COSTUME & WARDROBE INTENSIVE

This past July, fifteen trainees gathered for a Stockade Works Costume and Wardrobe Intensive Workshop, held in the theater facilities at SUNY New Paltz. Emmy nominated costume designer Lisa Padovani along with Diana Hammons, wardrobe supervisor, led the cohort through an overview of a film/TV costume and wardrobe department in pre-production, production, and post-production, culminating in a hands-on mock shoot directed by AD John Tyson.

During the first two days, the participants broke into four groups to create mood boards, choose costumes from the SUNY New Paltz costume collection, and fit and photograph their actors.  They worked collaboratively and creatively with each other and the director before settling on final costumes. The mock shoot took place on the final day – in addition to seeing their costume creations on screen, trainees practiced “setiquette”: a combination of hard and soft skills including how to read a call sheet, the names of the different departments, chains of command, interacting with actors, how to find and fill gaps, navigating a high-pressure production environment, and collaborating with a range of personalities and expectations on set.

The fifteen participants spent this workshop cultivating these skills required to succeed in an assistant level position the moment that they arrive on a professional set, and Stockade Works is poised to recommend these recent program graduates to productions shooting in the area. We look forward to continuing to work with our graduates as we mentor them through upcoming job opportunities in the Hudson Valley region.