Emmy-nominated production designer Rob Tokarz discusses his journey on ‘Hacks,’ the challenges of season 4, and the resilience of his design team. Tokarz shares his nomination for Outstanding Production Design For A Narrative Program (Half-Hour) with art director Jeanine Ringer and set decorator Jennifer Lukehart.
“To say I’m incredibly honored would be an understatement,” Tokarz says of being nominated for his work on season 4. “It’s challenging to make any show, let alone to make one in LA, but to be able to work on a show that gets the appreciation and recognition from my peers is truly wonderful. I’m proud of my team that helped to get here.”
In this conversation, Emmy-nominated production designer Rob Tokarz reflects on his path from ‘Parks and Recreation’ to ‘Hacks,’ where he rose from Art Director to Production Designer and is now preparing for season five. Tokarz shares the excitement of designing elaborate sets for Deborah Vance’s late-night show, the creative challenges of building locations in both Los Angeles and Singapore, and the emotional impact of losing Deborah’s mansion to the January fires. He also explains how his team adapted by constructing new sets, including a beachside restaurant for a pivotal finale scene, and how production resources even aided homeowners in rebuilding. Grateful for both his collaborators and the show’s stability, Tokarz emphasizes the pride he takes in shaping the show’s world and the support of his design team.
Season 4 of ‘Hacks’ sees Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) navigating the fallout of their uneasy partnership after Ava secures the head writer role on Deborah’s late-night show. Their fragile reunion fractures when Ava admits she leaked information to her former boss, leading to a story exposing sexual harassment allegations against a guest the network was protecting. In response, Deborah makes the bold decision to quit on-air, triggering a non-compete clause that sidelines her until she finds a loophole with a limited casino run in Singapore. The season concludes with Deborah and Ava reckoning with the professional and personal consequences of their choices, and the uncertain future of their relationship.
All episodes of ‘Hacks’ are available to stream on HBO Max.
Awards Focus: I remember that you had worked on ‘Parks and Recreation’ back in the day. How did the Hacks opportunity come about?
Rob Tokarz: To have access to such great writing and creativity so early in my career certainly paid dividends – not just in skills, but in relationships. I worked as an Art Department Assistant on two seasons of ‘Parks and Rec.’ After working at Universal on the show ‘Gaslit’ for Starz, I learned that the ‘Hacks’ season 2 Production Designer was looking for an Art Director. We met, I was hired, bumped up in season three, and have been there ever since. In fact, I’m currently starting prep on season 5. Interestingly, Morgan Sackett is the EP of ‘Hacks’ and was also the EP for ‘Parks.’
AF: How honored are you to receive both an Emmy nomination and Set Decorators Society of America Awards nomination for your work on the show this past season?
Tokarz: To say I’m incredibly honored would be an understatement. It’s challenging to make any show, let alone to make one in LA, but to be able to work on a show that gets the appreciation and recognition from my peers is truly wonderful. I’m proud of my team that helped to get here. It would not have happened without my Set Decorator, Jennifer Lukehart, and her team, and my Art Director, Jeanine A. Ringer, and our team. We work hard to create our ‘Hacks’ world, but it’s especially rewarding that all our work is recognized.
AF: The show went to Singapore for the first time. How exciting was the preparation and what were some of the challenges that came about because of this opportunity?
Tokarz: The preparation was very exciting. I was there in December of last year for a Producer’s scout of all the locations where we knew we would be shooting and several locations that had yet to be chosen. The challenge was not being there full-time while prepping. Here in LA, I worked with Lucia, our Director, on what these spaces needed to look like and then, at 6 PM or so, Singapore would come online, and I would give marching orders to my team there. I’d have conversations with my Art Director, Michelle Cheong, and Set Decorator, Aloysius Norman Benjamin, for a few hours, and then, when I went back into work the following LA morning, I’d review their work from their full day. As exhausting as this back-and-forth was, it proved to be very fruitful. My Singapore teams were terrific and consummately professional.
A highlight was the work we did on the traditional bum boats. We were able to take the traditional and charming wooden transport boats and elevate them to the luxury we needed Deborah to convey. The day of the shoot was spent stuffing cushions, hanging curtains, and dressing in the set dec elements required for a party scene that ends in a significant exchange between Deb and Ava in the middle of Marina Bay at night.
AF: Every late night show both feels different and the same. What were you looking to do with the set and what inspiration did you take from some of the late night shows?
