Jack Fisk (born December 19, 1945) is an American production designer and director. As a production designer, he is known for his collaborations with Terrence Malick, designing all of his first eight films including Badlands (1973), Days of Heaven (1978), The Thin Red Line (1998), and The Tree of Life (2011). His other credits include Phantom of the Paradise (1974), Carrie (1976), Eraserhead (1977), Heart Beat (1980), The Straight Story (1999), Mulholland Drive (2001), Water for Elephants (2011), and The Master (2012). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Production Design for There Will Be Blood (2007), The Revenant (2015), and Killers of the Flower Moon (2023). Fisk made his directorial debut with Raggedy Man (1981) and went on to direct the films Violets Are Blue (1986), Daddy's Dyin': Who's Got the Will? (1990), Final Verdict (1991), and two episodes of television series On the Air (1992). Description above from the Wikipedia article Jack Fisk, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- December 19, 1945 (80)
- Clayton, Illinois, USA
- Director and actor
- 36 on MovieCove · 43 credits in all
What are Jack Fisk's films like?
Across their 8 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Ideas.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 8
A split, not a type: Light 5 · Serious 2 · Dark 1
Grounded 7 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 1
Gentle 5 · Charged 2 · Intense 1
Steady 5 · Shifting 3 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 6 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 1
Slow burn 5 · Even-paced 3 · Relentless 0
A split, not a type: Casual 4 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 6 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 1
Resolved 6 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 1
Roles they play
- Shadowas The Man in the Planet in Eraserhead (1977)
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet3
- Ambiguous2
- Cyclical1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Jack Fisk's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 23 of their 36 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (13).
- Badlands (1973) · art direction · free
- Eraserhead (1977) · actor · free
- The Master (2012) · production design · free
- Messiah of Evil (1974) · art direction · free
- Movie Movie (1978) · art direction · free
- To the Wonder (2012) · production design · free
- Knight of Cups (2015) · production design · free
- Violets Are Blue... (1986) · director · free
- Song to Song (2017) · production design · free
- The Peace Killers (1971) · gaffer · free
- Vigilante Force (1976) · art direction · free
- Terminal Island (1973) · art direction · free
- +1 more
- Shout! TV, show their 3 titles on Shout! TV
- Midnight Pulp, show their 2 titles on Midnight Pulp
- Howdy, show their title on Howdy
- IndieFlix, show their title on IndieFlix
- Lionsgate+, show their title on Lionsgate+
- Magnolia Selects, show their title on Magnolia Selects
- Screambox, show their title on Screambox
- Sundance Now, show their title on Sundance Now
Subscription and free streaming for Jack Fisk's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
43 credits, 36 with a MovieCove page; 10 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Marty Supreme(2025)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
Causeway(2022)
Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films
Song to Song(2017)
Midcredits score: 33rd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 63rd percentile of all films
Voyage of Time(2016)
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all films
The Revenant(2015)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
Knight of Cups(2015)
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films
To the Wonder(2012)
Midcredits score: 44th percentile of all films
The Master(2012)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films
The Tree of Life(2011)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films
Water for Elephants(2011)
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films
There Will Be Blood(2007)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
The Invasion(2007)
Midcredits score: 35th percentile of all films
The New World(2005)
Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all films
Mulholland Drive(2001)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
The Straight Story(1999)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films
The Thin Red Line(1998)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
Second Chances (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1993)
On the Air (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1992)
Final Verdict (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1991)
Midcredits score: 36th percentile of all films
Violets Are Blue...(1986)
Midcredits score: 36th percentile of all films
Raggedy Man(1981)
Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all films
Heart Beat(1980)
Midcredits score: 29th percentile of all films
Movie Movie(1978)
Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films
Days of Heaven(1978)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films
Eraserhead(1977)
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
Death Game(1977)
Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films
Carrie(1976)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
Vigilante Force(1976)
Midcredits score: 21st percentile of all films
Darktown Strutters(1975)
Midcredits score: 23rd percentile of all films
Messiah of Evil(1974)
Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all films
Phantom of the Paradise(1974)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
Badlands(1973)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
The Slams(1973)
Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films
Terminal Island(1973)
Midcredits score: 21st percentile of all films
Cool Breeze (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1972)
The Peace Killers(1971)
Midcredits score: 28th percentile of all films
Angels Hard as They Come(1971)
Midcredits score: 13th percentile of all films
Absurd Encounter with Fear (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1967)
Six Men Getting Sick (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1967)
Gold Mountain (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 43 titles, 42 of them dated from 1967 to 2025.
Film career
- 1967Screen debut· Absurd Encounter with Fear
- 1967First top-billed film· Absurd Encounter with Fear
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Jack Fisk's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 67th percentile, the median of all 36; across their 8 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 64th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up16
- 50th to 74th6
- 25th to 49th10
- Below 25th4
Shape of the crowd
14 of their 36 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved7
- Crowd Pleaser14
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed14
Reviewers score the atmosphere 76/100 and the pacing 39/100 in their films, across 4 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Jack Fisk work with?
People who share at least 2 of Jack Fisk's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Laurent Bouzereau shares the most, 3.
Directors
- Laurent BouzereauShared titles: Exploring 'the Tree of Life' (2011), Acting 'Carrie' (2001), Visualizing 'Carrie' (2001)See all 3 shared titles with Laurent Bouzereau
Actors
- Sissy SpacekShared titles: Acting 'Carrie' (2001), Violets Are Blue... (1986), Raggedy Man (1981)See all 3 shared titles with Sissy Spacek
- Brian De PalmaShared titles: Acting 'Carrie' (2001), Visualizing 'Carrie' (2001)See all 2 shared titles with Brian De Palma
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Pino DonaggioShared titles: Acting 'Carrie' (2001), Visualizing 'Carrie' (2001)See all 2 shared titles with Pino Donaggio
- Edward WarschilkaShared titles: Violets Are Blue... (1986), Raggedy Man (1981)See all 2 shared titles with Edward Warschilka
- Ralf D. BodeShared titles: Violets Are Blue... (1986), Raggedy Man (1981)See all 2 shared titles with Ralf D. Bode
