In part 2 of my interview with Jodi, we talked a lot about the struggles of balancing motherhood and family life while working in production: finding what works for your family, being present for your kids when you get the chance, but also how to take time for yourself without feeling guilty and knowing that it’s ok to just do nothing. Jodi also talks about what it’s like working on SNL and watching the cast members grow, her favorite Kristen Wiig story, and her thoughts on the world of social media today.

Did you miss part 1? Check it out here!

ABOUT JODI:

Jodi Mancuso is the Hair Designer on SNL, but you can also catch some of her work in Portlandia, among other things. Jodie 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 GED and started working with her mom off-broadway. 

Jodi eventually got married and her husband’s dream was to open a pizzeria, so they did, but she hated it, and really yearned for a creative outlet, and found her way to SNL.

CONNECT WITH JODI:

Instagram

FOLLOW JESSICA:

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

WEBSITE:

TheProductAgent.com

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Music: Bewitched Jeannie

LynneMusic

NeoSounds.com - Royalty Free Music, Stock Music library. 

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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 GED and started working with her mom off-broadway. 

Jodi eventually got married and her husband’s dream was to open a pizzeria, so they did, but she hated it, and really yearned for a creative outlet, and found her way to SNL.

This interview is another one in two parts, but in Part 1, Jodi and I discuss working moms, and how her mom taking her to work helped shape and influence her when she became a mother herself. Jodi also tells me all about what a typical week is like working on SNL, the fast-paced nature of SNL, wigs, wigs, and more wigs, and more!

CONNECT WITH JODI:

Instagram

FOLLOW JESSICA:

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

WEBSITE:

TheProductAgent.com

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Music: Bewitched Jeannie

LynneMusic

NeoSounds.com - Royalty Free Music, Stock Music library. 

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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 fell in love with vintage clothing. She started collecting vintage clothes from church sales and the like thinking she would one day open up her own shop. When Lou went to college, she worked part time at a vintage shop, and learned that she was good at merchandising and displays. She then got a job as a stylist assistant, touring with musicians like the Manhattan Transfer, Prince, and Bette Midler which enabled her to travel all over the world, before one day finding herself working for the legendary Ryan Murphy.

In this episode, Lou talks about her upbringing and education and the importance of following your passions, what it’s like working for Ryan Murphy and an average day-in-the life on set, conquering imposter syndrome, how she stays sane with daily meditation and spirituality, her favorite products, and how being a cancer survivor changed her outlook on life.

CONNECT WITH LOU:

Instagram

FOLLOW JESSICA:

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

WEBSITE:

TheProductAgent.com

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Music: Bewitched Jeannie

LynneMusic

NeoSounds.com - Royalty Free Music, Stock Music library. 

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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 Hollywood, and how Leo DiCaprio’s generosity and grace helped her feel comfortable on the set of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

CONNECT WITH HEBA:

Instagram

FOLLOW JESSICA:

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

WEBSITE:

TheProductAgent.com

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Music: Bewitched Jeannie

LynneMusic

NeoSounds.com - Royalty Free Music, Stock Music library. 

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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 (particularly with family leave and valuing parents), the process of how she finds a look, and the differences between being a personal makeup artist and working on a production set. 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this interview in 2 weeks!

CONNECT WITH HEBA:

Instagram

FOLLOW JESSICA:

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

WEBSITE:

TheProductAgent.com

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Music: Bewitched Jeannie

LynneMusic

NeoSounds.com - Royalty Free Music, Stock Music library. 

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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 sewing machine, he would stable the fabrics together in a way that mimicked how his mom would sew. Mitchell went on to college (earning a degree in puppetry… imagine that?) and climbed the production ladder rung by rung, working his way up from the very bottom to costume designer. 

In this episode, Mitchell talks about his career in production and the transition from assistant to designer, the importance of putting together a solid team, his fittings processes, jewelry, social media, and more!

CONNECT WITH MITCHELL:

Instagram

FOLLOW JESSICA:

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

WEBSITE:

TheProductAgent.com

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Music: Bewitched Jeannie

LynneMusic

NeoSounds.com - Royalty Free Music, Stock Music library. 

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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 with Sherri and her life in production that we needed two episodes to air it!

In Part 2, Sherri and I talk about how she looks at the script, her experience working with Ryan Murphy, her favorite cruelty-free makeup and skincare products, and the must-have products and tools for her makeup bag.

CONNECT WITH Sherri:

Instagram

FOLLOW JESSICA:

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

WEBSITE:

TheProductAgent.com

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Music: Bewitched Jeannie

LynneMusic

NeoSounds.com - Royalty Free Music, Stock Music library. 

_________________________

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 with Sherri and her life in production that we needed two episodes to air it!

In Part 1, Sherri dives into the intimacy of being a makeup artist and being able to read people to see their individual needs, her transformative, life-changing experience of working on Pose with black trans women and how it forced her to examine her white privilege and advocate for the inclusion of people of color in the industry, and the mom guilt and feelings of failure that come with the overwhelming schedule and lack of work-life balance in the production industry. 

Check back in 2 weeks for part 2 of this amazing interview!

CONNECT WITH Sherri:

Instagram

FOLLOW JESSICA:

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

WEBSITE:

TheProductAgent.com

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Music: Bewitched Jeannie

LynneMusic

NeoSounds.com - Royalty Free Music, Stock Music library. 

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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 her field. Her journey into set decorating started by answering an ad for a job opening for a salesperson at a prop house, and she found her way into set decorating from there. Regina was able to find a way to use her interior design training to decorate a fantasy world through production, rather than actual people’s real-life, permanent homes.

In this episode, Regina talks about the process a set decorator goes through from being hired for a job, to breaking down the script, characters, and time period, to meetings with the production designer, building a team, working with a budget, and more!

What you can learn in the episode:

• The job of a set decorator and all it entails
• Expectations vs. Reality of working in production
• The importance and necessity of a good notebook

CONNECT WITH REGINA:

Instagram

FOLLOW JESSICA:

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

WEBSITE:

TheProductAgent.com

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Music: Bewitched Jeannie

LynneMusic

NeoSounds.com - Royalty Free Music, Stock Music library. 

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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 the United States in the late 1980s to live the American Dream, and learned the art of makeup, and was lucky enough to build connections and  find work right away on smaller, low-budget projects.

In this episode, Nicki talks about the difference between low budget projects and big budget projects, the family nature of production, how being an independent woman raised by a feminist father shaper her career, and her experience working on the Greatest Showman and the Joker.

Key interview takeaways:

• Don’t be ashamed to ask for help
• The difference between a key makeup artist and a department head
• Why you need to manifest your vision
• The importance of all the departments coming together to ensure they complement one another

CONNECT WITH NICKI:

Instagram

FOLLOW JESSICA:

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

WEBSITE:

TheProductAgent.com

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Music: Bewitched Jeannie

LynneMusic

NeoSounds.com - Royalty Free Music, Stock Music library. 

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