Halifax Black Film Festival: Hair & Makeup Equity in Film & Television

Encore Presentation from the 10th Toronto Black Film Festival.

Presented by ACTRA TORONTO

Join us for a discussion about the systemic barriers that Black performers often face in the hair and makeup chair, and how the industry plans to overcome these barriers. We’ll also discuss how key cast and crew can safely advocate for themselves and on behalf of their colleagues when being confronted with inequitable treatment.

Moderator: Lisa Michelle Cornelius – Actor and Singer

Lisa Michelle Cornelius is a CSA-nominated actor & singer based in Toronto. This busy performer, entrepreneur and mama of a precocious 6-year old is also serving her third term as ACTRA Toronto Councillor and was recently elected as an ACTRA Toronto Vice-President. Selected TV & Film credits include Band Ladies (Highball TV), Black Mirror (Netflix), A Christmas Carousel (Hallmark), Murdoch Mysteries (CBC), Hudson & Rex (CTV), Chucky (SyFy) and more. In 2021, Lisa Michelle took on a lead role alongside Deborah Joy Winans in A Sisterly Christmas, which aired on The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) on Christmas Day.

Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah – Actor, Writer, Director and Producer

Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah is a Surinamese-born, Toronto-based actor, writer, director, and producer with a background in theatre, film, television, audio, and visual art. As an artist, Khadijah is drawn to work that reflects the many intersections of her own identity and the culture at large. Notable acting credits include; The Last of Us, American Gods, What We Do In The Shadows, Workin Moms, Slo-Pitch, and Body so Fluorescent. As a filmmaker, Khadijah has written, produced, and starred in her own independently created works. Her first short film, P!GS, a satirical comedy about a cater-waiter that loses her cool after a series of microaggressions premiered at the 15th annual Caribbean Tales Film Festival and is available for streaming on CBC Gem. Her second short film, DEFUND, a social commentary on the Black Lives Matter movements during the summer of 2020, which she co-wrote/directed/produced and starred in premiered at TIFF 2021 before going on to a robust festival circuit. Checkout what Khadijah is up to next or look at pictures of what she’s eating on Instagram and Twitter @djpaulydij.

Sharon Lewis – Director and Showrunner

Sharon Lewis is an award-winning Director and Showrunner. In 2021, she won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Direction of a Factual Series. She is well-known for her feature film, Brown Girl Begins, an Afro-futurist sci-fi tale, which has toured the world, garnering recognition, including a CSA nomination for Best Screenplay. Sharon’s award-winning feature documentaries, Disruptor Conductor, for CBC Gem and With Wonder highlight stories from the BPOC LGBTQI+ community which continues to be a main focus in Sharon’s work whether it be through her production company urbansoul inc or her directing of genre features and scripted TV series.

TK Prentice-Cupid – Hairstylist & Founder of Textured Hair EDU

TK is a hairstylist based in Toronto, ON Canada. She specializes in balayage and textured hair services (predominantly coily textures), and has a huge passion for cutting and colouring. She is also the founder of the @texturedhairedu platform on Instagram. Through her efforts, she was featured in media outlets like BlogTO, Global News, The Brandon Gonez Show, and others. TK first taught herself about textured hair 13 years ago, and has been a hair care professional for 6 years. She made the decision to create Textured Hair EDU, based on her own frustrations around the lack of adequate textured hair education. TK has dreams of a future where everyone (yes everyone) can walk into a salon and get serviced, no matter the hair type.

Samantha Kaine – Founder and CEO of the Independent Media Producers Association of Creative Talent – I.M.P.A.C.T – and also a Producer & Performer.

Samantha Kaine is a Jamaican-Canadian, award-winning independent film and television creative producer, advocate, mentor and alumna of the Cineplex Entertainment Producers’ Lab Program at the Canadian Film Centre (CFC). Samantha is the Founder and CEO of the Independent Media Producers Association of Creative Talent -I.M.P.A.C.T, a national, member-based non-profit organization created to combat systemic and anti-Black racism by breaking down barriers and opening the gates for producers who are of Afro-descent, Afro-Indigenous descent and who identify as Black, of all intersectional identities. With a strong, clear Afro-futuristic focus, and hard-hitting advocacy work, I.M.P.A.C.T is building a world that empowers producers who are of Afro-descent, Afro-Indigenous descent and who identify as Black to bring their stories to international markets, grow their businesses and realize sustainable careers.

Peggy Kyriakidou: President, NABET 700-M UNIFOR

Peggy Kyriakidou is currently the President of NABET 700-M UNIFOR and has been actively working in the Film and Television industry for over 30 years, specializing in hair. Prior to her presidency, she sat on the NABET 700-M UNIFOR Executive Board for 10 years as the Vice President of the Hair Department. As President, Peggy is responsible for the overall operations of NABET 700-M UNIFOR including the negotiation, application and interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement and the employment interests of all technicians in the local’s jurisdiction, which represents in excess of $500 million in production volume and $70 million in wages annually.

Angela Mastronardi – President, IATSE Local 873

Angela Mastronardi (she/her) is the president of the IATSE Local 873, the largest union representing film and television technicians in Toronto. After achieving two honours degrees in French and Economics from York University, she serendipitously began her career as a Script Supervisor in British Columbia with IATSE 891. Since returning to Toronto and joining IATSE 873 Angela has been actively involved in union organizing and governance. Prior to being elected as the Local’s President, she has served as an Executive Board Member, a Union Trustee, Negotiator, and Chair of the Script Supervisor Committee. Under the current administration, IATSE 873 has increased its jurisdiction and membership substantially, while bringing much-needed awareness to equity, training, and health and safety initiatives.