Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1057451
Fall 2018 The Costume Designer 29 Stepping Up When Hanafin was diagnosed with breast cancer, she continued to design The Newsroom and credits her team with her ability to carry on. "Part of the reason I could ease through cancer was because I had assistants like Hannah Jacobs and Katie Sanders at The Newsroom every day." She discovered a similar collaborator in Thaide when they worked together on Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Brothers. They joined forces again for Netflix's Chambers. Shooting in Albuquerque, Hanafin took the job in part to be in close proximity to her mother, who was hav- ing health issues. Unfortunately, a weekend visit extended into a long-term stay as her mother's health deteriorated. "On the day I was supposed to return, I called Ivy and said, 'It's really bad. We just called the priest.' And Ivy said, 'Breathe, breathe, breathe. It'll be all right.' And it was." "Those two weeks when I was with my mother, Ivy stepped up in a way that I was always confident that she would and could. You have to let people have owner- ship of a project. Everyone has something to contribute. That doesn't mean you are surrendering your design. It just means you're supporting other people, bringing other resources to the table, and enriching your own experience." Moving Forward Costume Design continues to be an evolving profes- sion. As television shows and films become larger, more elaborate, and expensive, the demands placed on Costume Designers and their teams will continue to grow. In a business that already demands flexibility and the ability to think on your feet as prerequisites, Costume Designers must juggle the roles of creator and manager, becoming team builders in addition to being artists. Consequently, the role of assistant costume designer must also grow in importance. It is often necessary for Costume Designers to fight to get an assistant in their budget. For an increasing number of designers, that fight is well worth the effort, and many now see it as a necessity. As the demands on the Costume Department continue to grow, ACDs will become even more crucial to productions. "It has to be a team," Hanafin says. "The most successful depart- ments are like that, and that's part of why we have such diversity and points of view among our membership."