Women Behind the Brush

In Women Behind the Brush, NYWIFT Member Victoria Bert leads a conversation with some of the most renowned makeup artists in NYC. This discussion will provide makeup artists with ideas for their own career paths including portfolio, networking, and business tips! Makeup artist speakers include Margina Dennis (Commercial/Editorial), Jackie Risotto (Fosse/Verdon), Nicki Ledermann (Joker – Academy Award nominee for Best Makeup, Sex and the City, The Greatest Showman, and The Irishman), DeShawn Hatcher (Editorial and Beauty Guru) and NYWIFT Member Jennifer Snowdon (Wonderama).

After the panel, a Make Up Forever educator will present a live demo. Following that will be a reception plus shopping time!

Margina Dennis (Commercial/Editorial) has been making the world a little more beautiful for over 15 years.  She has worked her magic on celebrities such as Tracy Morgan, Jane Lynch, Lea Michelle, and Tom Brady and it’s been seen on screens big and small.  Her work has graced the pages Teen Vogue, Entertainment Weekly, and L’Officiel Homme;  hired on campaigns/commercials  for MCM, CVS, Hugo Boss, and Target. In addition to her makeup skills, Margina spent four years as Beauty Director for LA’G Magazine, an online publication that was referred to as “being as stylish as W Magazine.”  Margina has been a guest speaker at the international HBA conference,  Make Up Designory, and has provided consulting/writing services for beauty companies such as Kiss Beauty, Your Name Professional, Natasha Denona, and Soft Surroundings. She has won two Telly awards, a PDN award,  and was nominated for a regional Emmy.  Margina is further expanding, combining business and her work within the creative industry by developing “Margenius: Business Marketing for Creatives.”  Visit her online portfolio to see her makeup work, and visit her Beauty Blog for writing and articles where she is quoted as an expert. For creative business tips, check out her beauty blog At the Beauty Cooler.

Jackie Risotto is a native to New York State having been born and raised in Westchester County. She graduated from Quinnipiac University in 2009 with a major in Public Relations and minor in Political Science . Shortly after college, she relocated to New York City to pursue becoming a make up artist.  She attended Make Up Designory, where she completed their portfolio program. After briefly dabbling in fashion, Jackie really found her footing in film and television . She went on to department head and design various independent films and eventually moved into the union world where she continues to department, key and personal. Jackie is trained in beauty, character, aging and special effects makeup. Jackie is an Emmy award-winning makeup artist who recently won Outstanding Makeup for a Limited Series for her work on Michelle Williams in Fosse/Verdon. Jackie is also a two-time nominee and one-time recipient of the Hollywood guild award, also for her work on Fosse/Verdon.          

Born and raised in Germany, Nicki Ledermann attended the Pestalozzi Gymnasium High School of the Performing Arts, majoring in Latin and Fine Arts. After two years of studying at the University of Music in Munich and working part time in a hair salon, she relocated to New York in 1988 to become a makeup artist. Starting in the independent movie scene in New York in the early 90s she worked her way up to well-known TV shows like Sex and The City, Martin Scorsese’s pilots of Boardwalk Empire and Vinyl, Steven Soderbergh’s The Knick, as well as critically acclaimed feature films such as Devil Wears Prada, Enchanted, The Greatest Showman, The Irishman and Joker. Over all Nicki has designed/department headed over 70 TV and film productions. She is a four-time Emmy nominee for Sex and the City, Vinyl, and The Knick and one -ime winner for Boardwalk Empire; she received six Guild Award nominations for Sex and the City, The Knick, and Vinyl and won two for Sex and the City and Joker. She received a BAFTA nomination in 2007 for The Devil Wears Prada and is nominated for a 2020 BAFTA and an Academy Award for her work on Joker. 

Longtime NYWIFT member Jennifer Snowdon is a makeup artist for film and television with 25 years of experience, having worked on the first high def camera with David Niles nine years before it came to the industry. Currently she is the Department Head and Key Makeup for David Osmond, Emmy-Nominated host of Wonderama now in season four (available on Amazon Prime) and she offers individualized lessons online as well as in-person and group makeup seminars.

Victoria Bert is a TV producer, director and writer with over 25 years of creative production experience ushering projects from development to final delivery. She has worked for ABC, CBS, The Food Network, Comedy Central, Paramount Television, 20^th Century Fox, MSNBC, BBC Productions, E! Television, King World, VH1, TLC, and the Style Network. She is a member of NYWIFT, the Producers Guild of America (PGA), and the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). In 2010, Victoria’s love of makeup inspired her to put down the pen and pick up a makeup brush. She began her career as a MUA working with private clients and in retail stores like Alcone Company and Bluemercury. She also worked as a freelance artist for Vensette and brands such as Estee Lauder, Burberry, Trish McEvoy, and Clinique.  Since 2016, she has both worked as a show producer for television and as a makeup artist for private clients and photographers. She is also developing a web series on the beauty industry and makeup. Visit Victoria’s website.

Produced by Barbara G Vásconez, Jennifer Snowdon & Victoria Bert

Venue Provided By