This week on the blog, we are highlighting Michael Meyer, AMUA’s Director of Wig & Hair Design, who has been in the makeup industry as a working artist for 30+ years!
He started his makeup journey with a 3-year Cosmetology Apprenticeship and a 2 year Makeup Artist Apprenticeship in Europe. He has worked as a wigmaker, makeup artist, SPFX makeup artist, and animatronics and puppet artist. Michael worked as the #1 assistant wigmaker in the San Francisco Opera before he started teaching as a guest artist at the University of North Carolina School of Arts in 2000.
He was the Director of the Wig and Makeup Program at UNCSA for over 10 years, and has been with AMUA since 2017. He started the Art of Wig & Hair Design Program here, and he is currently growing into his additional role as the Director of Education by running some of the daily operations at AMUA.
Michael shares: “In my teaching career, my proudest moments are when I see that my teaching and coaching launches a successful career – up to Emmy Awards winnings and nominations! What I love most about my job is being able to train a well-rounded artist that can find employment in many aspects of the trade. That is what’s so great about being part of the AMUA team – we train all aspects of the industry, and that results in highly successful artists.”
What often surprises people about Michael is that he started a medical trainer device company with Jim Johnson from Wake Forest Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC: “I developed a training device, among many others, to help train for surgeries to eradicate trichiasis. This device has helped hundreds, if not thousands, of trainees and surgeons in developing countries in Central Africa to practice the surgical procedure to reverse the direction of inward directed eyelashes and saving the patient’s eyesight. One of my proudest moments for sure!”
(Read more about the device here.)
It is very important for Michael to keep on learning and developing himself. “As a teacher, I am always evaluating my capabilities of conveying information to students, which changes constantly with new and emerging technologies, especially in this industry. I also believe that I must have an active career outside of my teachings to stay on top of current trends, new materials and technical knowledge in order to make sure my students are adequately prepared for a successful career.
Since I started at AMUA, I’ve been the wig designer at the local theater company Blackbird, where I worked with then current AMUA students to build all of the wigs for the production of Twilight of the Gods. I’ve also built an animatronic Frankenstein character for a local escape game together with fellow instructor, Ben Rittenhouse, and alumni Andy Garland. Recently. I’ve recently rewritten the hair and wig section of the book Stage Makeup by Richard Corson, James Glavan and Beverly Norcross, an industry-leading makeup book for aspiring artists that is used worldwide.”
Michael is currently working on hair replacement systems for private customers in New York, a commission for a realistic silicone head, he is improving his 3D printing capabilities, and he is learning a 3D rendering and sculpting program called Blender.
As far as the future, he shares: “I’m looking forward to developing future training programs at AMUA together with my co-teachers Ben Rittenhouse, Kevin St James and of course our fearless leader Ashley Lords. We are currently researching and developing a Animatronics/Creature Suit Program – more news on this soon!”
Read more about Michael’s story here and visit his website here.