Speaker Bios 2012

Keynote Speakers

Lois Burwell

Academy Award winner Lois Burwell was the make-up designer and department head on the World War I epic War Horse. She began her film career in North London, working on rock videos and school projects. She eventually got her big break when she ran the make-up department for Bill Forsyth’s Gregory’s Girl. Her credits include such beloved films as The Princess Bride, Legend, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Fifth Element, Highlander, Mona Lisa and Braveheart. More recent films include War of the Worlds, Catch Me If You Can, Almost Famous and Saving Private Ryan. Burwell now lives in Carpinteria, California with her husband, five hens and two horses.

Nick Dudman

Nick Dudman is a BAFTA-winning artist. Most recently, he and his team have created the make-up effects and animatronic creatures in the Harry Potter films. His film credits include Star Wars: Episode V–The Empire Strikes Back, Legend, Labyrinth, Willow, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Children of Men, Batman, Alien 3 and Interview with the Vampire. He has led make-up effects departments on Star Wars: Episode 1–The Phantom Menace, The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. He also consulted on costume effects for Batman Begins. In 2007, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television awarded him an Achievement in Makeup Genie for his work on Beowulf & Grendel.

Valenté Frazier

Featured Speakers

Terry Barber

Terry Barber is M.A.C.'s director of make-up art for the United Kingdom and Europe. He has collaborated with fashion designers Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood and done print work for i-D, Dazed and Confused, Vogue and Harper’s BAZAAR. His celebrity clients include Mary J. Blige, Grace Jones, Pamela Anderson, Annie Lennox, Dita Von Teese, Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell.

Sam and Nic Chapman aka Pixiwoo

Pixiwoo is the name that make-up artist sisters Samantha and Nicola Chapman go by on their YouTube channel. The Chapmans started publishing videos on make-up in 2009 and now their channel has more subscribers than The X Factor or The BBC! Their fun, accessible tutorials keep their fans up to date with the latest make-up trends and techniques and are watched more than four million times a month worldwide.

Einat Dan

Einat Dan, a native of Israel, began her make-up career in Tel Aviv; she later spent two years in New York doing special make-up effects, body painting, TV, film, theater and advertising. Dan is now based in Milan, where she does fashion and beauty make-up and body painting. Her print clients have included Vogue Sposa, Maxim, InStyle and many others. She has worked on fashion shows worldwide and done print campaigns for Valentino, Fendi and more. Dan teaches international master classes for all levels and is an award-winning body painter. In 2008, she established her own company, VIMUA (Very Important Make Up Artist). In 2009, she released a line of make-up, brushes and cases under the name Einat Dan–Bodypainting Pro.

Leonard Engelman

Leonard Engelman is an Emmy nominee and Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Award winner. He is also the Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the former director of education at Cinema Makeup School in Los Angeles. His work spans film, television, commercials, music videos and editorial. His celebrity clients include Cher (Moonstruck, Burlesque), Michelle Pfeiffer (The Witches of Eastwick), Meg Ryan (Sleepless in Seattle) and Julie Andrews (The Princess Diaries). He has also worked with Val Kilmer (Heat), Chris O’Donnell (Batman & Robin) and Sylvester Stallone (Rambo, Rocky IV).

Neill Gorton

In a career spanning more than two decades, Neill Gorton, with his company Millennium FX, has designed make-up effects, prosthetics and animatronic creations for hundreds of films, TV shows and commercials, including Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, Inkheart, The Wolfman, Doctor Who, Little Britain and Torchwood. In this time he’s won six Royal Television Society awards, three Welsh BAFTAs and a BAFTA Craft Award, along with several other nominations. Gorton also runs the Neill Gorton Prosthetics Studio, providing training in prosthetics and make-up effects to newcomers and professionals alike.

Lan Nguyen

Award-winning make-up artist Lan Nguyen is self-taught. Her work has appeared in magazines including Vogue, Vanity Fair, ELLE UK, Glamour, Marie Claire and Stella. She is the beauty editor for Phoenix, an independent fashion and culture magazine, and she keyed more than 20 spring/summer shows at London Fashion Week 2011. Also in 2011, she won honors at the United Kingdom’s National Make-up Awards. Now working with celebrities including the Sugababes, Clare Maguire, Escala and Kimberly Wyatt, Nguyen is also head artist at Vauxhall Fashion Scout. She wrote her first book, Makeup is Art, in collaboration with the Academy of Freelance Makeup.

