Interested in working in Hair & Makeup for television or just plain curious? Stockade Works is thrilled to begin its 2022 programming season with an informative and lively conversation on all things Hair & Makeup in Film & Television. Moderated by LeShag Beauty founder and Stockade Works instructor Jennifer Donovan, this inspiring conversation will be centered around jump-starting and maintaining a career within the industry, including anecdotal stories from working on set, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and union membership. Panelists include Christal Schanes (SNL), Vanessa Heshima-Sims (Girls, The Blacklist) *schedule pending, John Perkins (Gotham), Liz Printz (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel). We hope you’ll join the conversation!
MODERATOR: Jennifer Donovan
Kingston Native and lover of all things local, Jennifer Donovan was a graduate of SUNY New Paltz studying Public Relations and Business. All the while, she was working as a hair stylist and salon coordinator for the infamously known hair stylist to the rock and roll world, Mark Ferraro. While working with Mark Ferraro, Jennifer was able to work first hand with the great creatives that migrated to Woodstock and the Catskill region. After college, Jennifer continued to work on large scale productions as a designer and the Head of the Hair and Makeup Department at the Fisher Center at Bard College. She was also a hair and makeup artist for on and off Broadway productions and continues works with American Ballet at the Metropolitan Opera House. With several years of theatre, film, daily styling experiences, and endless connections in the industry, Jennifer continues to train and hire staffing to provide expertise skill sets to local productions, businesses, and stylists. Jennifer is the owner of Le Shag salon and training Academy in Kingston, NY.
PANELIST: Christal Schanes
Christal Schanes has a M.F.A. from UNC School of the Arts in Wig & Makeup Design. She is an Emmy Award winning Hairstylist for her work on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live!”. Christal has worked on many film and television productions as well as building custom entertainment wigs for celebrities and medical wigs for those in need, through her business CHRISTALine Studios. Her passion for sharing knowledge brought her back to UNCSA in 2012 to teach. Christal is an innovator at heart and a designer by trade for which she is currently prototyping new product that will launch on her website CHRISTALineStudios.com later this year.
PANELIST: Vanessa Heshima-Sims
“A consummate collaborator with a signature style, Vanessa Heshima Sims has not only made her mark as a hair department head in both film and television, but also as a celebrity hair stylist and groomer for almost two decades in New York City. Most recently, she completed her second season as the hair department head for “For Life” written by Hank Steinberg; starring Nicholas Pinnock, Indira Varma , Joy Bryant, Mary Stuart Masterson and Timothy Busfield. She was the hair designer and stylist for Adam Driver during his run on Broadway for the play, “Burn This” as well as the Department Head and Wig Designer for NBC’s hit show “The Blacklist” starring James Spader for three full seasons. Her reputation as an artist who fulfills the vision of the creators and stars in addition to the demands of a network series was earned by her work and collaboration with several award winning writers and directors. Her most notable work came from the first two seasons of the Golden Globe winning “Girls” for creator Lena Dunham where she was key. Her many well regarded hair designs for the show were featured in NY Times, Allure, and Cosmopolitan. Always looking for new challenges and new ways to grow; whether it was working with a creator she admired or creating the look for an actor’s role she moved on to department head in her field in a short time. As Department Head, Sims has collaborated with world-renowned filmmaker and historian , Peter Bogdonavich for his film, ‘She’s Funny That Way” as well as shared her amazing styling and designs even farther for indie filmmaker and playwright, Leslye Headland on her film, “Bachelorette” starring Kirsten Dunst grabbing the attention of Ava Duvernay for her pilot, “For Justice” starring Anika Noni Rose. As an individual stylist, her clients include Uzo Aduba, Marisa Tomei, Adam Driver, Jemima Kirke and Meagan Good to name a few. Her work has also been seen in several publications and she has been sought out for her expert advice in her field by NY Mag, Ebony, Essence and Cosmopolitan.”
PANELIST: John Perkins
Started working in the fashion industry doing print and runway in the 90s , then moved on to live television at NBC . Working on news programs and Today show. My first large production was Key then Dept. Head for “Law. And Order” for 8 seasons. Other shows I have Department headed… “Golden Boy”, “Tomorrow People”, “Gotham”, “Hightown”, “For Life”.
PANELIST: Liz Mintz
[TV/Film] Emmy Nominated Hair stylist The Wiz Live!, [Producer] Short film Sun Shine, Bird House: Feature film THORP: Streaming on Amazon Prime and Apple TV. Head of Hair Dept Diana: New musical on Netflix. TV/Film hairstyling Gilded Age, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, High Maintenance. {B’Way Associate Wig Designer] Diana: The Musical, Jersey Boys, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Hamilton, On Your Feet, Revival Side Show, Honeymoon in Vega, Revival Elephant Man, Beautiful the Carol King Musical, Dr. Zhivago, After Midnight [Off B’Way Wig Designer] Oil of Olay Presents Olay Live! [Regional Wig Designer] Barrington Stage Production COMPANY, Bay Street Theatre Annie Get Your Gun North Carolina Theatre, Production of Spamalot, Gypsy, Beauty and the Beast, Annie, Theatre Raleigh, Production of Big Fish, Beehive American Contemporary Theatre of Connecticut, Production of Evita, WORKING, Williamstown Theatre Festival Raisin in the Son. Graduate of University of North Carolina School of the Arts “09 and Local 798 Member