WarnerMedia announced today its new partnership with Black Beauty Roster (BBR), a platform for diverse hair and makeup education, talent, and advocacy for the entertainment industry. Black Beauty Roster provides educational resources to help on-set staff learn the nuances of working with textured hair and darker complexions and how to be better advocates for talent of color. The partnership will attract and foster emerging and diverse beauty professionals to work on WarnerMedia’s upcoming slate of film and television productions.
The partnership will include hair and makeup staffing support for WarnerMedia productions via BBR’s network of over 10,000 vetted beauty professionals, workshops targeted towards executives and decision makers on allyship and advocacy, as well as panel discussions focused on diversity behind-the-camera.
“We’ve listened to the needs of our talent and creative communities’ desire to access beauty professionals who will help them continue to create best in class content while delivering an equitable and intentional experience. We acknowledge that not everyone is the same, and the needs of our talent to do their best work is paramount. We’re thrilled to partner with BBR, a company that shares our commitment to championing underrepresented artists and inclusive environments to increase access across the industry,” says Yvette Urbina, Vice President, Equity + Inclusion, Pipeline and Content, WarnerMedia.
With a network of diverse hair and makeup talent across the US and Canada (union and non-union), BBR’s mission is to foster advocacy and opportunity for diverse beauty professionals.
“As we continue to see more diverse talent in front of the camera, we have to ensure we are diversifying behind the camera as well — especially with hair and makeup. We’ve seen and heard of too many on-set hair and makeup horror stories from talent of color and it’s time we change the narrative,” says Simone Tetteh, Black Beauty Roster Co-founder. “We’re thrilled WarnerMedia wants to partner with us to not only diversify the industry but lead the charge by changing it for the better.”
The BBR leadership council is composed of leading hair and makeup professionals in the industry including Sir John, Kim Kimble, Vernon Francois, and Larry Sims.
“This is a step in the right direction and it is great to see Black Beauty Roster and WarnerMedia working together to bring solutions to hair and makeup needs on set and more opportunity into the industry,” says Kim Kimble, celebrity hairstylist and BBR Leadership Council member.
To learn more about Black Beauty Roster, visit https://blackbeautyroster.com/