Dany Sanz

Painter/sculptor Dany Sanz set out to develop a make-up collection that gave professional artists the necessary textures and colors to create any design or effect. She was filling a niche and fulfilling a passion, never suspecting her creation would become a major cult brand. Sanz didn't just create make-up for now. She created Make Up For Ever!

Educators

Kevin James Bennett

Multiple Emmy Award-winning make-up artist Kevin James Bennett has spent more than 20 years honing the skills that have brought him accolades from his peers as well as from viewers of his work in TV, film and print. Bennett, an admitted product junkie, is considered an industry expert and reference source. He is happiest when working with, designing, buying, talking or writing about his passion: make-up!

Cory Bishop

Temptu Pro National Artist and Educator Cory Bishop has been working in the cosmetics industry since he was 15 years old. His work has appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet, and in publications including Harper's BAZAAR, Cosmopolitan and Brazilian Vogue. He has contributed backstage for Marchesa, Peter Som and Max Azria at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York. Bishop has worked with celebrity clients including Renée Zellweger, Jennie Garth, Cassie Ventura and others. 

Gillian Blair

Gillian Blair has 40 years of experience in TV and theater. Starting out as mustache maker with the National Theatre in 1972, she completed her make-up training at the BBC in 1977. For 10 years, her wig business serviced the requirements for most West-End musicals of the era, including Evita and Cats. In the ‘90s, Blair rejoined the National Theatre as a wig supervisor. Her work has appeared in productions including Theatre of Blood, War Horse (at the National Theatre and in the West End) and One Man, Two Guvnors. She is currently working on Travelling Light, a play about the origins of silent movies.

Ann Buchanan

Ann Buchanan holds a Master of Arts in English and drama from the University of Glasgow. After two years teaching, she joined the BBC make-up department; three years later she began a freelance career, primarily working in beauty advertising and editorial. Buchanan has worked with photographers including Richard Avedon, Mario Testino and Patrick Lichfield, among others. She was asked to design the make-ups for Four Weddings and a Funeral, and since then she has mainly worked in film. She received Oscar and Saturn award nominations for Shadow of the Vampire and a BAFTA nomination for The Mill on the Floss. Other film and TV credits include Da Ali G Show, The Merchant of Venice, Hostel, Love in the Time of Cholera and more. She recently created an aging make-up for Jonathan Rhys Meyers in The Tudors. 

Mark Coulier

Mark Coulier has been nominated for an Achievement in Makeup Oscar this year for his work on The Iron Lady. A veteran make-up artist, his work appears in films including both parts of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, X-Men: First Class, AVP: Alien vs. Predator, Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones, The Fifth Element and Nightbreed. His newest feature, World War Z, will be released this year.

Damien Dufresne

For the past 15 years, Damien Dufresne has done make-up in-studio for editorial, celebrity and private clients as well as for advertising and fashion shows. Winner of the Tech Pack Make-up Artist Award in 2000, Dufresne drew the attention of the Korean group AMOREPACIFIC, who entrusted him with the artistic direction of their brand HERA. In 2003, he published WAKE UP, a book that speaks to his talent for constantly pushing the limits of make-up. Today, on top of his consulting work, Dufresne enjoys being on the other side of the camera, shooting his own make-up.

Rob Freitas

Rob Freitas is a leading mold-maker with more than 20 years’ experience in make-up effects. He is known for his innovative and technical approach to prosthetic mold-making and puzzle-core fabrication. He counts working for Rick Baker on films including The Nutty Professor, all three Men in Black films, The Grinch, Planet of the Apes and Hellboy among his professional highlights. Other credits include The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Star Trek and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Sun. Feb. 5—1:30 p.m.

