Read the Credits
The women behind the scenes in film.
Starting in the late 1800s, women fought for their spot at the cinematic table to create, craft and influence film projects. It took almost 100 years for the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. That woman was Julia Phillips in 1973. She wrote and co-produced The Sting. It took another 35 years for a female to win the coveted Best Director statue (Kathryn Bigelow in 2008 for The Hurt Locker).
While beautiful starlets will always grace the screen, women behind the scenes still struggle to be a present and driving force in film. However, the budding movie scene in Austin is growing at an exponential rate, and female cinematographers, screenwriters, film editors, production designers, costume designers and makeup and hair artists are impacting and strengthening the city’s productions.
Austin Woman sat down with the women behind the scenes: Sandra Adair, Stephanie Hunt, Jenny Lin and Andrea Doyle. Each one fills a specialized and vital role for a film’s final product. Each helps to achieve the overall vision of a project in her own unique way, exemplifying the many moving pieces that comprise a film. They don’t do it for the fame; they do it for the love of their work and with a great appreciation for the world of film. Reading their stories may just give you a whole new appreciation for their contributions as the end credits roll along.
Sandra Adair, Editor
With more than 36 years of experience in editing film and more than 30 films to her name, Sandra Adair is a cutting-room queen. A film is like one giant puzzle, with Adair meticulously putting together the thousands of pieces so it translates to viewers in a cohesive, flawless manner. Adair is a member of the American Cinema Editors (ACE), an honorary society of film editors that are elected and recognized by the society based on their professional achievements and dedication to editing.
The majority of her work can be found in local director Richard Linklater’s films, such as Before Sunset, Fast Food Nation, Bernie and A Scanner Darkly, to name a few. In 2004, Adair was nominated for an Eddie, an award selected by ACE, recognizing her for Best Edited Feature Film—Comedy or Musical—for The School of Rock. Breathing life into a project, Adair’s skilled ability lies in taking hours of footage, manipulating a movie to attain the desired effect, deconstructing and reconstructing it to become the final cut viewed in theaters.
“You pick up little tricks about how to fix a performance,” she explains. “You take the beginning of one line from the first take and the end of another line from a second take. You cover up the first half of the line, put the second half on camera and suddenly you have a great performance and it’s all manufactured.”
Adair’s favorite film she has been a part of is Linklater’s coming-of-age stoner cult-classic, Dazed and Confused.
“It was the first film I did in Austin, the first film I did with Linklater and the first film that I had the solo credit as editor on a studio film,” Adair says. “There was a lot riding on it for me, to really put down my stakes in Austin and show what I could do. And it was really, really fun. We just totally had a blast doing it.”
Collaboration ultimately embodies Adair’s passion for her work, recognizing the fact that it takes multiple bodies and creative minds to develop the final product.
“Films are not made alone; [you have to] pull all the threads together. It’s like stitching a bunch of random threads together in a weaving,” she explains, noting that each department contributes an essential strand.
Although Adair primarily loves editing comedy and drama, she’s really found her niche in Linklater’s films.
“I always end up loving the films he makes,” she says. “There’s a certain originality that he has in the projects he chooses to do. It’s always exciting to figure out what’s next and how he can top the last one.”
The next Linklater and Adair collaboration is the Untitled 12-Year Project, slated to come out in 2015. The film has been “under construction” for more than 12 years, with shooting beginning in the summer of 2002. Adair and the rest of the crew get together annually to film Linklater's script. The story line follows a boy from adolescence to freshman year in college. But Linklater films aren’t the only projects Adair is involved with. She’s also edited some noteworthy documentaries, such as Sushi: A Global Catch, and Shepard and Dark, which won Best Feature Documentary at the 2012 Woodstock Film Festival. She’s currently editing the documentary A Single Frame with Austin director Brandon Dickerson, who is most known for his music videos with Demi Lovato, Switchfoot and Selena Gomez.
“I love working on a documentary to create a film essentially out of thin air. I mean, there’s footage and a seed of a story, but actually creating it to be a cohesive piece—I love that part of the process,” Adair says.
Her advice for aspiring film editors? Get in the cutting room! Work with an experienced editor as an assistant and get your hands on any project you can— paid or unpaid.
“It takes experience to learn how to pick performance, tell a story, create the pace, problem solve to fix things that are not working, creatively address style,” she says.
And you can’t learn overnight. Even after 36 years, Adair admits that it’s a lifelong process of learning and growing.
“I’ve learned to trust my instinct because it’s really easy to second-guess your choices and decision-making process. In the end, I always have to come back to what do I like, what works for me? I’ve learned to trust my gut and to create a scene to unfold in a way that feels right to me. And if it feels right to me, in my experience, it feels right to other people too,” she says while acknowledging that the process takes practice. “I’m still learning it daily. It’s something that I re-learn every day when I get to work. I am constantly continuing to develop as an editor as I move forward with each new project.”
