So, you’re a working Makeup FX Artist, or just a keen beginner. You have some questions you want answered- you might be trying out a new technique for the first time, or maybe you had an unexpected problem crop up with something you’ve done dozens of times before, and you aren’t sure what happened or why? Where do you look for help?
Call 911!
Neill Gorton’s Makeup FX 911, to be precise!!
Started on Facebook in the early part of 2012 by Neill Gorton, of Millenium FX in the UK, it is the first of its kind. While other forums exist, the unique thing about Neill Gorton’s Makeup FX 911 is that it is patronised by almost all of the top industry participants in the field today. At least, all the ones who use social media…. With well over twelve hundred members, there will be someone on there that can help you with your problem, give you the advice you need, or simply point you in the right direction to take your work to the next level.
(Disclaimer: I have been a member of the group since shortly after its inception, and am also currently an ADMIN.)
Members include industry experts of over 20 years standing, several of whom are Oscar and/or BAFTA winners, as well as raw beginners and every level in-between.
Within the Makeup FX industry today there exists an admirable spirit of community, fostered in earlier times by people like the legendary Dick Smith.
Dick Smith began this period of openness in response to everyone who tried to keep him from learning. His philosophy was that only by sharing our knowledge freely can we, as members of a highly specialised field, grow and develop to our full potential. With the sheer breadth and depth of techniques and materials available today, no one person can possibly know or learn everything there is to know. Therefore, we owe it to each other to share what we can, because someone else may take something you had started and run with it, and create something totally new and wonderful that feeds back into the pool and thus we all benefit in the end….
This is a “Closed” Group, which means you will need to request permission to join, and be approved by an Admin, but that only means we restrict membership to actual Makeup Artists and people in the field. You can be a student, or maybe you are still deciding upon the best way to learn and get into the field. There are strict rules to the group, no self-promotion or aggrandising allowed, no selling, no unpleasantness.
It is an information group and fulfils that purpose better than anything I have seen to date. Anyone with a genuine interest in Special Makeup FX is welcome.
I can honestly say that all of the top Makeup FX Artists whom I have been fortunate enough to meet in person have been open, friendly, and encouraging. Of the many more that I have ‘met’ in cyberspace, they have only reinforced that opinion. While everyone is busy in real life, and may not have time to reply to emails or answer phone messages, Facebook groups like this one are often well patronised and many people will chip in on each question or problem, often contributing to animated discussion, giving the questioner the multiplied wisdom of many countries and many different methods.
If you are searching for suppliers in your country, or want to know about new products or old favourites- Call 911!
If you have a technical problem and haven’t been able to find an answer- Call 911!
If you have an issue with the business side of Makeup FX- Call 911!
If you are wondering whether there is a way to improve your techniques, or just wondering how everyone else does it- Call 911!
On Neill Gorton’s Makeup FX 911, someone, somewhere, will have an answer for you.
While a lot of ‘good’ artists are undoubtedly cocky, even boastful, and tend to be more protective of what they see as ‘their’ methods and ideas, the truly great artists, while quite justifiably confident in themselves, are always humble and incredibly respectful of their place in the pantheon…
“If I have seen further than others it is because I stood on the shoulders of giants.”
I highly recommend that if you are serious about learning, or if you feel that you have valuable knowledge and you would like to share it with others, that you join us today!
naomidlynch 
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