After a tour of duty in the military, Roth enrolled at California College
of Arts and Crafts in 1969. Although he held down three part-time jobs
while attending school, he finished in three and a half years with a
3.75 GPA. He accepted the offer of a high-paying job at a space-planning
firm in Los Angeles, but left after five months to work for a smaller firm
where he had more control over the projects he designed. While working
there he became acquainted with socialite Diana Murphy, who designed
interiors for her multimillionaire friends. Roth and Murphy became part-
ners in Diana Murphy Designs, and over the next eight years worked on
a variety of projects, from designing the interiors of a Leer jet, to entire
homes in Beverly Hills, Palm Springs, and Catalina.
Eventually looking for a career change, Roth was steered toward art
direction by two friends who worked in the film business. With design
portfolio in hand, he began making the rounds of advertising and pro-
duction houses. His first job was designing a jockey's room for a Shasta
Diet Cola commercial, directed by photographer-turned-director Sid
Avery. After confessing to the prop master that he had never designed a
set before, the two went to Santa Anita Race Track for research. When
shooting began, Roth didn't speak to anyone on set for fear they would
discover he knew nothing
about the business. What he
lacked in actual set experience
he more than made up for in
design ability. His manner and
design sense impressed Avery,
who continued to work with
Roth over the next few years
on commercials for Chrysler,
Lincoln, and Sunbeam.
During his initial transition
from interior design to art
direction, Roth worked nights
as an illustrator, making elec-
trical ink drawings of air-
planes, to keep his days free to
pursue work. Introduced to
another ad agency through a
first assistant director he had
worked with, Roth landed a 7-Up commercial and a commission to
redesign the agency's offices. Since that time, he has worked on several
hundred commercials.
"I had always avoided features, because I wanted to have more of a
home life. At the time, in features you would wind up going away on a
What do you like
least about your job?
"The thing I don't like
about the business is
the politics . . . It's
the plague of the
business."--Ernest Roth
What do you love most
about your job?
Besides someone calling to offer him a
job, Roth loves the variety of his work.
"You're designing an ice field with igloos
or you're doing a space station. You never
know what you're going to be doing."
--Ernest Roth
VOICES OF
EXPERIENCE
User Comments Add a comment…