Local 706 - The Artisan

THE ARTISAN FALL 2021 • 27 Not everyone you encounter or become friends with stays in your life forever. Some are drive-bys. Some are just passing through. Some show you who you are. Others teach you some- thing you didn't know about yourself. While others truly mold you or remain lasting xtures. When all the walls around you crumble, they are the doorjamb that remains standing. ank you, Robin Siegel, my closest and dearest friend and fellow Local 706 Sister, for being my doorjamb. She was the rst professional make-up artist I met upon my arrival in L.A. We met on the set of e Commodores' Nightshi music video. I came to assist my brother with the costumes that I had lent a helping hand in making. He introduced us and made sure we had exchanged numbers. Up to that point, I was freelancing for some of the major in-store cosmetic brands, including Revlon Cosmetics, which at the time was in selected department stores. I started freelancing for them in New York, so when I arrived in Los Angeles, I reached out to the local rep and was hired on the spot. My freelancing for cosmetic lines was interrupted by a call from Robin three days aer meeting her. She had been hired to do a Jerey Osborne video and wanted to know my availability. ere goes that word again … the most profound word in our industry … followed by the most profound questions: "What's your availability?" or "Are you available?" For Genius: Aretha, of course I was available! Ironically, at the same time I was chatting with Anthony Hemingway, my résumé was being submitted to the production supervisor by another friend, Local 798 union make-up artist Denise Tunnell. When the job is for you, seems it's yours and no one else's. Unlike past period features that I came to do, like Malcolm X, What's Love Got to Do with It, Eve's Bayou, and all the other period pieces, this was dierent. It was a fast-paced, limited series … just eight episodes. I knew this was going to be challenging, several decades and numerous real-life musicians, music executives, and all of Aretha's immediate family to recreate. My rst hurdle was putting my team together. Being unfamiliar with many of the artists in Atlanta, I reached out to who I already knew, Caroline Monge and Milene Melendez. Both had relocated from South Florida to Atlanta and were more familiar with the make-up and hair landscape there. ey agreed to work with me. Can I tell you, this was one of the best professional decisions I ever made. ese are two of the most talented and amazing women I have ever shared a make-up trailer with. We covered a lot of territory in a very short period. As soon as our deals were solidied, we hit the pavement running. Research, accuracy, authenticity, that's what we needed to bring to this project. Working with Anthony Hemingway is every artisan's dream. is is a director who gives you a rsthand look at his innermost thoughts for his characters, his vision for them, and the direction he wants to take them in. He immediately emailed me the color palette in which we would be shooting. Armed with this knowl- edge, I proceeded to create my pre-production strategy. I work with multiple lists simultaneously. As I thought of something, I forwarded it to my team to be added to the numerous Google documents we created. By the time I arrived in Atlanta, it was just a matter of physically purchasing or implementing the lists we'd created. ere was so much to do to get started. However, being organized upon arrival made a dierence. We could have used an additional two weeks of prep. We didn't have it so we had to do the best we could. Doing make-up tests really helped to narrow down looks for our principals. Top row, L-R: Carter-Narcisse with Tina Turner wearing make-up done by Tina Turner to show her 1960s and '70s stage looks; The Commodores and brother, Ian Carter. Left: Best friend Robin Siegel with Carter-Narcisse.

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