I am returning to the role of Chief Make-up, Hair, Wigs and FX Designer after stepping off to look after my mother for the last couple of years of her life.
Although I stepped back from Designing, I did three small films as HOD to keep my name in the game and dailies on much bigger pictures including "1917" for which as a screen credited member of the team, I participate in an OSCAR nomination. I also have 3 BAFTA nominations as HOD and an RTS nom.
I'm starting over refreshed and connected to some excellent, experienced and talented colleagues I met while doing dailies, a good way to meet good people.
I have 4 decades experience working in the industry and good quality, interesting work has always found it's way to me and from 1980-2005 I worked consistently without an agent and was offered plenty of opportunities and accomplished some of my best work, winning 2 of my 3 BAFTA nominations.
I still love my work, I'm still careful and passionate about delivering quality work to the screen in a timely manner and have the experience and on screen evidence to prove it. The work is not always about what needs doing as what doesn't need doing, being confident about this is the way to save much time and money - I have a couple of interesting examples I could share in a meeting.
I enjoy standing by in a focused, quiet way for me that's the magic of movie making. Co-creating thin convincing character, period and or transformational looks are what I do best especially with wigs, ageing or postiche (beards & laid on facial hair).
Often work has found me by recommendation or my reputation for always delivering on budget or just under. Producer Malcolm Craddock called me especially to set up the first "Hornblower" films in Ukraine for exactly that reason having been lumbered on wrap of "Sharpe" with an order pad for £10,000 for outstanding wig hire and postiche costs. Malcolm knew I'd keep it on budget. I was sought out for a novel approach to 'period' by Producer Julie Gardiner for "Casanova" who wanted me to find a way to ditch authentic period and design a modern take on period, which I did and which pre-dated the Kirsten Dunst picture "Marie Antoinnette" by a year - it must have been a zeitgeist thing, but I got there first in 2005. For thin realistic work (Producer/Writer Lynda La Plante hired me for the first 3 "Trial and Retributions". Maxine Peake put me forward for "Funny Cow" which is one of my favourite results ever.
I've worked with a variety of directors including the elusive auteur Producer/Director's Stanley Kubrick, who told me in person on my last day, "You did a great job.", (not bad considering he fired the first two chief make-up artists within the first 4 weeks). I've worked with quiet gentle souls, bombasts like Michael Winner and Menachem Golan and a plethora of TV film and episodic tv directors some of whom had a vision they shared to achieve their distinctive style within a franchise.
Directors vary greatly. Some tell you nothing and ask you nothing, some show you a picture for the tone of the whole production, some are very specific. I'm nearly always left pretty much to my own devices as a "safe pair of hands" and it's important to be that also for your team, especially the younger team members.