Frank Ippolito

Frank Ippolito has more than 11 years of experience doing lab work and special make-up effects. He has worked with Ve Neill, Joel Harlow, Kevin Haney and the Chiodo Bros. on films including The Chronicles of Riddick and the second and third films in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Ippolito has also created effects for music videos for Marilyn Manson, Disturbed and Gnarls Barkley. Most recently, he has been working with Danny DeVito on his horror-movie projects and was a contestant on Syfy's reality show Face Off.

Elessa Jade of Pursebuzz.com

Southern California native Elessa Jade loved art from a young age; she brought her painting and sculpting skills to make-up. After 10 years in the beauty industry, she felt it was time to share her tips and tricks with the world. In 2006, Jade started a website geared toward teaching individuals how to apply make-up on their own—to be their own make-up artists. Pursebuzz.com now has close to 100,000 visitors from around the world, and Jade is best known as the face behind the beauty channel youtube.com/pursebuzz.

David Allan Jones

A native of Canada, David Allan Jones quickly launched an international career, working in high-fashion runway and editorial. In 2002, he joined Pat McGrath’s team, working on the most coveted ready-to-wear collections in the world. Now based in Milan, Jones has worked for design houses such as Gucci, Prada and Versace. His work has appeared in leading fashion magazines, including Flair, ELLE and Tatler, and he has worked with notable top models, including Daria Werbowy and Coco Rocha.

David Klasfeld

After a part-time job at Nordstrom’s cosmetics department, Klasfeld worked backstage on runway shows including Patricia Field, Heatherette and Diesel. His work has been seen in Zink, New York and Interview, as well as in videos for Thursday, The Stills and Sum 41. Klasfeld’s pioneering work in high-definition TV for clients including Target, Best Buy and Comedy Central catapulted him into a career in airbrush education and product development. Today, Klasfeld’s own brand, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics, is the result of years spent determining what works best on set.

Jane Maier

Jane Maier is a member of the British Association of Skin Camouflage. She has worked extensively in television, film and advertising. Projects have included working with Robert Lindsay on My Family, doing Galaxy and Coca-Cola commercials, body painting for corporate events and joining the special make-up effects team on World War Z. Maier is also an experienced lecturer specializing in airbrush make-up.

David Martí

David Martí, who shared a 2007 Oscar for Achievement in Makeup with Montse Ribé for their effects work on Pan’s Labyrinth, runs DDT Efectos Especiales in Barcelona. He has worked on The Orphanage, Doom and The Sea Inside, Paintball, Open Graves and Agora. His work on Serge Gainsbourg, vie héroïque is on the short list for the Oscar nomination.

Sheila McKenna

Kett Cosmetics president Sheila McKenna is an industry veteran with more than 25 years of make-up artistry experience. Her work has appeared in film, television, print, theater and runway.  She is an airbrush make-up expert and founded the Kett line of products and airbrush equipment in 2000. Today Kett Cosmetics is globally recognized and considered an essential brand for professional artists, make-up academies, studios and television networks.

Joseph Ng

Originally trained as a fine artist, Joseph Ng started his career as a character make-up designer in theater. He then branched out into film work, providing creature effects and prosthetics application for Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures. He has also consulted in prop making and manufacture at the Royal Opera House. Ng currently lectures at the Hong Kong Design Institute and has taught at the London College of Fashion and West Thames College.

Tanya Noor

Tanya Noor is a make-up artist from London. She has been involved in the industry for almost 20 years and has worked in many areas, including TV, film, theater and fashion. She is the head of the make-up department at Phantom of the Opera and was recently the make-up supervisor at the Phantom 25th anniversary gala at the Royal Albert Hall. Noor also teaches on the higher national diploma (HND) and degree courses at West Thames College. She has worked with esteemed make-up artists such as Sharon Dowsett and Christopher Tucker.

Eve Pearl

Eve Pearl is an Emmy Award-winning celebrity make-up artist and 18-year industry veteran. She is the author of Plastic Surgery Without the Surgery: The Miracle of Makeup Techniques. She owns the Eve Pearl Cosmetics and Makeup Experience Studio and Boutique in New York City. An innovator of the Salmon Concealer, Pearl has been an on-air contributor and make-up artist to Meredith Vieira on Today and a key make-up artist and guest on The View. Pearl’s work has been featured in Saturday Night Live, Good Morning America, InStyle, Vanity Fair and more.

