Prior to seeing the documentary and doing the interview, I wasn’t aware of Kevyn, but then the few makeup artists I’m aware of tend to be special-effects luminaries like Jack Pierce (Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein) or Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London, Hellboy).

It turns out that Kevyn was quite the makeup trailblazer and one of the early makeup artists who was on a first-name basis with a number of celebrities. He would eventually become a celebrity in his own right during an era when just a handful of people were making a living as professional makeup artists.

Some of the big names Kevyn worked with include Cindy Crawford, Janet Jackson, Liza Minnelli, Naomi Campbell, and Winona Ryder. As Larger Than Life: The Kevyn Aucoin Story reveals, sometimes Kevyn’s high-profile collaborations would lead him to work that would cause ripples throughout the fashion industry for years.

Tiffany’s documentary doesn’t just highlight Kevyn’s achievements and put them in historical perspective though. It also reveals some of the struggles Kevyn faced as an adopted child who would come to feel twice rejected by his biological mother, once because she put him up for adoption and then later in life when he  reunited with her and discovered that she had reservations about his sexual identity.

Some of the things that Tiffany and I discuss in our interview include

• What she learned about filmmaking as a makeup artist
• How to deal with celebrities ready to throw a tantrum
• Some of the ways that Kevyn changed the dynamic between celebrities and their makeup artists
• How she was able to get a number of high-profile people to participate in the documentary and share honest perspectives about Kevyn
• The way that Kevyn redefined how we think about and perceive beauty

Below, my podcast coverage of #LIFF2018 continues with director Tiffany Bartok:

Tiffany will be attending LIFF 2018, so if you plan to attend then you can continue the conversation there.

Larger Than Life: The Kevyn Aucoin Story will be playing at #LIFF2018 on Saturday, April 21 at 5:00 PM, and Tiffany will be participating in a filmmaking discussion earlier in the day, from 3:30 – 3:45 PM. Tickets are available through LIFF’s website.

Makeup artists are often paired with hair stylists on films, so if you enjoyed this episode, you might also appreciate hearing from film stylist Dana Boisseau, who has worked on projects including Ray, Django Unchained, and The Butler. As it happens, I also met Dana through LIFF, and my podcast started as a result.

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Sponsor for this Episode

nsavides productions – I make videos and tell stories. My new video portfolio is here!

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My short film Mixed Signals  premieres at LIFF 2018 on April 21.

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Say hello: podcast@nsavides.com

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Related Things

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The post Kevyn Aucoin, Complicated Makeup Artist Celebrity #LIFF2018 appeared first on NICKSAV Film & Music SHOW.

This is Part III of my coverage of the Louisiana Film Prize 2016. It features some of the more thought-provoking interviews or ones that really connected with me for one reason or another. It also includes an interview with the winner of LA Film Prize 2016.

A couple of people in the episode say nice things about podcasting. Hence the subtitle!

Now in its fifth year, the LA Film Prize is a short-film festival in Shreveport, Louisiana that awards $50,000 to the festival’s top film as determined by audience votes and a panelist of judges. Taken as a whole the films this year represent a drastic leap forward in technical achievement and ambition, compared to the short films that the festival has screened in past years.

Chalk drawing by Matthew Yerby

The cast and crew involved in making this year’s slate of shorts have also worked on projects like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Deepwater Horizon, The Magnificent Seven (2016), The Avengers, I Saw the Light, Godzilla, The Avengers,  Harry Potter, Salem, The Wire, Pride & Prejuidice, and All the King’s Men (2006).

Muffuletta pizza from the Red River Revel

I believe that good is inherent in everyone, and obviously sometimes that can get lost along the way, but I think everyone should strive to find it.“ – Jonnie Stepleton,  director of The Man from Mars, the winning film from LA Film Prize 2016 

Interviews in Part III:

• McGhee Monteith, director/writer/actor – He Could’ve Gone Pro
• Travis Champagne – director/writer – Native 
• Tommy G. Kendrick, actor/writer/producer & Keith Rushing, actor/writer/producer – Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell
• Frank Spiro, director/writer/producer – Apocalypse Later 
• Paul Peterson, writer/actor/producer – Memoir 
• Robert Casiello, actor/writer – The Verses
• Austin Alward, director – Memorial Drive
• Corey Landis, actor – The Man from Mars
• Kyle Kleinecke, director/writer – The Root Cellar 
• Eva Contis, director/writer/editor – The Stand 
• Sabrina Adsit – producer of Louisiana Film Prize
• Jonnie Stepleton, director/writer/producer – The Man from Mars 

Part III also includes my concluding thoughts about the interviews and my experiences at LA Film Prize.

