Born and raised in the Siberian Red River Valley, Renée is prairie folk at heart and can brave an eight-month snowstorm with the best of ‘em. The punishing climate of her youth prepared her well for the fierce trials of filmmaking in foreign cities and remote locations. Most importantly, it taught her that humour, humility, and prairie-born willfulness are the ticket to overcoming the seemingly impossible during production.

She began her career as a Production Designer in Montreal after graduating from Concordia University with a degree in Film Production and design.
Renée cut her teeth in indie-land, then large-scale Network TV, and is now focused on Prestige Limited Series & Features. She recently designed the spectacular Gothic universe for the NETFLIX mega series AMERICAN PRIMEVAL. The historical limited was shot in New Mexico and helmed by Peter Berg and Noelle Green. Prior to that, she created the noir period thriller world for the FX/HULU true crime limited UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN starring Andrew Garfield for Dustin Lance Black, Ron Howard & Brian Grazer @ Imagine, as well as the John Wells’ / Molly Metzler / Margot Robbie heavy-hitting drama MAID. These 2 series shared 8 Emmy & Golden Globe nominations between them. 
In features she designed the Lionsgate film THE ASSIGNMENT for Director Walter Hill, LIFE ON THE LINE & PERSONAL EFFECTS, starring Ashton Kutcher and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Mid-career, she pivoted to Decorator for a few shows to hone her lifelong obsession with the Details. Human Stories live and die in the details.
Her time spearheading enormous projects like PRIMEVAL, THE STAND, ZOO, and BANNER informs the way she balances colossal economies of scale without ever losing sight of the power each tiny object carries to a set in service of the story. 
Renée brings this sharp infatuation for minutia with her and is an uncommonly detail-oriented PD. She knows what titles of books the character will have on the bedside table before the hammers start to swing on the frame of their house. She now works internationally and remains deeply passionate about building worlds from scratch around stories that matter. Her assistant art director, Paco, a gentle & highly skilled Formosan Mountain dog, dutifully supervises the tomfoolery department.