Movies, TV, fashion: name it, Kim Kimble’s done it in her 30-plus years as a hairstylist in hollywood — but even through the good times, she never gave up on her backup plan.
until the outbreak.
“I had a salon where I could work if I needed to, but I closed it,” she said. “So now I don’t even have that.”
Kimble and the world of Hollywood hairstylists, makeup artists and manicurists are idle Actors and writers strike, In an era of falling interest rates as they are still rebuilding their livelihoods from the painful months of the coronavirus shutdown.
Of course, they are not alone, because writers and actors walk the picket line Contract disputes with studios and streaming services. Workers and support staff across all facets of the entertainment industry — production, promotion, assistants — have also lost their jobs from coast to coast.
“Studios are reluctant to approve projects three, four, five months before writers go out, so many of us have been out of work for a long time,” says Linda Do, a Los Angeles-based makeup artist in her 60s. Linda Dowds says she has been working in film and television since 1987.
this Writers Strike May 2; this On July 14, the cast followed suit. It is unclear how long the strike will last. In more than a dozen interviews, experts in clothing, hair, makeup and nails said they worried about losing housing and health insurance in the rush to make the switch. Even if studios and streaming companies reach an agreement with the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild of America and the TV Screen Actors Guild as soon as possible, it will take weeks for production volumes to recover.
Dowds shares Oscar for work “The Eyes of Tammy Fay” Said she felt “high anxiety” about the strike. But she considers herself lucky. She spent years working continuously, which allows her to now maintain health insurance through the Association of Makeup Artists and Hairstylists.
“But it can only last for so long,” she said.
Kimble, 52, has worked with Beyoncé and Taraji P. Henson on Dreamgirls and “A Wrinkle in Time” Belongs to the same guild as Dodds. She didn’t know what else to do.
“I love hair,” says Kimble of Los Angeles. “You know, there’s really nothing else going on. I love this business, so it’s hard to understand, ‘Where am I going?'”
Makeup artist Matin Maulawizada lives in New York, but usually travels the world, working with actors and other celebrities on television, on the red carpet and on talk shows.
“Most of my work was deleted. Honestly, I had no backup plan,” he said.
He said the strike came after years of reduced wages for their jobs.
“I’m not exaggerating when I say our revenue is one-tenth what it was in 2005,” Maulawizada said. “If you work with a top client, you can easily make $3,500 to $5,000 in red carpet fees. Now if you can get $500, you’re lucky.”
New York-based celebrity manicurist Julie Kandalec has been working for A-listers, including Emily Blunt, Storm Reid and Selena Gomez, for nearly 13 years. She also teaches entrepreneurship skills to beauty professionals online, a lucrative side hustle that helps her make ends meet. Plus, she works with brands and maintains a network outside of the Hollywood bubble.
Still, she worries about rent.
“along with Emmys are pushed, That alone is hard,” Candalek said.
Like everyone else, she’s maintained the salon space over the years while keeping busy with red carpets and other responsibilities. Finding enough salon clients to limit lost revenue has been a problem for some.
“I have a salon suite, but most of my clients are actors. Many of them don’t have regular haircuts right now because they don’t have jobs. I’m doing all the house calls and haircuts I can,” says the 38-year-old Los Angeles says celebrity stylist and men’s groomer Andrea Pezzillo. She also teaches online.
A A lengthy actor’s strike will make or break Maulawizada, 59. If this continues until December, he and his teacher partner will have to sell their house.
He had just taken a day of work helping Sarah Jessica Parker prepare for a round of Zoom interviews, working with a French skincare brand, and helping a women’s mental health organization.
“A lot of us used to do beauty, we did celebrity, but now there’s a growing need to just be celebrity. That’s what we’ve been focusing on, but because of moments like this, it’s actually working against us in a way, ’ said Maura Vizada. “If I can’t find a job next month, I’m going to worry about paying the bills.”
He used to make money doing brand consulting, but today “brands spend more money on influencers than real professionals.”
Maura Vizada is especially concerned about colleagues who only focus on film.
“They don’t have an online personality, they don’t have an online presence because they sit backstage and work 16 hours a day, watching monitors to make sure the actors look good. These are the experts of the experts.”
He tried to turn that around during the strike, promoting brands to donate to professional makeup artists in exchange for social media video posts showing how to use the products. He has several brands ready.
“They usually pay some kid dancing and doing makeup on TikTok instead of a professional who made an Oscar-winning movie but doesn’t have a lot of followers on Instagram,” Maura Vizada said.
The Charm Squad finds themselves in Facing the same dire dilemma as people who work in dozens of other jobs in the entertainment industry.
Whitney Anne Adams is a costume designer, working primarily on feature films.
“My work was completely dried up and I had no prospects,” she said. “I haven’t worked since November 2022, apart from a small two-month project since last year’s economic slowdown.”
The only job she found was doing background styling for a few days for a non-union music video.
“There’s really nothing to turn to at the moment,” she said.
Adams, who lives in Richmond, Va., has been dedicated to union work, sharing information about grant programs and other resources.She belongs to two local unions, both affiliated with international union of theater and stage workers As well as film technicians, artists and related craftsmen. It is the same umbrella organization as the Hairstylists and Makeup Artists union.
“We’re negotiating the contract next year. We hope the solidarity they’re feeling from us now will come back to us,” Adams said of the union workers who are currently on strike. “We all have very similar needs and work side by side. It’s going to be really bad for all of us in the industry if they don’t get fair contracts.”
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