Stephanie Hunt, Writer, Actress, Composer
You might recognize rising local talent Stephanie Hunt from her acting work in Friday Night Lights, Californication or How to Live with Your Parents for the Rest of Your Life. Beyond acting, Hunt writes screenplays, poems and songs. She also composed the music for her “documentary-ish” film, Love & Tambourines, collaborating with childhood friend and director Jeremy Cohen on the writing as well. Cohen and Hunt also worked together on Dalai Lama this year, a short film currently making its way through the festival circuit about a woman who becomes too good at meditating and begins to make people disappear.
“[Jeremy and I] are both in to surreal stuff: [Frederico] Fellini, the Woody Allen-esque style of making a metaphor an actuality,” she says.
Hunt helped Cohen to achieve a dreamlike story with Dalai Lama, developing the characters and aiding in the rewrite of the script before filming began. A journalism major at University of Texas Austin, Hunt dropped out after a year to pursue acting on the set of Friday Night Lights. While she excels in being in front of a camera with her dry humor and quick wit, she’s also had some success behind the scenes as well, discussing her take on effective filmmaking.
“A great film takes spontaneity and freedom to be able to form,” she says, admiring directors who try to capture some of the organic creativity that comes from being on set with the cast, further explaining that the freedom, spontaneity and organic delivery of lines is what inspires her to create film, especially film embedded with subtle and obscure comedy. We caught up with Hunt while she was touring with her honky-tonk indie group, Nancy and Beth, the wild duo that is completed with actress Megan Mullally (Will & Grace, Children’s Hospital, Party Down).
Opening on the tour for Mullally’s husband, Nick Offerman, Parks and Recreation star and comedian, or “humorist” as he’d prefer to be called, Hunt met Mullally while filming Somebody Up There Likes Me, and immediately hit it off personally and musically. While her primary focus is currently on the Nancy and Beth tour, Hunt continues to learn and grow, fulfilling her many creative passions of singing, dancing, making movies and writing. She jokes that her next goal is to become an astrophysicist, but in seriousness, wishes to continually maintain the diversity within her work.
“I couldn’t ever choose one thing because I’d get bored,” she laughs. “Each thing brings a different color or shade of inspiration.”
“With making stuff that you believe in, can get behind, or think is interesting, it feels satisfying, and in some way you’re giving something that you care about to other people. It feels like a good release,” she says of the rewards of her labor, sharing her thoughts with the public through a film or music medium.
However, challenges arise as well, but might not be what you’d expect. “The challenges [for me] are being able to balance being relaxed and energized at the same time. When you’re making something or performing, it takes full focus and I try to be peaceful and creative, not freaking out and always seeing something to be grateful for,” she says.
Her No. 1 piece of advice for aspiring filmmakers and the creative-at-heart is, “Do it for yourself. Otherwise it’s going to be really unsatisfying. Especially when you are starting out,” she guides. “I think that is important for the state of art in the world these days. If people can start to look inside rather than outside for inspiration, it’d be a lot more interesting.”
Jenny Lin, Makeup Artist & Hair Stylist
Jenny Lin got her start with only the slightest interest in makeup. Attending UT to be a dietitian, she took a job at a makeup counter, essentially to learn how to do her own makeup and without a clue that she had stumbled upon her life’s passion. Fast forward 10 years and you can find Lin’s work in every corner of Austin’s media and entertainment scene. From commercials, music videos, magazines and motion pictures, to prepping the faces and hair of high-profile politicians, Lin lives and breathes her job.
“I love that [my work] is so diverse and that my skills can encompass all of it,” Lin says of her broad makeup clientele base. “There’s never a dull moment. … I’m always learning something new, picking up different things working with other makeup artists and hair stylists. The learning process never stops.”
Although it can be difficult to tap in to the film world, cementing your place in film eases with the right connections and proving you can keep up with the long hours and fast pace. Like Adair joined forces with Linklater, Lin received an opportunity to work with Robert Rodriguez on Machete Kills, hitting theaters Oct. 11. From this project, she landed a spot working on the set of Rodriguez’s Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For, set for release in the summer of 2014. In addition to the Rodriguez films, Lin has worked in makeup on more than 20 films, contributing a specific purpose and intent within her department, her expertise helping to achieve the bigger picture of a film—the story.
“You want to tell a story with the makeup too. ‘Why is the hair the way it is?’ ‘Why is the makeup the way it is?’ ” Lin ponders. “I work with the directors and the storyline and break it down. It’s a lot of homework.”
In addition to being able to tell a story with a face and hairstyle alone, Lin has also had to refine her makeup application while technology advances in film.
“With an HD camera, you see everything—sharper than your eye or my eye can see it. Makeup can’t have any texture; it’s a very detailed process,” she explains, noting that she’s always looking to build her kit with the best makeup on the market for quality and price.
Gathering inspiration from vibrant colors at the Blanton Museum and the natural beauty of the Hill Country, Lin hopes to stay in Austin. She moved a lot as a child, and hopes to stay in the city she calls home as long as the work continues. Although the film community is small, the industry is exploding.
