Interview with Sachi Masuda for Cinema Cafe Movie Workbook
Can you imagine what it’s like to be a wardrobe supervisor?
I’ve tried to explain it to my family and friends many times, but they don’t really understand… (laughs).
Sachi Masuda, who works as a wardrobe supervisor in the Television and movie industry in New York, U.SA., She moved to the U.S. in 2007, went to college there, then entered the world of entertainment in New York and carved out her own path.
In this edition of the “Film Workbook,” we introduce work related to the film. This time, we bring you a two-part interview with Ms. Masuda! What does a wardrobe supervisor do? We talked about everything from what a wardrobe supervisor does to the growing demand for staff work in the entertainment industry in New York!
–First of all, what is the job of a “wardrobe supervisor”? I have a vague idea that it’s a job that belongs to the field of costumes, but what exactly does it entail?
First of all, there are two groups of costume “design departments” so-called Costumes in New York film and TV productions. One is the Costume team, which selects and sources the costumes for the actors to wear in the production. The team consists of designers, tailors, and ager/dyer who does dyeing and aging work.
The other team I belong to is the Wardrobe team, which is responsible for the smooth running of the production, taking care of the costumes of the actors on set, and managing the costumes in the wardrobe trailer. They are not involved in sourcing or selection of costumes. The Wardrobe Supervisor is responsible for the Wardrobe team.
My specific job as a supervisor is to manage expenses. For example, I calculate the total amount of socks, underwear, hangers used in the wardrobe, garment bags used to carry costumes, etc., and submit the necessary budget to the production in advance. My subordinate costumers (*see below for more details on their work), and in some cases, tailors may be needed on-site, but such labor is also included in the wardrobe.
In addition to such money management, it is also my job to manage the staff. How many staff members will be needed on-site, and how much time will be required on set? For some productions, there may be two units (shooting teams), the main filming team and the sub-team, so I look at each filming schedule and think about how to allocate the staff.
Then there is the arrangement and management of costumes. The costumes that the actors will wear are given to us by the designers of the costume team, and we receive detailed explanations. Sometimes I’ll say, “This is optional, and the actors can decide if they want to wear it or not.
Script breakdown is also my job to know what costume is needed in what scene by going over the script and then I give detailed instructions to my subordinates. In TV, the shooting schedule and script often change at the last minute, and I have to keep track of this and arrange and manage the necessary costumes.
–The “wardrobe” team is responsible for managing the costumes on set, and the “supervisor” oversees the team.
In other words, I’m the “do-it-all guy” on set (laughs). For example, my job is to prepare comfort slippers for the actors to wear when they are not filming, but some actors say they don’t like them unless they are UGGs, some prefer open-toe slippers, and some prefer thicker material.
Even for a single pair of socks, there are various requests such as “100% cotton” or “I won’t wear socks unless they are made by this manufacturer” (laughs). We have to respond to these requests one by one.
–From here, I would like to go back in time a bit and ask you how you came to work in the US. Did you always like entertainment and fashion?
My parents liked foreign films, and when I was a child, they would take me to the movie theater, but all I would see were foreign films. They took me to a children’s animation only once or twice, and I couldn’t even read subtitles… (laughs).
I guess I was about five years old. I saw the movie version of “A Chorus Line” and it left a deep impression on me. Even as a child, I was struck by the sight of the dancers in their sparkling costumes dancing happily. I thought to myself, “I want to be a part of this!”. In fact, I did some dancing and cheerleading in school, but I didn’t think I could be a dancer (laughs). But I thought I might be able to do something with costumes, so I continued to choose and make costumes for cheerleading for school festivals and events in college.
–What were your plans after college?
I didn’t have anything to do with fashion at university. However, in my third year, I started attending a fashion school and studied design and styling. However, after graduation, I got a job in Japan as a product designer. I designed handbags, corporate/magazine novelties, and after about two and a half years, I felt that I had done all I could do at that company.
I had always had a vague desire to study abroad since I was a student, and although I was in my mid-twenties at the time, I thought, “Now is the time to go. So I decided to quit my job and go to the US.
