- Gene Tunezi (b: 01/13/1929 - d:12/16/2014; age 85) was a graduate of the Chicago Art Institute's Goodman Theatre design program, receiving his MFA in 1956. Hollywood costume designer Bill Hargate, Broadway costumer Theoni and Theoni's actor/husband Tom Aldrich, White House party/dinner designer Paul Leonard were in the same Goodman graduate program class with class-mate Gene Tunezi. Gene, upon his graduation from the Art Institute's Goodman Theatre, moved to New York initially performing as an assistant theatrical designer, becoming a theatrical and television scenic design member of both the Chicago and New York United Scenic Artists IATSE USA #829 theatrical design unions. Gene performed as an art director at all three networks during his design career, first production designing NBC's daily dramatic series "Another World" from 1964-1971, projects with CBS Television, and production designing ABC's daily drama series "One Life to Live".
- Gene Tunezi was color blind! His fellow design students at the Chicago Art Institute Goodman Theatre enjoyed playing pranks upon their fellow class mate! Frequently, when an assignment required Gene to paint his stage scenery project, his class mates would exchange the color labels on the gallon paint cans located in the theater's scene dock and paint frame area. Gene could see values of Grey related to the original labeled color specifics, such as the color red, orange, yellow, green, brown, purple and blue. Black was black, as well, white was white when mixing color value shades! His class mates would go about their own assignment, observing and relishing Gene's finished scenic color palette combinations! His scenic masterpieces for the student projects were always kept a secret from him, just to watch, and see what color combinations he could come up with! After the prank was disclosed to Gene, he cautiously relied upon a trusted fellow friend-class mate to assist him in choosing the correct paint pigment color. After joining the professional design ranks, Gene would get advice from fellow scenic artists and art directors in choosing, selecting color schemes, wall paper choices, and fabric coordination in color schemes.
- Gene Tunezi, a theatrical stage and television scenic stage set designer, was a staff member of the New York City ABC Television Network and Local Production Services Division Group's art department, managed by Jack Kelly. Gene Tunezi's varied theatrical assignments included performing as a production designer; as an art director; as a scenic designer; as a drafts-person; and as a set decorator. The ABC New York Network Union Television contract on-air credit agreement with the New York United Scenic Artist's Union USA IATSE 829 - the studio's ABC scenic design employees (all #829 union members) received the on-screen credit "Scenic Designer" - which was the negotiated television network contract agreement. The "Art Director" on screen-credit was negotiated by the east coast New York television Graphic Artist Union as a jurisdictional screen credit agreement, which included the east coast networks, and included the ABC electronic television network-studio. Only when a scenic designer was not employed as a network-studio art department "staff" member, could the scenic-designer title-credit change. When the designer was employed by an independently contracted production-producing company, could the screen credit be re-designated, the scenic-designer position on-air credit be awarded as "Art Director." The West Coast ADG-MP/TV IATSE 876 theatrical, film and television (scenic) set design branch, The Society of Motion Picture and Television Art Directors Guild IATSE # 876 established in 1939, had negotiated the on-screen credit - "Art Director" and "Production Design by" when the Guild was formed in the 1939. The on-screen feature film and television credit - "Production Design By" was only granted to a feature film or to a television "Producer" to use as an on-screen credit after approval by a special Art Director's Guild Board "Screen Credit" Committee. The east coast producers used the "Production Design By" on-screen credit for an art director assigned their property/production staff because the West Coast #876 (now #800) Art Director's Guild did not have jurisdiction over the Eastern seaboard-coastal area. The first time a "Production Design By" credit appeared and created was when William Cameron Menzies negotiated with David O. Selznick to be designated as the Production Designer, not the art director, when Selznick asked Menzies to design-art direct his 1939 feature film "Gone With The Wind." Menzies' film career by 1937 had moved into film directing when Selznick implored Menzies to return to film designing and join his production's film creative team for preparation of his major 1938 filmed Civil War epic.
- The ABC Television Production Services Division Group's Art Department in the 1950s, 60s, '70s and '80s was under the ABC Division Director Dave Eschulbacher; the ABC Art Department was managed by Jack Kelly; the Art Department included the following staff scenic designers and art directors: Richard "Dick" Bernstein, John M. Braden, Victor DiNapoli, Gene Fabricatore, Ed Flesh, Tom John, Romain Johnston, Alan Kimmel, Elizabeth "Betty" Matta, Kevin Rupnik, James Ryan, Jan Scott, Sy Tomashoff, James "Jim" Trittipo, Gene Tunezi, Barry Williams, and Bob Wright. Scenic Designer Bob Wright's primary assignment was "game shows." Promptly arriving at his ABC third floor designer's cubicle at 7 A.M., Bob Wright would remove his blue blazer, either putting the blazer-coat on a hanger, hanging the jacket on a hook on the designer's cubicle, or hanging the blazer on the back of his desk's drafting stool, opening his daily New York Times to the crossword puzzle, positioning the opened newspaper smack in the middle of his drafting table. Wright would then disappear for the entire day. Wright would mysteriously appear, exactly at 3:00 P.M., throw the N.Y.Times newspaper in the paper trash basket, put on his blazer and depart the studio's third floor art department. His routine was a daily function! No one ever questioned his daily office absence.
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