Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1260659
18 The Costume Designer Spring 2020 Coming Together In Times Like These By David Landau In times like these, the Allegory of the Long Spoons comes to mind. The story describes a room full of people sitting around a table. In the center is a common bowl filled to the brim with plenty for all. But everyone is forced to eat using spoons so long and unwieldy they can't feed themselves. They waste away. Now there's a second room filled with folks in the same situation. But this time, they take a different approach, dipping into the common bowl, reaching across the table, feeding one another. They thrive.This nurturing behavior has been exemplified by our Guild, filled to the brim with colleagues willing to reach across the table. Whether it's cutting membership fees in half, calling up our union members with messages of hope and solidarity, or just looking out for our friends and loved ones. We've been busy feeding one another, even when we're down, even when we hurt, because that's who we are. And through it all, we've practiced social distancing without ever distancing ourselves from the causes we hold so dear. But perhaps most nourishing to countless souls (as well as our own) has come in the form of a few ordinary squares of cloth fashioned into something quite extraordinary: masks for healthcare providers and others in need. We have banded together with our sister unions Local 705, Local 44, and Local 768. And with the weight of IATSE behind us, what began as a grass roots effort took off like a grass fire, igniting a full-blown movement. As of this print- ing, upward of 34,000 masks have been delivered nationwide to hospitals, medical clinics, nurses unions, governmental agencies, convalescent homes, hospice workers, urgent care facilities, faith communities, grocery stores, longshoremen, veterans' homes, ambulance ser- vices, homecare givers, and homeless shelters. No other cause exemplifies our union's ideals of caring for workers, prioritizing health and safety, and working within our communities for the greater good. IATSE saw the need and we used tools of our trade to fill it—totally unscripted, by the way. It is certainly fitting, if not a bit ironic, for artists and craftspeople used to working with only what's on the page. And here we are, given the opportunity to help write a different ending to this story. Here we are, too, grateful for those who helped make this happen. It's equally fitting to thank the members of all our West Coast unions, putting in their time for so timeless and priceless a value. You worked around the clock, turning out countless masks. To those manning the command center at the CDG offices: You distributed mask kits, collected the finished product, then sent them out into the world to do their good. To the various union officers: You rallied your troops with such grace and courage. And, of course, to our mask committee chairs: Brigitta Romanov and Lauren Oppelt of Local 895 and Nikolaus Brown and Bethany Jane Bohatila of Local 705, you set a beautiful table. There were others, too, IngleDodd Media, Western Costume Company, JOANN Fabric & Crafts, International Silks & Woolens, Rag Finders of California, Gladson Fabrics, Ribbon Connections, Milt & Edie's DryCleaners & Tailoring Center, Pico's Sewing Machine, Kagan Trim Center, Auntie Sewing Squad, Laser Cutting, and Le Chef Costumier. Heartfelt thanks go out for their generosity in providing thousands of yards of fabric and materials and hundreds of hours of time. For sure, these weeks are like no other in recent memory. Testing our faith in govern- ment to protect us, our will to persevere against all odds, and our belief the best days are still yet to come. With virtually all productions shut down, our ability to withstand severe financial burdens is also vulnerable. We seem in the midst of a great battle. Though the enemy might be invisible, it's not invincible. I'm reminded of the famous lines in Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, "The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places." Especially those in the entertainment industry. No doubt, we're meant to be tested. Perhaps more to triumph. That is why we chose to spend our lives making art, when our live- lihoods could have been made so much easier doing something else. That is why we chose to make sense out of the world by making meaningful things in it. That is why our craft is to our soul what air is to our lungs. Even still, the world sure has not made things easier at the moment. But moments end. In the end we find ourselves on the other side of something. Stronger at the broken places. There's a room full of people sitting around a table. At the center is a common bowl filled to the brim with plenty for all. But I forgot to mention the beautiful lamp aglow overhead. Our industry may have gone dark, but we've left the light on.