Q&A with BBR8 Thought Leader – Emily Katz, Celebrity Makeup Artist

Our recent Beauty Biz Roundtable BBR8 event was full of firsts – we had our very first Thought Leader from the publishing sector, Jeff Falk, of GCI and Cosmetics & Toiletries magazines, and now we’re honored to have our first Celebrity Makeup Artist, Emily Katz!

Celebrity Makeup Artist, Emily Katz

Emily Katz has been a fine artist since childhood. She developed her love of watercolor painting, sculpture, esthetics, and beauty into a career as a makeup artist. Her body of work spans the world of fashion and print to the Film/Television industry. Emily has been working in the Film and Television industry for over 20 years. Her fresh faced signature style, influenced heavily by a background as a fine arts watercolorist, has lent a new direction to many productions in beautiful clean makeup. She served as the Makeup Department supervisor for the ABC television show, LOST, and is currently overseeing “Anger Management” on  the F/X network doing makeup for Selma Blair, Shawnee Smith, and Brett Butler, while designing all female cast makeups.

She also holds both esthetician and esthetician instructor licenses (CA and HI), and has taught and developed esthetician courses and curriculum. In addition, Emily also taught stage makeup as an Assistant Adjunct Professor in the Drama Department at the University of Southern California (USC). Emily is also a spokesperson for a number of cosmetic and skincare companies and is a recipient of the Elle Magazine Beauty Genius awards in 2009.

1. What exactly does a Makeup Department Head do?

The MU Department Head/ Supervisor is the creative lead for a production’s makeup department – designing,overseeing and enacting the creation of makeups for a production. Not only an artist, working their craft for the show, they are also running the business of the department, essentially a mid to senior level management position. depending on their experience and expertise. It’s a land of  budgets, scheduling timing (crucial in the every -minute -costs -money world of film tv production), actors and products…lots of products – a key element to market your product/business!

2. Please tell us about your career path/progression. The road to… where you are now? How did you get started?

I got started doing makeup as a fluke. I was premed in college, ended up elevating to haute couture runway modeling and started doing makeup during that time..much longer,more compelling story but that’s the elevator version!

3. Why did you choose this career? Why the [beauty] industry?

At first the career chose me, I happened to be a natural at makeup, was modeling, and then studied technique with whatever masterful folk I could to really refine my skill set.

BBR8 Thought Leader, Emily Katz, at her Roundtable discussing her topic on “Strategic Targeting for Film/TV Media”

4. Your roundtable topic was “Strategic Targeting for Film/TV Media.” Since makeup artists such as yourself, are often inundated with tons of beauty products, what is your advice to beauty and skincare brands?

From experience I can say that product intro and support has lead to brand loyalty for numerous cosmetic/skincare products and lines which I might not have previously used. An informal survey of my peers confirms this. A great way to introduce your brand/product to film/TV people is by contacting their agent, union local, and getting in touch with the person in charge of Craft meetings. They may be able to have you come to demonstrate your products for a group of participants, and by giving some product to this specific target audience.

Ask about  familiarity with your business/ line, and if they have products they use regularly of yours. If you can, support them with a supply, and introduce new products or lines to them. Oftentimes the “professional” discount of 40% off retail ( somewhat standard now) is a terrific tool to keep artists returning to you if your business is not able to or into gratis product support. Breeding familiarity works.

Sometimes the amount of product we as professionals receive is overwhelming, so when you can target specific products or usage, it is less wasteful and burdensome for everyone, and enables a win-win situation. Specificity is important: Many of my colleagues love the newest and latest, while some prefer to stay with what they really prefer and know. So try to query them about their preferences. Fine tune while introducing what you want, make sure its something they or their actors ( male and female) might want to give a go. You want product to be investigated, used and hopefully liked so it becomes part of the product arsenal of the artist and of the celebrities.

Products in the hands of professional film people who are interviewed often lead to published remark “plugs” for you.  Celebrities using and wanting products for their personal use may then grab a mention in publication as well. More on the public radar = more sales.  For example: I mentioned a lipstick in People magazine from a line that happens to be owned by a friend – she sent me a note that my ‘mention’ had generated literally hundreds of sales of said color in a matter of days.

