François Audouy was born in the South of France but was raised in the small town of Fillmore, California. He decided to drop out of college at 20 to learn the craft of art direction by apprenticeship, and did so in the art departments of Production Designers Bo Welch and Alex McDowell. Doubling as an illustrator and graphic designer, he eventually transitioned to art direction, working on such films as "Green Lantern," "Watchmen," "Transformers," "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory," "The Terminal," and "Spider-Man."
François has been an early adopter of progressive film design thinking, and was one of the early all-digital concept designers working in the art department. He has evolved his experiences with both digital and traditional artists to be able to assemble highly collaborative art departments, and has done so all around the world — Los Angeles, New Orleans, London, Montreal, Sydney, Tokyo and Vancouver.
François designed the historical epic "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" for director Timur Bekmambetov and just completed designing the production of "The Wolverine," which takes the bladed superhero on a new adventure to a stylized modern-day Japan.
François lives in Los Angeles with his wife Véronique and daughter Charlotte.