Emmy wins for Australian make-up artists

Image: Chiara Tripodi (left) and Toni Ffrench (right) after winning Emmys in Los Angeles for their work on 2008 HBO series The Pacific

Two of Australian’s finest make-up artists, Chiara Tripodi and Toni Ffrench, have won one of the highest American TV awards, an Emmy, for Outstanding Make-up in a Miniseries or Movie for their work on the historic war series The Pacific (HBO, 2008). The Pacific follows its sister series Band of Brothers (HBO, 2001) and screened on the Seven Network.

Chiara and Toni have worked on many Australian and American productions over the past 22 years and the win at the Emmys held in Los Angeles recently is a career highlight for both women. Many of the productions they have worked on are held here at the National Film and Sound Archive, including Thank God He Met Lizzie (Stamen Films Pty Ltd, 1997), Love My Way (Southern Star John Edwards, 2004-2007), Clubland (RB Films, now Goalpost, 2007) and more recently Offspring (Southern Star Productions, 2010).

The Pacific is the  most expensive television production ever made in Australia and it allowed Chiara, as key make-up artist, to express her  great artist vision when designing the right look for a period piece. The make-up team were able to take Chiara’s designs and implement them on each episode of the series to get the most realist look for the era. This included working with over 400 extras, all who needed hair cuts and bloody wounds to fit the bill.

The make-up department of 23 were all Australians who have worked in the film industry for many years. It was due to their fantastic skills and work ethic — sometimes working night shoots and pre-dawn starts — that provided the opportunity to work on such a big budget US project.

Winning the Emmy is wonderful recognition for a job well done and the NFSA congratulates Chiara and Toni on their career success.