Tokarz: To support the story, we needed to create not just the stage you’d see at home, but the entirety of the late-night apparatus. The stage was a nod to ‘Late Night’’s past as well as the history of Deborah Vance and her journey to LA. We wanted to represent Los Angeles by anchoring the set’s columns and arches in Art Deco. We wanted to nod to the history of late night by borrowing the arches from Johnny Carson’s 1972 set in Burbank when he moved here from New York. I wanted to reflect Deb’s start at the Palmetto in the star drop behind her desk, her mansion and tour bus in the chevron floors, and her personality in the icy pink main curtain that reveals her sparkle in our sequin wall. All of that was appointed with Las Vegas touches from the loudness of the band area’s carpet to the marquee bulbed headers and nearly a thousand feet of integrated LED. We finally summed up that Vegas to LA journey in the architectural silhouettes behind her desk.
When we started the season, we were given a black box to fill. We knew that half of it would be the show and the audience, but this last backstage was the institution of ‘Late Night.’ It needed to be a space that had existed across decades and across hosts. We turned the floor into stained concrete. We built storage rooms that we caked in grime, stacked old, forgotten gags and lights on top of them, had the crew sign the walls, implying the many grips, electricians, and crew that had passed through ‘Late Night’ over the years. We wanted everything to feel ancient. In addition to those spaces, we had everything from scripted Production office spaces, hallways, dressing rooms, and beyond to consider as scenery. We blended the use of our own production office spaces with the builds we had on stage. Even Ava’s Office played quintuple duty- first as her office, followed by Rob’s Office, then the Writer’s Bullpen, a conference room, and in the final episode, our attorney’s office. We would reconfigure, repaint, and redress each time. We had was a lot of scenery and it accounted for every inch of space in the set and the world that touched it.
AF: Hacks was one of the shows that was impacted by the devastating fires in January and the fourth season finished production shortly thereafter. Where were things in the season when the fires broke out.
Tokarz: We were approaching the last stretch of shooting in LA when the fires broke out in January. We had a harrowing week of constantly checking the fire apps, crew members going home to evacuate, and then coming back before we shut down production while the worst of it played out. We learned quickly that we’d lost Deb’s LA Mansion- it was not only a beautiful piece of historic architecture, but it was also home to two lovely homeowners and their dog. We’d been shooting there since season 2 and had developed a rapport. Losing that house felt as tragic as any of the friends who lost their homes. We’re relieved and happy that everyone was safe.
AF: The fifth season didn’t get formally announced until May but given that this is Hacks, it feels like a renewal would have been a no-brainer months ago. What sort of impact did the fires have on the design process?
Tokarz: Even though we were finished with Deb’s Mansion, we still needed to shoot the end of episode 6, an essential scene where Deb races into the ocean to save Ava that results in them mending the schism that’s been between them all season. Originally, we were planning to shoot this at Gladstone’s on the coast in the Palisades. While the restaurant itself survived, the toxicity in the environment was such that we couldn’t shoot there. We moved the beach to San Pedro and built a beachside restaurant, The Slippery Oyster, from scratch. We took an old food truck, sunk it into the sand, built a deck, and dressed everything to feel like it had been there for decades.
AF: I know that Deborah’s mansion was lost to the fires. It’s my understanding that provided notes and measurements to the owners to help with rebuilding an insurance.
Tokarz: One of the great things that we were able to give back after the fires was access to all our notes and photos that had accumulated over the years. Generally, when we use a location, we survey to make floorplans and photograph everything to be able to restore it to what it looked like once we’re done shooting. So, if there had been a film crew in your house, there was a high likelihood that we could share those items with you, the homeowner, who, in turn, could give it to your insurance. It’s a small piece of starting to rebuild, but hopefully it gave some solace. Scoutphotos.org is the website.
AF: At a time when the industry has struggled to recover—especially in LA—in recent years, how grateful are you for the job security that a show like Hacks provides?
Tokarz: Ooof – Big question with a simple answer. I’m incredibly proud to be on the show first and foremost because I love Lucia, Jen, and Paul’s story, love my team, and love the crew I get to make it with. That multiplies when you consider that I get to be in Los Angeles and sleep in my own bed every night. I count my blessings every day that I’m on ‘Hacks.’ While I’m hearing inklings of things starting to pick up, I’m happy that I don’t have to worry about it until next year.