Power
What kind of project are you working on? If you're the art director on a big-budget film, then you're not the most powerful person in the room…but you're still pretty high up there, because:
- You get to hire and then supervise everyone who's going to work on designing and building the set with you.
- You're in charge of ensuring that all sets are completed on-schedule and to specification.
- You get to make the budget and pay the bills for everything related to set design, construction, and teardown.
Of course, you'll find yourself hamstrung by on-set politics at some point. Maybe the film's director gets on the bad side of a studio executive and you suddenly find yourself with lots of props and no money to pay for them. Maybe your production designer boss wants you to hire a model maker you don't know over a model maker you've known for years because Model Maker A went to the same film school as the production designer.
On-set politics stink, but given that you've spent many years getting to your position as an art director, you've probably seen pretty much everything and have a trick or two up your sleeve for resolving drama.