The Product Agent: Hurry Up and Wait

Jodi Mancuso is the Hair Designer on SNL, but you can also catch some of her work in Portlandia, among other things. Jodi grew up in the Bronx, and as a child, she was always watching her mother do hair. Jodi’s mom’s passion for hair was validated when her childhood friend (who was one of the top hair designers on Broadway) encouraged her to pursue hair, and so in her 40s, she went to hair school. Her mother then got started in production and worked her way up from the bottom. Jodi dropped out at 16 to get her...

Lou Eyrich works for Ryan Murphy Productions, and has been the Costume Designer on American Horror Story, Pose, Nip Tuck, Glee, and more! Lee grew up in Minnesota in a creative household. Her father was a painter, photographer, and musician, and she and her 7 brothers and sisters were required to take piano lessons and play in the band. Lou grew up loving music so much that she thought she’d grow up to be a musician. Her “family art nights” were a frequent occurrence in her household and fostered an early love of creativity and art. As a teen, she fe...

Heba Thorisdottir grew up in Reykjavík, Iceland. She grew up playing with her mother’s makeup and creating characters for herself. It wasn’t just about beauty for her, it was about creating and turning herself into a character with the use of makeup. She worked her way up from the bottom from craft service until she was hired for jobs as a makeup artist. 

In Part 2 of my interview with Heba, we talk about the challenges of working on set during Suicide Squad, her makeup bag must-have products, working with brands, maintaining a good reputation in Hol...

Heba Thorisdottir grew up in Reykjavík, Iceland. She grew up playing with her mother’s makeup and creating characters for herself. It wasn’t just about beauty for her, it was about creating and turning herself into a character with the use of makeup. She worked her way up from the bottom from craft service until she was hired for jobs as a makeup artist. 

In Part 1 of my interview with Heba, we talk about how she literally worked her way up from the very bottom, the difference between Iceland and the United States...

My guest this week is Costume Designer, Mitchell Travers, who has worked on Hustlers, Late Night, In the Heights, and more!! As a child, Mitchell had an insatiable appetite for creativity. With the encouragement and support of his mother, he enrolled in as many arts programs as possible, created his own halloween costumes, and more. His mother took him to see theater performances and he would beg her to sit as close as possible so he could see all the details and soak in every aspect of the production and design. Since he wasn’t allowed to use the se...

Sherri Laurence grew up loving makeup and hair and always wanted to be in front of the camera, but she realized in college while studying film and television that she actually liked to be behind the camera. As she fell more and more in love with production, she resisted doing hair and makeup because it was something she had always done, and she wanted something different, but after trying every department in production, she realized she wanted to be a makeup artist. She has worked on Pose, Fosse Verdun, the Politician and more!

I talked so much...

Sherri Laurence grew up loving makeup and hair and always wanted to be in front of the camera, but she realized in college while studying film and television that she actually liked to be behind the camera. As she fell more and more in love with production, she resisted doing hair and makeup because it was something she had always done, and she wanted something different, but after trying every department in production, she realized she wanted to be a makeup artist. She has worked on Pose, Fosse/Verdon, the Politician and more!

I talked so much...

Regina Graves is an Oscar nominated New York-based set director whose credits include The Irishman, the Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Step Up 3D, and War of the Worlds! Growing up, Regina didn’t even know what a set decorator was. When she was working at Pier 1 in New Jersey, she made the acquaintance of a set decorator who came in to shop at the store, and that was the very first time she even heard about what it was. She was an aspiring architect and went to school for Interior Design, but she struggled with finding a job in...

Nicki Ledermann is a German-born makeup artist who has spent the last 30 years living in the United States doing makeup for television and film. She has worked on 80 projects, and her credits include Sex & the City, Vinyl, Boardwalk Empire, the Devil Wears Prada, Enchanted, the Greatest Showman, and the Joker. What a career! 

Nicki was always fascinated by film, and after watching the Exorcist as an adolescent, she became transfixed. She knew one day she would end up in New York. She went to a performing arts high school where she actually studied music. Nicki came to t...