His earliest film projects were 1986's No Mercy (featuring Bruce McGill) as a draftsman and 1987's From the Hip (featuring Ray Walston) as an art director. He then worked as an assistant art director on such films as the popular 1988 western Young Guns (featuring Terry O'Quinn and Brian Keith), Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989, featuring John Savage), 1992's The Last of the Mohicans (featuring Colm Meaney) and 1993's Sommersby (starring William Windom).