“If a solider has time to shine his boots and make his bed, then you have the same responsibilities to keep your kit clean and be presentable.”
So you need a makeup artist or a hairstylist for your next project! Wonderful, but how do you know who your choosing is the right person for the job?
Well there is no shortcut. Do your research look at their website and portfolio. Does your makeup artist not have a website, that should be a flag. I know that with all these free social media platforms it’s easy to say “oh he or she has an instagram” but the truth is that a real professional will invest in their business, and have a website. I’ve seen instagram go wonky and not work for a day or two, same with facebook. So if instagram or facebook are down, there is no other way for you to review their website? Why would any professional risk being passed up with something as simple as not having a website. Do they have pictures or videos of what you need, or looks that align with your ideas? If not, ask them, have they ever done that.
Look at the resume. Do they have their experience listed? Is this person working? What about training and education? I cannot express enough how important it is to ensure the talents safety making sure they can breath under masks, proper removal of adhesives taking extra care not to hurt or traumatize the skin, ect. With the proper training and education you are put in real life scenarios and forced to think on your feet on how to manage what could go very wrong. Is your talent over heating in a 6 piece foam latex mask in Colorado’s 90 degree weather? What is your makeup artist doing to ensure they don’t pass out? Does he or she carry a fan, or cooling towels, are they handing off water to talent when the assistant director or director yells cut?
Do they play well with other? Well, do they? As makeup artist and hair stylist we often spend the most time with the actors, actress, models, ect. Knowing how to manage personalities and collaborating with the rest of the art department is important so that everyone can do the job they were hired to do. Is your stylist talking the production down to the talent, telling them or the crew that they are not giving them enough of a turn around? Nip that in the butt, its unprofessional and counter productive. which brings me to my next point.
Are they professional? Does your artist or stylist leave your emails unanswered for days at a time? How do they present themselves, are they sloppy? Is that the kind of stylist or makeup artist you want representing your company? Did they outline all the terms prior to being on set or are they flying by the seat of their pants? What was the booking process like, is the person pleasant to do business with? Do they show up late or leave early?
Are they sanitary? Now personal hygiene obviously. But take a look at their kit. Is it messy, dirty, or gross? Would you sit in their chair? Nothing irks me more than a gross kit. There is no excuse to show up on set with an unsanitary, or dirty kit. My lovely mentor Marietta once said if a solider has time to shine his boots and make his bed, you have time to clean your kit and tools, and be presentable as well.
Another way to ensure your hire a quality artist or stylist is to look at production directories. Any artist in the industry would be listed at least with the state directory, try IMDB, do they have a profile with credits? And the all time favorite word of mouth. The best way to know the person your hiring is reliable is to get a reference from someone you trust.
Where do you go to find artist for your production needs?