In this Citizen One Spotlight episode, we sit down with Alex McDowell, the visionary production designer behind Fight Club, Minority Report, and Man of Steel, to explore how worldbuilding extends far beyond Hollywood.

McDowell takes us through his unconventional career path—from designing music videos in 1977 London to reshaping how films visualize the future. He shares insights from Minority Report, where he and his team built a future reality before a script even existed, collaborating with MIT Media Lab, DARPA, Apple, and Lexus to ground the film’s world in real technological foresight. This pioneering approach ultimately led McDowell to formalize worldbuilding as a narrative design system, developing his now-famous worldbuilding mandala.

But McDowell didn’t stop at cinema. His work at USC, 5D Global Studio, and real-world projects like Al Bayda demonstrates how cinematic storytelling techniques can solve complex urban challenges. He discusses how worldbuilding was applied to help a Bedouin community transition into a new living environment, using narrative to bridge cultural and technological divides.

This episode offers a deep dive into the evolution of worldbuilding, its role in urban design and future cities, and how McDowell continues to “fall forward” into new frontiers.