Meet Fawn Ortega | Journeyman Make-Up Artist – IATSE 798

We had the good fortune of connecting with Fawn Ortega and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Fawn, why did you pursue a creative career?
After my parents divorced, I spent a lot of time with my Aunt who went to beauty school as a hairstylist. I was her test subject as a kid because I had beautiful long, thick hair. I swept the floors, read all the books at the shop, and went to her salon after school instead of going home. Over time I helped her mix colors, and assisted her in any way that I could. She was my idol, and definitely inspired my career.

She had always wanted to be a freelancer, but her full-time salon work didn’t allow that. Plus while she was great with hair, she was really bad at make-up. The salon got in a huge skin care display by Trucco. No one was really using it, so I started playing around with it. I began to touch up women’s make-up after getting their hair done, and work with them on their skin care. After a short time I started selling Trucco make-up and collecting commissions, and I really developed a skill for natural make-up styles for all skin colors. Trucco gave me my start, but was limited at the time, and because I was working with a lot of black women, it pushed me to learn more about the products that they needed and to seek them out.

At the same time, my Aunt was taking me along to her freelance modeling gigs at a young age because she wanted me to be a model, but the photographers started to notice I was fixing the make-up for her. They started hiring me, and that really drove my love and passion for working with clients and making people look and feel beautiful.

I’ll never forget there was this one woman. I did her make-up after she got a haircut, and when I turned her around to the mirror, she started to cry. Cry all that make-up right off, because she had never seen herself as beautiful and she was. I helped her see that. After that I was hooked, but it would be a few years before I realized this was a calling and something that really could give me a fulfilling career.

When my daughter was born, I found the inner strength to really go after jobs as a make-up artist. I literally strapped her on my back and went out in search of work. I went to all the schools, like Portfolio Center, SCAD, and Creative Circus, and met some of the local photographers. When I would see someone who did good work, I would offer my services for free. I wanted to learn, but also work with artists that had a great eye. That was the start to my editorial and high fashion work.

Back then you did both hair and makeup. Wardrobe was always an issue too, so I started pulling my clothes for shoots. Having done runway shows, I had connections and really started booking myself as a stylist because I now had a portfolio to back up my resume. That led me to corporate work as well. That allowed me to learn lighting, where the mics were placed if it was video, and introduced to the world of film. I was a triple threat as a stylist – I could do make-up, hair, and wardrobe, which also lead to a lot of indie film work.

At this point in my early career, I had finally found my niche in the world and knew there was no other place for me.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The early part of my career before film really taught me the foundation of what I needed to know skills wise. Once I had to give up doing hair and wardrobe to join the union, and choose to work exclusively in the make-up department, I learned to stay in my lane, keep my mouth shut and my head down. This business can be filled with drama and chaos, but you have to mind your own business, focus on the work at hand, and show gratitude for the opportunities you’ve been given.

What sets me apart is that I’ve overcome so many things and persevered so much in my personal life, that I am tough. I’m not afraid of hard work or getting my hands dirty. I’m not afraid to learn or try new things, I seek them out. The film industry forces you to focus and be still, which is a talent I possess. Your job is to make the actors feel that they are the character they were hired to be. You need to smile for them and do the work to support them, not engage in petty drama or personal conflict. Our job is to support the talent first and always. We are the last person the actor works with before heading to set. They show us their vulnerabilities, and we must have them prepped to be at their best. Knowing how to get last looks without the 1st AD waiting on you, knowing that your talent is good to go, and they are set makes me feel proud of the work and my contribution to the collaboration that is involved in making movies, TV shows, and commercials.

Being aware of how CGI has played a role on films like Cap’t America was really important – to work with the dots and keep them on actors faces. This was a big challenge at the time, but working on so many Marvel films really showed me the future of filmmaking which not everyone is lucky enough to experience. It put me ahead of the curve moving from practical to visual FX. Guardians of the Galaxy was one of my favorites. Great actors and a really amazing experience. I would love to do more of that work as well as travel with productions overseas.

I’m excited about the future of filmmaking, where my career will head next, especially with the uncertainty of AI in the mix. Each gig is new and exciting and different. I love working with actors and helping them find their characters through the perfect make-up, whether high fashion, everyday, or SFXMU. It brings me great joy to see an actor confident in their performance because of how they look and feel.

A big moment was having my daughter visit set on Cap’t America. Her mind was blown when I walked her by the entire cast and she got a chance to speak with them. Being the cool Mom is always a bonus!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Atlanta has so many cool spots, it’s hard to pick. It’s grown and continues to grow so fast it’s hard to keep up! But a lot of the best places no longer exist. Places like The Masquerade and MJQ aren’t the same as they used to be. And tomorrow that great restaurant or club is gone with a condo in its place.

I love live music, and there are a ton of different venues, but they are all huge these days. But the Tabernacle and The Fox Theater are great.

The Clermont Lounge, East Atlanta Village and Little 5 Points are of course places we would have to visit.

Mi Barrio is a family run restaurant that I love, because family is really important to me. Now that I have a grandson, I focus on family activities like The Botanical Gardens, the Puppetry Arts Center and The High Museum of Art, which are some of our favorites.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Transitioning from runway shoots, high fashion and editorial work into the independent film world, really helped my career take off. People think the film industry is brutal, and it is, but the world of high fashion is cut throat and I was looking for a change.

I met a local producer and production manager who was working on indie films, Linda Burns, and she hired me even though I tried to tell her I didn’t have the experience. But she hired me because I could do hair, make-up, and wardrobe, so the triple threat really kick started everything. Her belief and support in me really pushed me into uncharted territory and made me realize I had what it took to work in film and television.

And she introduced me to the world of SFXMU, which I really loved. Blake Myers was another person that really encouraged me and taught me a lot about SFXMU. We worked together on the indie short V/H/S – Amateur Night, which premiered at Sundance and fueled my love of SFXMU.

Crazy Legs Productions hired me to do the SFXMU work on some of their ID channel shows, like Your Worst Nightmare and Bloodlands. Then I worked with a relatively unknown Octavia Spencer, Dale Dickey, and Beth Grant on a tiny movie called Blues for Willadean, which allowed a lot more SFXMU work and I loved it.

M.A.C. and NARS were two of my early sponsors when I started doing editorial work. They gave me a ton of make-up which was incredibly important in the beginning, especially given the range of skin tones their make-up supported. When you credit a company like this, they will often give you make-up to use. Urban Decay is another one that is good with that.

There are a lot of people, production companies, and make-up brands that have supported me over the years, so I’d like to just shout-out the Atlanta market in general and the folks that support it.

Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3736139/

Instagram: yourfawness

Image Credits