Things have changed little by little, but in Japan, age is still a constant concern, especially for women. When I came to the U.S., I found that it is a society of merit, where some people are young and some are old, and people work and study regardless of their age. However, in Japan, there are things like “do this in your 20s, and in your 30s…”, right? I felt that way and thought, “Well, I’ll just go now! I decided to study abroad without thinking too much about it.
–Did you imagine for yourself you would end up living in the U.S. for a very long time?
I didn’t think so (laughs). I came here in 2007, so it’s been 14 years now.
–How long did you plan to study abroad?
Two years. It was a vocational school where I could study language and fashion. I started going to some school because they offered an “Optional Practical Training a.k.a. OPT” that would allow me to work for one year after graduation. However, the visa requirements suddenly changed, and I couldn’t get the OPT at that school. As a result, I ended up re-entering the university here.
I was told that I could graduate in about two years by transferring the credits I had earned at the university in Japan, but I had to take the TOEFL in order to enter the university, so I studied English for that, and then I successfully entered the university and graduated in about two years to acquire an OPT. By the way, I majored in Theater in school, and I studied everything related to theater, from lighting, stage sets, design, costumes, hair, and makeup to the history of theater.
–How did you come to work as a wardrobe supervisor?
While I was in school, I worked as an intern in the school costume department, and also assisted my professors in stage performances and fashion shows held outside school. However, I began to realize that it was difficult to make enough money to live off of in theatre – I liked it, but it was difficult to make a career out of it. I started to think about whether I could work in the motion picture field.
But how could I get a job as a costume designer in the film industry? I didn’t have any connections, and my professor knew people in theatre, but not people in the film industry…. right before I graduated, I started sending e-mails to various people. I think I sent out about 200 e-mails.
I think I sent out about 200 e-mails. Some of them were replies, but I couldn’t get a job because of the timing and above all, the visa issue. Now that I think about it, it must have been difficult for them to hire me (laughs).
However, because of the OPT that I mentioned earlier, I was able to work after graduation. Almost everything I did was unpaid, but I happened to be asked to work as an intern for a costume designer for an indie film and I joined.
However, the film suddenly ran out of budget and shut down… (laughs). I thought I would have to look for another job, but a month later, I was offered to continue shooting that film. However, the designer and assistants left, and I thought I lost the job too, but then the production designer of the film asked me, “You did a great job. Would you be interested to come back as a costume supervisor?” To be honest, I didn’t know anything about actual film costume work yet, but when there was no one else to do it, she said, “You’re the only one I can ask.” I told her, “I’ll take it, but I need your advice on set. She said, “Don’t worry! I’ll be there for you!” So I accepted the job, but when I went to set for the first time after the shutdown, she was not there… (laughs). I was in a state of half-crying every day and wondering what I was going to do next.
–You were suddenly given a job on a film set….
Of course, in film production, you have to understand the continuity between scenes, but I couldn’t even do such basic things properly. I was constantly wondering, “Up until what did we shoot?,” “What are we going to shoot?” I was thrown out in the middle of nowhere. I was figuring it out based on the material the designer and her assistants made. I was always thinking, “What if I’m wrong? Someone will say something.”
That’s how I felt at the first job site, and after that, I worked part-time again while looking for another job. In this industry, connections are important, and you often get jobs through referrals. In terms of costume work, only the designers have agents, and the rest are mostly freelancers. For the first two or three years, I was doing “costume” work for independent films and TV productions. After a while, I was able to join the wardrobe union and gradually expanded my connections.
–What exactly did you do as a “costume designer” at that time?
In the independent film industry, my title was “supervisor” or “designer”. I got a work visa and joined the union, but I had to start in the position of “costumer” in union jobs.
–How do you explain the job of “costumer” based on the “costume” team and the “wardrobe” team you explained at the beginning?
That’s the wardrobe team position that manages the costumes on set. They work for the supervisor who oversees the wardrobe. Basically, they stay on set and help actors with their costumes.
