Experiences that were discussed ranged from working on big projects such as ‘Game of Thrones’ (in Malta and Croatia) , ‘John Carter’,  ’Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ and ‘Clash of the Titans’ to assisting Jo Frost on high-end couture make-up to making up Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. Experiences of working in the theatre on ‘Dirty Dancing’ and ‘We Will Rock You’ were also discussed, as well as working on TV dramas such as ‘The Hour’ and on light entertainment shows such as ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ and ‘Dancing On Ice’.

The graduates were from different years and had all decided on slightly different directions within the industry. However all of their advice and encouragement was excellent.

Photo (from left): Tracey Lee, Lottie Brooksbank, Cecilia Herlin, Hannah Mirsaeedy, Julie Burnett

Graduates in attendance ranged from the 2010/11 year group, to the 2011 Complete Make-up Artist course to an Indian Award winner, Namrata Soni (who won the Indian International Film Award).

As always there was talk of what people have been doing; this ranged from working on the feature film ‘Les Miserables’ to working on weddings to reviewing organic make-up.

Namrata told us about the make-up world in India, which was truly fascinating. Women are still not legally allowed to work there, which means the female make-up artists are paving the way for future Indian women. Whilst the equality is still going through the courts, female make-up artists are at risk of being thrown off set because they are female. Namrata was allowed to do ‘Om Shanti Om’ (for which she won the award) because she has prosthetics skills (learnt at Delamar Academy) that very few people in India have. This meant whilst the rest of the make-up team were men, the producer was able to fight for her as a necessary expert in the field. She also discussed the amount of work available and the influx of foreign make-up artists.

The next meeting is planned for July. If you would like to attend future meetings, request to join the facebook group MAGIC, ‘like’ the Delamar Academy facebook page, follow Delamar Academy on Twitter or email info@delamaracademy.co.uk and we’ll keep you informed.

The TV BAFTA Craft Award nominations have just been announced and 3 of the 4 nominations had Delamar graduates working in the team! :

This is England ’88 – Designed by Catherine Scoble (Delamar tutor). Trainee was Jennifer Thomas (Delamar graduate)

Great Expectations – Designed by Kirstin Chalmers (Delamar graduate). Trainee was Nicky Lissner (Delamar graduate)

The Crimson Petal And The White – Designed by Jacqueline Fowler. Trainees were Cecilia Herlin, Lynn Doron and Nicky Lissner (all Delamar graduates)

Good luck to all the nominees!

Julie Kendrick, Amanda Warburton, Charmaine Fuller, Lizzie Keough and Victoria Poland have been working on the big-budget film of ‘Les Miserables’, currently shooting in Greenwich, East London.

Katy Lewis has just accepted a year-long contract to work on ‘Shrek’, in London’s West End.

Laura Anderson is the trainee on ‘Mr Selfridge’, a new TV drama shooting in London from April until October.

Nikki Wright, Jessica Richardson, and Lynn Doron have been working on ‘The King of Soho’, a biopic about the porn king Paul Raymond, starring Steve Coogan and Anna Friel.

Sarah Jagger is part of the new make-up expert team to be featured on ‘This Morning’, on ITV1.

Fai Archer is making up the leading politicians on ‘The Agenda’, a political chat show broadcast on Monday nights.

Alison Dunwell is working on a biopic about Kenny Everett.

Cecilia Herlin is working on the second series of the 1950s drama ‘The Hour’, starring Dominic West.

Julie Burnett is working on the West End show ‘We Will Rock You’.

Lottie Brooksbank is working on ‘Lemonaid’ currently being broadcast on Saturday nights.  She is about to go to Monaco, as personal make-up artist to Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.