‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ production designer Gianna Costa on giving the queens ‘the best experience possible’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

“There definitely is a little bit of freedom to think outside the box and try to make things as fun and fresh as possible,” says Gianna Costa, who became the “RuPaul’s Drag Race” production designer in season 14 after years as an art director. We talked to Costa as part of our “Meet the Experts” panel of Emmy-nominated production designers. Watch our exclusive video interview above.

Costa is nominated for Best Production Design for a Variety, Reality or Competition Series specifically for her work on the episode “Catwalk,” in which the final five queens had to learn choreography and write lyrics for their own music video. “The episode itself was an homage to George Michael‘s ‘Too Funky’ video. I’m a person from the ’90s and to me it’s a very iconic video. So it was really a joy to try to bring this to life in our own ‘Drag Race’ version of it.”

But designing the sets isn’t just for the audience’s benefit. It’s also for the contestants. “The final queens that are in this episode,” Costa explains. “It’s an emotional experience for them and for us, because these sets, and this set in particular, it transports them and it immerses them … They work so hard to get to this point that it’s an accomplishment. So it’s just trying to give them the best experience possible.”

And the queens inspire her as much as she tries to inspire them. “I’ve been on the show for 10 seasons,” she says. “So after a while, stuff that I was never into, all of a sudden I’m into and I don’t know where it comes from. And I think it’s just from years of absorbing everything around me.”

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