 series in Comic Journal, a collection of Gaza wars.
Kelly C. Knapp
Freelance creative director and production designer
Playhouse: Knapp’s imagination helped build two Netflix houses where viewers can live out their Squid Games and Stranger Things fantasies in permanent exhibits in suburban Dallas and Philadelphia.
Calling all angels: She has been named to lead the creative direction of the 2025 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Veteran Angels like Adriana Lima, Joan Smalls, and Alessandra Ambrosio strutted down the runway to performances by Karol G and Madison Beer. Knapp brought the lingerie brand’s sensual world to life, from all body types to behind-the-scenes, show narrative, visuals and lighting.
mira mariah
Girl Knew York Creative Director
Attracting attention: Ariana Grande’s tattoo artist told Nylon in 2019 that she wanted a job where she could “play with girls and draw all day long.” These days, she goes a little further, combining her business knowledge and artistry as creative director for tattoo booking platform Venue.Ink. The platform has grown exponentially since Mariah joined as an artist advocate last year, and she has helped recruit esteemed artists such as Chanel Diabla, Gnarly Gav, and Mars Hovrecker.
Style and Content: Mariah’s art is revered for its fine lines and detail. Outside of the store, she’s an advocate for mothers and others with disabilities like herself.
Miyako Bellizzi
costume designer
Clothes Make the Man: Following previous collaborations with director Josh Safdie on Good Time and Uncut Gems, Miyako Bellizzi brings different aspects of 1950s New York to the big screen in Marty Supreme. She dressed Timothée Chalamet in big suits, evoked his big dreams, and transformed Tyler, the Creator into a Harlem cab driver.
Good idea: She had the foresight not to have Gwyneth Paltrow wear fur, which would have reflected her Supreme character at the time, but it was because she didn’t want viewers to associate her look with her iconic performance in The Royal Tenebaums. That attention to detail earned Bellizzi her first Oscar nomination this year.
RE Burke
Gekiga writer
Based on a true story: Burke, a Welsh artist, was denied entry to Washington State from Canada due to visa issues while backpacking in 2025. Despite having no criminal record, Burke was shackled and detained in an ICE facility in Tacoma for 19 days and banned from entering the United States for 10 years. This traumatic experience was the inspiration for her graphic memoir, Diary of an Internee. In it, she details the dire conditions she faced and aims to draw the reader’s attention to her fellow detainees.
What’s next: Manga publisher Fantagraphics has acquired the rights to “Diary of a Detainee” and plans to release the graphic novel as “Visiting America: 19 Days in an ICE Facility” in 2027.
Rama Dowaj
Artist and First Lady of New York
The mayor’s muse: Dhwaj helped curate the visuals for her husband Zoran Mandani’s 2025 New York City mayoral campaign. But New York City’s first Gen Z and Muslim first lady was a respected artist long before she met Mamdani on Hinge in 2021. Her work, which focuses on Arab culture, has been published in the New York Times and the Washington Post, and she has collaborated with Spotify and London’s Tate Modern.
Expressing her opinion: She is not afraid to speak out about her pro-Palestinian views, creating art depicting Gaza, the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict, and the Sudanese civil war.
Suzanne Saroff
photographer and director
Smell the Roses: As a child, Suzanne Saroff loved looking at bugs and flowers, which is why she was late on a hike. That wanderlust has served her well. Her Instagram @hisuzanne features sensual photos and videos that subvert the mundane for her 168,000 followers.
Form and function: Sarov’s rich depictions of flowers, food, and people caught the attention of Gucci, which hired her for its “Art of Beauty” campaign. Sarnoff has created a whimsical dreamscape that elevates the brand’s cosmetics from a product to an experience. For the New York-based artist, who studied biology and art history in college, it’s the perfect marriage of two loves.
Boomrun (Sonal Vaseb & Makarand Narkar)
illustrator & designer
Multilayered storytelling: Boomranng’s art is deeply rooted in Indian tradition, but built for a global audience. Last October, they held ‘Cosmicpunk’, an interdisciplinary exhibition in Mumbai featuring art, jewellery, clothing, textiles, sculpture and books. Although the works are based on folklore, they are injected with modernity across genres.
From museum to table: The duo translated cosmic punk into food, collaborating with acclaimed dim sum teahouse Yawacha to create a dessert menu inspired by the exhibits.
Broad exposure: The creators also took their efforts to the mainstream, collaborating with Coldplay’s production team to create a 45-minute short film, “A Film for the Future,” and collaborating with Google to create a special doodle to celebrate India’s 79th Independence Day.
