Stephen Poliakoff Director and Writer ‘A Real Summer’
Madelaine did a tremendous job in designing A Real Summer for me. It was a prequel to my film Capturing Mary (for BBC2) and was conceived at very short notice. Madelaine made brilliant use of the central London location, and with an extremely limited budget she enhanced every scene with her design and beautifully chosen props. I first met Madelaine when she was Art Director on set for The Lost Prince and her work on that show was sensational. She is a very gifted designer and remarkably hardworking.
Letitia Knight Producer ‘Vera 6’
As a producer I find it difficult to recommend Maddie highly enough. She is supportive inspiring and canny. In brief she is a mighty fine production designer.
I worked with Maddie on four 90 minutes films for ITV.Vera. The budget isn’t huge yet Maddie found ways of getting us what we wanted, always If we agreed something was important for the story Maddie would always find a way to make it work. She is a huge collaborator and very savvy.
Maddie is brilliantly organised so the art department is always going to run smoothly. Her respect for craft, script, and production means she engenders great loyalty.
I would look hire Maddie again and again. She’s keen, talented and caring.
Paul Gay Director Vera 6 block 4
‘Madelaine played an extremely important role as production designer on Vera 6. She not only made a massive contribution to the way the series looked creatively, but also worked in a practical way to make the most of what was a fairly modest budget. The episode that we worked on together was set against the backdrop of the North East fishing Industry. Her vision and eye for detail perfectly captured this world and gave the whole episode a distinctive but authentic appearance. Her enthusiasm and input was tremendous and I certainly hope to have the opportunity to collaborate with Madelaine again on future projects’
Jill Robertson Director Vera 6 block 2
Madeleine’s detailed, hard working and professional approach was a great asset on Vera. Her energy and unflagging enthusiasm for all aspects of the design and set dressing contributed enormously to the success of some ambitious set pieces. She was extremely organised and very resourceful in not only finding creative and thoughtful solutions to any challenges we encountered, but ensuring a high quality of design work which really enhanced the atmosphere of the drama.
Katherine Lannon Producer ‘Shirley’
About Madelaine Leech – Production Designer on ‘Shirley’
The design brief for our single film for BBC TWO on Shirely Bassey was a tough one but Madelaine immediately embraced all the creative and budget-related challenges.
The drama covered four decades – from the 1930s to the 1960s – and multiple locations from Tiger Bay to top London night clubs. And all this to be delivered in an unimaginably short time period and all in Wales.
Madelaine succeeded in delivering her design vision on every level. We benefitted enormously from her wealth of design and art department experience. She has a strong creative vision combined with real attention to the period detail. She is resolute and has a great energy and showed a real loyalty and passion for the project and her role in it.
Key Heads of Department were particularly impressed with the design on Shirley inlcuding our DoP and Gradist and our Exec Producers.
Madelaine generates a great team spirit both with loyal team memebers who she has worked with before but with new talent who she embraced into her design team. She has an enabling spirit and balances the needs of design while always being mindful of the wider needs of the production.
I would work with Mad again in a heartbeat.
Martina Silcock Producer ‘The Nest Egg’
“Madelaine worked as Production Designer on my short film “The Nest Egg”. She was recommended to me by a friend and came on board early on which was such a huge bonus for us as it was an ambitious shoot with many locations and a limited budget. She has great creative vision and came up with many fantastic artistic and practical solutions for our locations and set dressing. Her upbeat helpful attitude was a great asset to our shoot and she was always a joy to have on set.
Caroline Levy Producer ‘Excluded’
About Madelaine Leech – Production Designer on ‘Excluded’
‘Madelaine was a huge asset to the team on ‘Excluded’. She was creative, resourceful and managed her team brilliantly. Our budget was extremely tight but you would never know it on screen thanks to Madelaine’s skill and ingenuity.’