The Polyphonic Spree perform at Aura Ultra Lounge.

Listen to Part III

The post LA Film Prize 2016 All Access Coverage Part III: Hooray for Podcasting! appeared first on NICKSAV Film & Music SHOW.

This is Part II of my coverage of the Louisiana Film Prize 2016. This episode is focused on craftsmanship. We hear from some effects artists, a director of photography, a costumer, a production sound mixer, and more filmmakers. Plus we hear from the actors who won best actor and best actress for LA Film Prize 2016.

Now in its fifth year, the LA Film Prize is a short-film festival in Shreveport, Louisiana that awards $50,000 to the festival’s top film as determined by audience votes and a panelist of judges. Taken as a whole the films this year represent a drastic leap forward in technical achievement and ambition, compared to the short films that the festival has screened in past years.

Chalk drawing by Matthew Yerby

The cast and crew involved in making this year’s slate of shorts have also worked on projects like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Deepwater Horizon, The Magnificent Seven (2016), The Avengers, I Saw the Light, Godzilla, The Avengers,  Harry Potter, Salem, The Wire, Pride & Prejuidice, and All the King’s Men (2006).

Me with Susan Davis, the costume designer of The Verses

Interviews in Part II:

• Iddo Goldberg, director/writer/producer, Joe Doyle, actor, & Garrett Kruithof, actor – St. Jude’s Crossing
• Calvin O’Neal Jr., director/writer/actor/editor/producer – Cookie Jar
• James Going, visual effects supervisor/musician – The Importance of Sex Education 
• Jeremy Spring, director of photography – The Fallen 
• Nathaniel Caauwe, visual effects artist – Memoir, Native 
• Kent Ohler, production sound mixer – Native 
• Frances Watson, actor – The Importance of Sex Education 
• Susan Davis, costume designer – The Verses 
• Tanesha Morris, director/writer – Ruthless: A Hip Hopera 
• Travis Bible, director/writer/producer & Kemerton Hargrove, actor/producer – The 30 Year Deal

Kemerton just got some good news. 

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Listen to Part II

The post LA Film Prize 2016 All Access Coverage Part II appeared first on NICKSAV Film & Music SHOW.

The Louisiana Film Prize, now in its fifth year, is a short-film festival in Shreveport, Louisiana that awards $50,000 to the festival’s top film as determined by audience votes and a panelist of judges. Taken as a whole the films this year represent a drastic leap forward in technical achievement and ambition, compared to the short films that the festival has screened in past years.

Chalk drawing by Matthew Yerby

The cast and crew involved in making this year’s slate of shorts have also worked on projects like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Deepwater Horizon, The Magnificent Seven (2016), The Avengers, I Saw the Light, Godzilla, The Avengers,  Harry Potter, Salem, The Wire, Pride & Prejuidice, and All the King’s Men (2006).

For The nsavides Podcast coverage, I interviewed many of the filmmakers, actors, and crew members who worked on some of the films at this year’s festival.

I did over 4 hours of interviews at the festival, a new record for the podcast. Each interview is interesting in its own way and is shorter than my typical interviews, which means you get to hear more ideas per hour.

In case you don’t have the time to go through all of my festival coverage though, I have broken them up into 3 parts.

Part I

It starts with last year’s winner and includes some of the people who have worked with him or who have worked on a number of other festival shorts.

Below is a list of people involved in this episode:

• Alexander Jeffery, director/producer – Memoir
• J.C. Doler, director/writer/producer & Taylor Bracewell, director of photography/writer/producer – Hangman
• Tamzin Merchant, director/writer/producer & Cam Owen, actor/writer/producer – American Pride
• Joel Froome, director of photography – Memoir, American Pride, The Verses
• Jency Griffin Hogan, director/actor/producer – The Verses
• Christine Chen, director/writer/producer & Diana Rose, actor – Ya Albi
• James Crawford, producer & Tyler Corie, producer – Native

Listen to Part I

Part II

This episode is focused on craftsmanship. We hear from some effects artists, a director of photography, a costumer, a production sound mixer, and more filmmakers. Plus we hear from the actors who won best actor and best actress for LA Film Prize 2016.