“There’s a lot of work and everyone is working hard. It’s really great to see,” Lin says, her admiration for her fellow behind-the-scenes filmmakers shining through.
Working in film and television, Lin is very much a part of the fabric of the scene, growing with the tight-knit group. “When you’ve worked with these people for several years, you see them grow and it’s one supportive love circle. We can reminisce on other projects we’ve worked on together. It’s a big family,” she says.
Lin was able to reunite with many people through the television series Revolution, based in Austin, which will continue filming in to 2014. In typical film and television fashion, the crew works long hours to bring entertainment to viewers’ homes. Lin discussed the 12 to 15 hour days, noting that her longest time on a set was a full 24 hours.
“It can be really long days. We have a lot of coffee supplied on set. Whenever there’s no coffee, people get cranky,” she smiles. “You’re always on high alert so there’s a lot of adrenaline too.”
But the long days don’t faze her, only fueling her fire, seducing her to take on more projects, more clients and more film.
“I know I’ve been working on a crazy project when my mom calls and says, ‘Jenny? Are you alive?’ ” she says, only half joking.
It is with this work ethic that we can expect to find Jenny Lin behind the biggest film and television projects coming out of Austin, telling a story with her art before the first line is ever delivered.
Andrea Doyle, Production Designer
A director has a vision for a film, but it is the job of the production designer to make it a reality. The setting has to be just right to create continuity and believability: the right curtains for the kitchen scene, the right cocktail glass for the bar scene, the right armoire for the bedroom scene. All of the minute details that go in to the setting’s design are extremely important to complete the artistic vision. Andrea Doyle does just this. From gathering dirty mattresses to simulate a sleazy hotel room, or planting fake flowers to achieve a vibrantly kitschy garden, Doyle has an eye for design, completing the artistic intention for a film through selecting props and fabricating a set, practically out of thin air.
“You work with a director and cinematographer to get the feel of the piece; building the world,” Doyle says. “You’re looking for very specific items for a specific scene.”
So when a visit to a taxidermist or a call for multiple high-powered rifles arise, Doyle tracks down the items, tackling all obstacles so she can get her hands on the prop. With a background in architecture and interior design, Doyle is an admitted pack rat, discovering useful objects from garage and yard sales, building her collection and passing items along to her architecture, interior design and film clients. In fact, her architecture and interior design company, Three Chairs Design, got its name from a stumbled-upon bargain.
“I found three chairs on the side of the road that I liked, and then it became like crack,” she jokes. “My garage just filled with chairs. My kids were like, ‘Mommy, no more chairs!’”
Here, Doyle pats her arm for her intravenous chair fix. “I have friends who also work in the [film] business, and will ask, ‘Hey, do you have a cooler from the ’70s?’ ‘Yeah, I have two!’” she exclaims.
It is this light humor and ability to poke fun at herself that not only makes Doyle someone you want to be around, but also makes her a great addition to a film set. With the long days and demanding changes that require flexibility and a positive attitude, humor is key, but Doyle notes a few other important aspects to know prior to entering the film world.
“Never let them see you cry,” she says, explaining her first film experience.
She had hung a giant fish net and right before the call for “Action!” the net fell down. Doyle had 30 seconds to get it back up, was exhausted and cold, on the brink of either leaving or crying.
“I took a deep breath and I didn’t cry. After it was over, the assistant director came up to me and said, ‘You’re one of us,’ ” she reminisces. “You can’t cry. And you can’t leave. Usually, you want to do both at some point. If you can’t handle somebody breathing down your neck, and the whole production standing there staring at you—‘Are you going to get this together?’— then you should just stay home. There’s a lot of pressure, but you thrive on it too.”
She notes that the pressure is alleviated with the support of the crew.
“If someone is having a disaster, everyone jumps in; it becomes everyone’s disaster. It’s just a family and I love that,” she gushes. Her favorite film she’s worked on is local director David Gordon Green’s Joe, starring Nicolas Cage, playing in theaters by the end of this year. Keep an eye out for soon-to-be released End Game and Monster Tails, two of Doyle’s latest projects, the former recently wrapping and the latter still in production. From set mishaps, to even going in to anaphylactic shock, Doyle hasn’t shied away from film, continuing to add her creative touches to a set.
“I want moviegoers to recognize that this book of mirrors that makes a movie beautiful are the people behind the scenes who work 16 hours a day. It’s pretty brutal work but you do it because you love it,” she says. “When you’re sitting in a theater and you’re seeing this awesome movie, it’s not just the actor/actress, or the director who did it. It’s a family. There are a lot of unsung heroes.”
By Stephanie Hunt photo by Robert Kerian. Jenny Lin, Sandra Adair and Andrea Doyle photos by Rudy Arocha; Doyle Makeup by Katey Stoye, Nordstrom Beauty Stylist.
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