Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristina Goldberg.
Hi Kristina, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I graduated CSUN with a degree in Theater Arts and my first job was with a production co. in Hollywood. I was in charge of hiring the makeup artists for TV production. Viewing their incredible work in their portfolios inspired me to further my experience of being a makeup artist (also, hanging out in the makeup trailer was way more fun than the production office) after learning stage and character makeup in college. I have always been drawn towards creative outlets, the art of storytelling, and I saw this as an opportunity to do that with makeup artistry. I soon found myself working at the Lancome makeup counter and shortly thereafter was recruited to M.A.C. cosmetics as an artist. This is where I learned many new skills for commercial and editorial makeup. One of the Senior artists taught me the importance of cameras and lighting beyond what I had learned in Theater. This leveled up my skills, and I then started working with Los Angeles-based photographers for celebrity photo shoots, magazines, and a lot of PR and red-carpet events. I met so many talented and wonderful people in LA at the time who were creating, taking risks in their art, it was a very fun and exciting time in LA. Instagram and social media were becoming a reliable source to connect and get your work seen, we pioneered this media source and created some very fun photo shoots with celebrities and PR teams. I met a young actress and soon became her personal MUA for about three years. She was on a Disney Channel show. This was my connection to the Walt Disney Company and after her show ended on Disney Channel, I went to the Media team at Disneyland and asked if I could continue working with them. It took a lot of persistence and patience on my part, but one day they needed someone for a shoot, and I happened to call that week. I have worked with Disney for the past 9 years and I absolutely love being on their teams. I think one thing that is most important, looking back on my career so far, is the relationships I have made along the way and the opportunities I have had to network. Putting yourself out there and not having fear to meet people you admire or want to work with. We all want to collaborate and grow in our craft with other artists. There have been many MUAs I have admired who have been very generous with me, sharing their talents and being supportive of my path as an artist. I am very grateful to all the amazing artists I have met, worked with or been trained by. I have worked with some incredible production teams for Lifetime Movies, Disney + shows, documentaries, TV game shows, and commercials and assisted some Emmy and Oscar-winning artists. Each job is fresh and exciting for me; they are never the same. I am looking forward to doing more movies in my career as I really love character development in film, as well as working with the Director and customer to bring characters in a script to life on camera. This is what I love the most, and I am sure it goes back to my days in Theater, bringing characters to life on stage for an audience. That passion will never leave me.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Being a makeup artist in this time is very difficult. Nowadays, due to the slowdown of work in LA, hopefully soon, things will start to pick up again. In the beginning of my career, most people had no real understanding of a professional MUA or heard of a Makeup Artist as a career except for weddings or in the department store. There was a smaller community of skilled craftspeople in this genre of makeup for TV and film. Now, with social media and everyone and their best friend being a “makeup artist,” it seems the appreciation for our craft and level of training to be an artist is way oversaturated. It is a great thing to have so many artists out there who love this craft, yet many who oversell their skills and then the work is poorly executed. I have always said if you cannot shade-match every ethnicity of skin with your eye, then you need more experience and training to call yourself a pro-MUA. We are seeing every skin tone on jobs these days, which is a big change for the better and an awesome change in our business! I have sadly had clients ask me if I knew how to do their makeup because I am a different color or race than they are. That is sad to me because that means they had a bad experience by someone else who was not able to match them properly. This has been a challenge lately, and I am sorry for my community to have people out there not understanding every skin tone as a basic skill needed in this craft. One thing I was taught early on is to never pretend you can do something you are not well-trained in. Always be upfront and honest if you do not feel ready to do a job beyond your skill set. Be honest. I have been lucky to be a makeup educator on many levels from being an Executive Trainer with Loreal to being a makeup teacher for my community and as a teacher at Cal Lutheran University in the Theater Department. I love to teach makeup! Sharing my craft and my learning lessons to help other artists is a passion of mine. Our challenges and mistakes make us better artists, and sometimes, we have to experience them at our own pace. Don’t fear mistakes; learn from them. Just be honest with your abilities up front and never be shy to ask for help to learn a skill. I had many challenges along the way, but they just made me better as an artist, a stronger person and learn how to read the room.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My work is in makeup for TV – Film- Print- Commercials – Documentaries, and sometimes live events. I specialize in natural beauty, male grooming, Character makeup, and VIP/Corporate work. My passion is being a makeup artist for feature films. I have been working on TV Films for a few years now, and it is the work I enjoy the most. Developing characters in a script for a movie, collaborating with Costumes and our Director as well as the actors. I also enjoy my work with Disney, and I am really proud of my career and the teams I get to work with there. I think what sets me apart is my artistry skills, working with all ethnicities and skin types. Being able to read the room and being down to earth and grounded in my career is important to me. I have many artist friends who trust me to fill in for them when they are unable to do a job; that means a lot to me.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up.
My favorite childhood memory is when I was in the 1st grade and our class went to Atlanta for a field trip to see a stage production of “A Wrinkle In Time”. I remember sitting on the edge of my seat in that theater, wishing I could jump onto that stage and be a character in the play! It was the first time I experienced a professional live production.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: KristinaGoldberg
Image Credits
Laura Marano
Whitney Cummings
Jamie Kennedy Trenyce
Vince Trupsin