Bjoern Rehbein

Bjoern Rehbein studied make-up and hair at the Hasso von Hugo school in Berlin in 1989. After finishing his studies and working for a brief period for an opera house in Switzerland, Rehbein turned his focus solely to film. His film credits include Goodbye Lenin!, Resident Evil, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer and The International. In 2009, he moved to New York, where he has worked on such films as Sex and the City 2, The Three Musketeers and the soon-to-be-released films Being Flynn, Moonrise Kingdom and Gods Behaving Badly. Rehbein won the Austrian Film Prize in 2011 for his work on Suss: Rise and Fall. His recent film, Anonymous, is a nominee for the BAFTAs and short-listed for an Oscar nomination this year. 

Jason Reese

Jason Reese is a technician on the marketing team at Smooth-On, Inc., a leading manufacturer of liquid rubber and liquid plastic compounds. He has first-hand knowledge about the wide variety of synthetic media available today. He has extensive experience in the fields of prop-making and special effects and in many applications, including theater, film, make-up effects and themed environments. Reese has represented Smooth-On’s products internationally and has been instrumental in the development of new products for effects make-up applications.

Montse Ribé

Montse Ribé, who shared a 2007 Oscar for Achievement in Makeup with David Martí for their effects work on Pan’s Labyrinth, runs DDT Efectos Especiales in Barcelona. She has worked on The Orphanage, Sex and Lucia and Bad Education, Paintball and All Quiet on the Western Front. Her recent project, Serge Gainsbourg, vie héroïque, is on the short list for the Oscar nomination.

Amanda Turner

Amanda Turner was formally trained in hair and beauty before she transitioned into theater and film. In the late ‘90s she learned the principals of wigmaking. She worked for the English National Opera from 1998 to 2006, managed Ray Marston’s wig workshop from 2006 to 2008 and rejoined ENO in 2008 as head of department, where she supervised projects and productions, working with award-winning theater designers and directors. Now freelancing, she recently worked with Complicite on their new production of The Master and Margarita. She also teaches a specialist make-up course at West Thames College.

Vargas

Vargas, a world-renowned body painter, is one of the most acclaimed body artists in the industry. His credits include three movies, more than 30 calendar productions, more than 40 magazine covers and countless presentations. His calendars have opened doors in Asia, Europe and the Americas, where he also introduces his signature Royal & Langnickel brushes. His work has been displayed in the White House Rotunda and in a museum in Trenton, New Jersey. Vargas is also a photographer with one of the largest studios in West New York, New Jersey. An art professor for more than seven years, he shares his skills worldwide.

Deverill Weekes

As a stills photographer, Deverill Weekes has been shooting news, fashion and celebrity profiles for more than 18 years. His photos have graced the covers and inside pages of international and national magazines including Rolling Stone, Vogue, Written By and Hip Hop Connection. Originally from the United Kingdom, he now resides in Los Angeles with his wonderful wife.

Sheelagh Wells

Sheelagh Wells has worked on everything from TV period drama and science fiction to award-winning ballet and opera productions. Her broad spectrum of work also includes major documentaries and feature films. She was nominated by the Royal Television Society and won a BAFTA for her work on Doctor Who in 2006. She also worked on the original Doctor Who when she was a department head at the BBC in London.
 

Neil Young

M.A.C. Senior Artist Neil Young specializes in beauty and fashion make-up. He works backstage at the London and international collections, and his work is regularly featured in Grazia, Glamour, Jalouse, You, Sunday Telegraph, Dazed and Confused and GQ. His celebrity clients include Helen Mirren, Shirley Bassey, Grace Jones, Tilda Swinton, Anne-Marie Duff, Kelly Osbourne, Linda Evangelista, Olivia Williams, Ethan Hawke and Michelle Williams.

Koren Zander aka EnKore

Known to most beauty enthusiasts as EnKore Makeup, Koren Zander has 20 years’ experience as a professional artist, working on theatrical productions, runway shows, commercials, bridal and print. He did the Miss USA 2010 pageant and Expo 2010 Shanghai. His YouTube channel features how-to videos on application techniques, tips and tricks, product reviews and make-up organizing ideas.