Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538122
42 • THE ARTISAN FALL 2025 PHOTOS COURTESY OF PICTURES FROM THE FRINGE Transforming a Rabbi Into an Unlikey Detective B Y A L E X N O B L E D E P A R T M E N T H E A D M A K E - U P GUNS & MOSES I n September of 2022, I got a phone call from a producer to ask if I was interested in doing a little movie called Guns & Moses, which is about a rabbi- turned-private investigator. Never one to shy away from something seemingly absurd, I said, "Sure!" The title alone had me hooked. I went in for the initial interview and saw a number of faces on the "locked" cast wall and on the crew list that I called my friends, so I was even more invested. The DP was a buddy of mine, a couple of the actors are people I had known forever and loved, the AD was a commercial AD I had worked with before, etc. I started making my calls to crew for hair and make-up and did my typical thing of … what's the word for it? Where do you tell people the truth and don't hold back on the negatives? I can't remember, but anyway, I told everyone that I called (paraphrased, of Mark Feuerstein as the rabbi detective course), "Here's the deal; it's a [feces] rate BUT it is hours … so if you need that, let me know." I do that because I don't like anyone being surprised or complaining later … and, to be fair, most people don't care about the story before they agree to the rates if they are not heading up a show. I was able to lock in Marina Galstyan for my key, and then, we locked Daniella Gutierrez as DH hair and Nathan Diaz as the key hair. Seeing as how tier 0 was a good chance to meet new people and see how they operate. Boy, did they operate! Marina was very strong and willing to go that extra mile. Daniella did a fantastic job as a DH and later told me something that let me know she is going to go far (I'll let her tell that story), and Nathan was a chip off the old block; fantastic hair stylist with a twist of his dad, Ken Diaz! I could talk about the contemporary make-up and hair that was done. I could L-R: Neal McDonough, Mark Feuerstein, Alona Tal, Mercedes Mason, and Dermot Mulroney