Behind the Seams, an Interview with Amy Roberts

This week’s episode is the final one we are releasing this year and Jonathan, Jeremy and Richard discuss what has happened over this strangest of times and how costume has changed this year.  We answer some of the questions we have been sent in and look at what’s to come in 2021.  We hope you have enjoyed the podcasts this year - we certainly have been enjoying them and learning more about the interviewees and this great industry of ours and we look forward to introducing our more episodes next year.

Phil (Goldy) Goldsworthy’s CV reads like a list of the epic films made by UK crew of the last 20 years. Beginning your film work on Fifth Element is a pretty good start for any one and as you will hear, Phil has been involved in most of the large crowd productions (although not apparently Gladiator) since then.What is not so well known is that prior to his involvement with Fifth Element he had co won Young Engineer of Great Britain – and we have the footage to prove it from back in the day when mullets were a hairstyle of choice.A thoroughly conscientious and diligent wardrobe man,  Phil has been at the very sharp end of a huge number of films and his passion for the industry shines through this interview.

Matt Price is a British Costume Designer who has been working in the industry for 20 years. His chat today with Jeremy examines the journey he has takento where he is today.Matt always had a passion for photography which led to studying Theatre Designat Saint Martin’s and upon graduationhe started his career as a costumier in the contemporary department at Angels under the leadership of Richard Davies.Seven years  later he left Angels to become a freelance costume designer as he found that the relationships he had made while organising music nights in his spare time helped him to break into the music video industry. From there Matt kept striving to move further into the industry and established himself as a designer for both TV and Film productions. Over the 10 years he has now been designing, he has worked across most mediums, and has become known for the realism he creates in his characters. Matt believes in the strength of narrative that comes from creating a character’s costumes, and has used that knowledge to further the projects he works on and to grow as a designer.His productions credits include Fighting With My Family, The Nest, The Selfish Giant, Brexit: The Uncivil War and the soon to be released Supernova.

Howard Burden is a highly respected Costume Designer who has been working in the industry for over 30 years.  In his conversation with Richard, Howard looks back at his career from Wimbledon college to the BBC days to his highly successful career as a freelance designer. Along the way Howard has worked on some iconic TV series including Dr Who, Red Dwarf, Poldark and Wurzel Gummidge.A great believer in the strength of the team, he see his role as a collaborative one – he is  equally at home putting looks together at Costume Houses or finding ways to make the costumes with his team.  He is not too proud to be found towards the end of a filming day doing the laundry on the Wardrobe truck if it means his team can get home earlier.Howard has an infectious joy about him when he is talking about costume or around costume, always projecting a sense of calm no matter what chaos is happening on a film set.  He has forged great relationships with actors, crew and directors which has led him to the position he now has in the industry.  His body of work and growing list of collaborators is testament to that

Sarah Bowern is a highly-respected costume supervisor in the UK and internationally. She explores with Jonathan how her experiences as a design student in the Young Vic wardrobe department gave her the technical insights to embark on a career that spans the NT, RSC and West End, amongst others. This journey led to a role as Costume Production Manager at the ENO, where she is currently Deputy Head of Costume.Her creative and leadership skills - combined with recent efforts to mobilise teams of makers to manufacture PPE for key workers during the COVID19 crisis - were recognised in the Queen’s 2020 Birthday Honours list with an MBE for services to opera and charity. Sarah’s ongoing focus on supporting many of the industry’s most influential designers makes her an integral part of the creative process, a role she describes with eloquence and passion.  

Amy Roberts is a four times BAFTA winner and Emmy Award winning British Costume Designer.  Throughout her career Amy has garnered a fantastic reputation for her eye for detail, design ideas and approach to all her work.  She has worked in TV, Theatre and Film, beginning her career working at the BBC and worked on productions including Dr Who, Play for Today, The Tale of Beatrix Potter, The Legend of King Arthur and An Englishman Abroad.Richard and Amy have a long established relationship which comes across well in the conversation, Amy discusses what it was like working at the BBC in the 1970s and 80s and the reputation that her peers at the BBC had.  Amy had already established herself as a designer of note when as a freelance she started working in feature films, in Theatre as well as continuing her TV work on productions such as Brassed Off, The Virgin Queen, Swallows and Amazons and Oliver Twist.Today Amy is probably best known as the designer for Seasons 3 and 4 of the Crown, (with Season 5 due to begin next year) a challenge that she has comfortably risen to, being able to design the costumes for large set piece scenes such as the Investiture of Charles as Prince of Wales and Diana and Charles wedding as well as the more intimate scenes of Royal family life.Amy has built up an incredible team around her, one that she feels supports her as much as she supports them and to her the team are an essential part of what makes a great production.   A thoroughly nice person she is a pleasure to work both for and with.

Emma Wright is a senior Angels costumier. Her conversation with Jeremy charts the progress of her career, from joining the intern programme to becoming a highly-regarded member of the renowned civilian costume department.   Balancing work with family life, Emma derives huge satisfaction from her daily interactions within the vast Angels collection. She juggles the complex requirements of visiting design-teams with the logistics of ensuring that all selected costumes and accessories are dispatched in good order and in good time. Emma remains excited by the variety of projects that enable her to realise her passions, both for storytelling and the power of the imagination.

Estelle is chief cutter in the ladies' making department at Angels. Born and educated in France, she commenced her costume training at the Paris Opéra. Upon arrival in the UK, she continued honing her skills within the British costume industry. At Angels, she and her team of makers have developed an essential and growing aspect of the company - creating costumes for the most successful designers working in the industry today.

The interview this week is Jeremy’s chat with Jane Marcantonio, Costume Supervisor for Strictly Come Dancing.  Jane has worked on Strictly for 10 years and her and her team help to create all the looks for the performers every week on the show.She studied Design & Applied Arts specialising in Fashion, at Edinburgh College of Art and graduated with a BA Hons after graduating Jane started working on films and worked her way to be Supervisor working  on projects including The Jacket, Mansfield Park, Rush, Salmon Fishing In The Yemen and Rush.  As well as working on films Jane is also a milliner and has her own business designing luxury fascinators and headpiecesShe started working on Strictly in 2010 working as Supervisor for designer Vicky Gill.Jane discusses her career in the industry, how she manages to maintain her family life while working on a live TV show and discusses her approach to trainees and how valuable they are to her team.www.marcantonio.biz

James has worked as an independent producer of plays, musicals and opera over the course of an immensely successful career. He now helms Opera Holland Park and has made it London’s premier summer opera festival. The event has gained enormous respect from critics, performers, and audiences for its unique and hugely accessible brand of opera. He discusses how he works with the costume designer and why they are such an integral part to the productions OHP puts on.  What comes across is that James’ has a strong commitment and passion to making opera accessible to all and he has created a number of initiatives to reach out to schools and the wider community.