Andrea Purcigliotti is an Emmy-winning production designer known for short-form comedy and fast-paced visual storytelling. As production designer for the SNL Film Unit, she developed a distinctive design shorthand for Saturday Night Live’s pre-taped segments, earning two Emmy Awards (2023, 2025) and an Art Directors Guild Award for the show’s 50th season. Guided by the belief that design can be funny, she uses space, color and texture to create environments that deliver comedic impact. A frequent collaborator with John Mulaney, she designed Everybody’s in LA and Everybody’s Live for Netflix. Her work also spans film and documentary, including Vampires vs. the Bronx and HBO’s Beanie Mania.
In this episode of Apotheosis: Notes From the Field, Alexander Whittenberg sits down with production designer Andrea Purcigliotti to trace her creative journey from her artistic beginnings in New York City to the fast-paced world of television and comedy.
Purcigliotti reflects on her early days as an artist repurposing discarded flats and embracing what she describes as “anonymous storytelling." These formative experiences instilled a resourceful mindset and a sensitivity to environment that continue to inform her design work today.
As her career evolved, Purcigliotti transitioned into music videos. She discusses how the scrappy nature of these productions encouraged her to make something out of nothing and sharpen her intuition.
As the conversation moves onto her work in reality television on shows like The Real Housewives of New York City. Purcigliotti describes the unique challenge of recreating intimate corners of the cast members’ homes for interview settings while carefully balancing polish with the lived-in details that make these environments feel genuine and personal.
Purcigliotti also discusses her role designing the digital shorts for Saturday Night Live, where she currently serves as the film unit's production designer. She offers insight into the exhilarating pace of the process, a narrow window from Wednesday night to Friday morning, of conceptualizing, designing and building entire sets each week.
They wrap up the show with a discussion of her ongoing collaborations with John Mulaney on Everybody’s in LA and Everybody’s Live, and how Mulaney's reference images of Johnny Carson’s Malibu home inspired the “dated warmth” of the sets on Everybody's Live.
Beppo follows a monkey's journey to space in Season 50 of SNL.
“If the energy of creativity is not exercised or exorcised, it can become destructive.”
The iconic Amazon Echo spoof commercial from Season 42 of SNL.
A Christmas Carol is turned on its head in Season 48 of SNL.
“Adaptability is key.”
Purcigliotti embraced a "dated warmth" for the set of Everybody's Live with John Mulaney.