Interviews in Part II:

• Iddo Goldberg, director/writer/producer, Joe Doyle, actor, & Garrett Kruithof, actor – St. Jude’s Crossing
• Calvin O’Neal Jr., director/writer/actor/editor/producer – Cookie Jar
• James Going, visual effects supervisor/musician – The Importance of Sex Education
• Jeremy Spring, director of photography – The Fallen
• Nathaniel Caauwe, visual effects artist – Memoir, Native
• Kent Ohler, production sound mixer – Native
• Frances Watson, actor – The Importance of Sex Education
• Susan Davis, costume designer – The Verses
• Tanesha Morris, director/writer – Ruthless: A Hip Hopera
• Travis Bible, director/writer/producer & Kemerton Hargrove, actor/producer – The 30 Year Deal

You can listen to Part II by clicking here.

Part III

This episode features some of the more thought-provoking interviews or ones that really resonate with me for one reason or another. It also includes an interview with the winner of LA Film Prize 2016.

A couple of people in that episode say nice things about podcasting, so the subtitle for that episode  is, “Hooray for Podcasting!”

Interviews in Part III:

• McGhee Monteith, director/writer/actor – He Could’ve Gone Pro
• Travis Champagne – director/writer – Native
• Tommy G. Kendrick, actor/writer/producer & Keith Rushing, actor/writer/producer – Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell
• Frank Spiro, director/writer/producer – Apocalypse Later
• Paul Peterson, writer/actor/producer – Memoir
• Robert Casiello, actor/writer – The Verses
• Austin Alward, director – Memorial Drive
• Corey Landis, actor – The Man from Mars
• Kyle Kleinecke, director/writer – The Root Cellar
• Eva Contis, director/writer/editor – The Stand
• Sabrina Adsit – producer of Louisiana Film Prize
• Jonnie Stepleton, director/writer/producer – The Man from Mars

Part III also includes my concluding thoughts about the interviews and my experiences at LA Film Prize.

You can listen to Part III by clicking here.

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The post LA Film Prize 2016 All Access Coverage Part I appeared first on NICKSAV Film & Music SHOW.

Some of the better known acts at BUKU 2016 include Pretty Lights, Kid Cudi CHVRCHΞS, Miike Snow, Griz, and Above & Beyond. The festival has only been around for five years, but the event sold out, and there were over 30,000 people in attendance according to the festival’s estimates.

Based on other festival coverage I’ve done (like the New Orleans Film Festival and the Twisted Oak Music Festival) I was given the opportunity to do media coverage for BUKU. At first I was apprehensive since I don’t know a lot about EDM, but then I noticed that some bands I recognized were playing there.

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I decided that doing media coverage for the festival could be a good opportunity to learn more about EDM and some of the related genres that have grown popular in recent years. To prepare for the festival, I talked to some music enthusiasts who were well versed in the electronic music scene and listened to some BUKU-related playlists.

I attended both days of BUKU and saw as many performances as my schedule would allow. At the festival, I interviewed

• CRWNS
• Donovan Wolfington
• Fro-Yo Ma
• DJ Soul Sister
• Taylor Guarisco from the Givers

DJ Soul Sister during her set at BUKU

Some of the topics that came up include: mixing musical genres, audience interactions, drug use, and how to have better collaborations with other artists. After the interviews, I share my festival impressions and some of my experiences while attending.

Prior to BUKU, I had some things on my mind, and they stayed with me throughout the festival. In short, I was wondering if it was possible to find answers to some of the bigger questions while surrounded by all the noise and flashing lights.

I address some of those questions in the episode, which turned it into one of the more personal episodes I’ve recorded.

Listen to the Episode

In addition to musicians and venues, I also photographed some of the outfits that caught my eye.

Here’s an example:

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A post shared by Nick Savides (@nsavides)

If you’re curious, you can see more of my BUKU photos on Instagram.

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