Jim Clay (‘House of the Dragon’ production designer) on ‘stepping into some pretty big shoes’ for ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel [Exclusive Video Interview]

“Our approach was embrace and expand,” reveals production designer Jim Clay about the designing the world of HBO’s epic “House of the Dragon.” For our recent webchat he adds, “There’s a huge fan base there and there would be an expectation from that fun base to continue the feel and be familiar with the world. We wanted to recreate that familiarity and then expand it into our own extended world. We had leeway as ‘House of the Dragon’ is two centuries before ‘Game of Thrones,’ so there’s a little bit of flexibility there. But we wanted the audience to feel they were in the same show, whilst establishing our own show.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

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“House of the Dragon,” the prequel series to HBO’s megahit “Game of Thrones” was created by author George R.R. Martin and writer/producer Ryan Condal, who serves as co-showrunner with two-time Emmy-winning producer/director Miguel Sapochnik. The series stars Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen alongside Emmy nominee Matt Smith (“The Crown”) as Prince Daemon and Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra, among a sprawling cast that includes Olivia Cooke, Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint and Eve Best. The 10-episode first season is set two centuries before the events of “Game of Thrones,” 172 years before the birth of the now-iconic “Thrones” character Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), depicting the events leading up to and covering the bloody Targaryen civil war of succession known as the “Dance of the Dragons.”

Clay is celebrating his first career Emmy nomination after decades as a production designer. He is nominated alongside art director Dominic Masters and set decorator Claire Nia Richards for the pilot episode “Heirs of the Dragon.” It was the obvious choice for the acclaimed designer, because it establishes and showcases so much of the expansive look and feel of the fantasy saga, re-introducing fans to a more elaborate iron throne, a more embellished Red Keep and Council Chambers within the fortress of the Westeros capital King’s Landing and the vast and ancient Harrenhal castle in which old King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, having outlived all his children, convenes a Great Council to select an heir and avoid a potential war of succession.

While designing for such a high profile epic prestige drama like “House of the Dragon” sounds unnerving, Clay also had to shoulder the formidable weight of expectation that comes with building upon the ground-breaking work done on “Game of Thrones” over eight seasons. “It was exciting and in pretty equal measure daunting, obviously, because we were stepping into some pretty big shoes of one of the most successful shows in television history,” he explains. “The world had been set up beautifully by Gemma Jackson originally, and then Deborah Riley, so it was very high standard. You want to fulfill that and embrace that and take it forward. So that was what we embarked upon. With Miguel and Ryan, our approach was, let’s embrace and expand where we can into our own world.”

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