For example, when a scene is over and we take a break, actors unbutton their costumes, but when we shoot the next scene, they have to button them up properly. Costumers have to check continuity between scenes. They also take pictures of the costumes and the monitors to make sure there are no continuity issues.
Depending on the size of the studio, there may be three costumers working full-time in a major production studio. One person is in charge of the main actors, and the other two are in charge of the rest.
One of their jobs is to prepare the costumes for actors in the morning. They also have to do the laundry. They bring warming coats for the cast if they are cold on set. If an actress is wearing heels, they give her slippers to wear during breaks… Basically, their job is to take care of the personal aspects of costumes.
–Ms. Masuda, I see you also started your career as a “costumer” after joining the Union. And from there, how did you become a supervisor?
My bosses, supervisors, got fired one after another on several jobs while I was working as a costumer. I was asked to be the supervisor, and I had no choice but to do it.
At some point, I had to work as a costumer on set and also as a supervisor. I brought my computer to set and worked on this and that, and also took care of the actors.
–While taking care of actors on set, I also managed and supervised costumes, people, money, schedules, etc… Sounds like a lot of work!
It was tough (laughs). I worked as a supervisor twice, but it wasn’t something I really wanted to do. I didn’t really want to do it, but the designer told me, “You’re good at it. You should do it. I thought to myself, “No, I’m not even close to the supervisor level.” I wanted to gain a little more experience as a costumer in major productions.
Then, a new supervisor came, but she was also fired for various reasons…
–Another dismissal (laughs)?
Here, people are replaced rather quickly, aren’t they? There are rules and procedures to follow, such as “the first step is to give a verbal warning and report it in writing to the producer,” but as the steps progress, the person is fired without mercy.
Eventually, the supervisor quit, and they asked me to do it again. However, at that time, I had a close work relationship with actors on set as a costumer, some people including the designer mentioned, “We can’t pull Sachi out now.” Therefore I had to stay on set. In the end, the truck costumer, who had been assisting the supervisor was promoted to a supervisor position.
However, that didn’t go so well either… It was the filming of season 2 of some TV series, and the designer said to me, “Please, you’re the supervisor for season 3.” I thought to myself, “This must be my destiny. (laughs)” Since then, I have been working as a supervisor.
–What kind of work have you been involved in so far? Do you have any memorable stories you would like to share with us?
In the past 5 years or so, I’ve worked on Marvel Comics TV series, Jessica Jones Season 2 & 3 (Netflix), Daredevil Season 3 (Netflix), and Pose, Season 2 & 3 (Netflix). Season 2 & 3 (Jessica Jones), Daredevil Season 3 (Daredevil), Pose Season 2 & 3 (Pose), which is also on Netflix, and a movie called Respect, which will be released this summer. I’m currently shooting a movie in Cincinnati, Ohio with the same director and team that won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Call me by your name.
There’s always an unforgettable story on every set… A long time ago, on an indie film, the PA who was supposed to drive the costume truck suddenly called me when it was time to pick up the truck and said, “I’m tired and don’t want to drive today.” It was at least a 30-minute drive from my house to the costume truck, and if I had to take the necessary costumes from there to set, I would be at least an hour late from my arrival time, which made me very nervous. We managed to shorten the time and arrived on set 30 minutes later than my call time, but I could make it just in time and avoid having anyone wait for our costumes. On another job, an hour before the shooting, we were asked to prepare a costume for a cast’s driving double performer because we had to have him drive. Although it was from a distance and would only be shown for a moment, there was absolutely nothing that resembled the costume I had, so I had to make one out of cardboard that I had on hand instead. I was glad that nothing happened to me, but I was very nervous. When I think back now, I wonder how I was allowed to do that (laughs). I feel that there are many difficulties in this job, but even so, when the cast and crew tell me, “Thank you so much. We were able to complete this work because of you,” I feel rewarded and find it worthwhile to do this job.
In the second part of the interview, we talked about the financial situation, language skills, and joining the Union in New York.