Concerning the media and the people who will speak/ are interviewed with them,  I am not referring to YouTube videos. These may have a large mass market appeal, but are not necessarily the venue within which you will legitimately reach an audience hearing it from a true professional, working artist. BIG difference, if you want authority behind your product or business. The track record of cosmetic companies garnering these viral sensations creating their own line usually doesn’t hold up. While they do generate interest, they  are not necessarily reaching the audience for the right market demographic for shown products.

5. Who is today’s [beauty] consumer? How are they changing?

Today’s beauty consumer falls into a number of categories, actually. There are those at are extraordinarily savvy, look for trends, watch all the online videos-even those by amateurs, but they want ALL the info they can absorb. They really have an idea of what they want and what to do with it. While there are divisions within divisions of these generalizations, bear with me.

Another consumer is, I find, somewhat reluctant to change what she’s doing or is afraid of trying something new that will appear too trendy or look inappropriate. They kind of end up in ‘it’s ok the way I am; not going to do much that’s different;or I have no clue so I give up.’

Then there are those that WANT something new and different, try lots of new products to their disappointment and they just don’t have a clue from whom to get the problem solved. The internet has become such a resource that products offered need to offer something real.

I recognize these are rather broad generalizations, true, but they are distilled from conversations I have with many women of all walks of life.

6. Congratulations on being featured in this month’s September issue of Skin Inc. magazine!

Thank you! I was interviewed for their “Fall 2012 Color Preview: The Fantasy of Fall” article which is all about the Fall makeup trends and the magic of color! In terms of complexion, it is so important to have well-cared skin and to always blot away shine. Too  much foundation and powder looks evident during the winter so be careful, otherwise it’ll just age you. You must also educate yourself and understand your own skin color so that it’s easier to choose what makeup works for your skin tone. Check out more of my tips for Fall here

7. What attributes make a great leader? Tell us about your leadership style.

I believe a leader has vision, integrity, strength, honor, compassion and listens, not just hears what their team has to say and responds accordingly and appropriately. Maintaining the dignity of my staff is, I believe, essential to their well being and our success.

8. What kinds of qualities do you look for in an employee/when hiring a candidate/someone to join your team?

When I want to bring someone in on my team, I look not only for talent. There are alot of extremely talented people out there, but personality. Are we a fit? In a makeup trailer we work in extremely close quarters and it is paramount that our energies mesh well, and they are respectful of the actors, me, and anyone else on set. In my other (consulting/seminar) business, the same kind of ideas apply. Are you honest? Have integrity? Balanced? Are willing to give your 100 and then some percent?

9. Any other advice/words of wisdom?

Keep an eye on the changing demographic and keep creating innovative products to serve them. Lastly, I cannot stress enough the importance of integrity, honesty and truly caring about what you do AND others. Being in the makeup production world as such, it’s really quite a horse-race. If you don’t have the ability to keep on keeping on even in the  (no kidding) 18th hour of an 80 plus hour week, the film production world may not be for you.

Whatever you do-Work your skills, stay current, modern, and find the smile in someone else. Life is short…bring it to the table!

And what did Emily think of her first BBR8 event? Check out her video below

Click here for another exclusive BBR8 Thought Leader Q&A with Jeff Falk, Editor in Chief of GCI and Cosmetics & Toiletries magazines

Click here to see photos from BBR8

About BBR
Hosted by Mazur Group, the Beauty Biz Roundtable BBR series brings together 100 Mid to Senior Level Beauty Executives in a roundtable format that fosters networking and idea sharing. This is NOT a lecture or panel discussion. The BBR series is your opportunity to sit down in small group settings with industry peers.  Past BBR attendees and Thought Leaders have come from every major beauty company here in the West including OPI, Stila, Dermalogica, John Paul Mitchell Systems, Murad, Sexy Hair , Neutrogena, Urban Decay, CND, P&G, Josie Maran, Intelligent Beauty, boscia, Orly International, Smashbox, and  totalbeauty.com

For  more details about BBR, visit: https://mazurgroupla.com/wp/bbr-events/