By Ramona Saviss By Ramona Saviss | July 10, 2022 | Movies,
Danessa Myricks applies makeup PHOTO BY DANESSA MYRICKS
BLACK BEAUTY ROSTER PARTNERS WITH WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY TO ADVANCE DIVERSITY IN HAIR AND MAKEUP.
“The goal is to build more resources out for our creatives, both executives and content creators, across the entire enterprise,” says Warner Bros. Discovery’s VP of equity and inclusion, programs and content Yvette Urbina of the company’s partnership with Black Beauty Roster (blackbeautyroster.com). “We’ve heard consistently across the industry about issues surrounding both Black hair and Black beauty—I want to say specific to Black talent—but also to people with darker complexions,” she says. “The goal was to find a resource to fix the industrywide issue of hair and makeup artists not knowing how and not being properly educated or equipped to do glam on diverse talent.”
That’s where the BBR network comes in. Founded by Maude Okrah and Simone Tetteh in 2020, the organization is an educational platform and directory made up of more than 10,000 vetted diverse beauty professionals. “We have seen over and over again some of the challenges that were happening on set—talent sharing their frustrations from having to bring their own products on set to having to ask directors to change the script in terms of how their hair is represented so they wouldn't have challenges in the trailer, literally crying in the trailer because the hairstylists told them that their hair couldn't be tamed, or having to look ashy because their foundation didn't match,” says Okrah of the need for their organization. “With seeing these continued expressions of frustrations on set, what we recognized was that change still was a long way away, and what we also saw was that a lot of production studios wanted to do the right thing, but they weren't sure exactly what to do.” That was the catalyst for BBR, which first began with on-demand beauty professionals providing hair and makeup services for everyday women, which led them to work with executives, then public figures and celebrities, which led to the studios.
Black Beauty Roster co-founders Maude Okrah and Simone Tetteh. PHOTO COURTESY OF BLACK BEAUTY ROSTER
“We make [the roster] available to everybody, including creatives. We have a dedicated site in conjunction with BBR that houses all of the roster’s available talent,” adds Urbina of the Warner Bros. Discovery BBR partnership, which was announced earlier this year. “We also have an educational component that is part of our partnership. We recently hosted a webinar that lives on the site as a shareable resource just to give people general educational knowledge about hair types, skin types, [darker complexions], things like that so that people have that education and that awareness that they may have not had,” she says.
The Warner Bros. Discovery partnership is only the latest for the organization, which has worked with Showtime, MTV and Endeavor in different capacities. “We're trying to bring about meaningful change to the industry,” says Okrah, who notes that there’s more work to be done and exciting partnerships to come. “Knowledge is so critical, so people in these decision-making positions that maybe don't have the lived experience, [they] may not feel comfortable asking the question or may not know where to get the insight. With BBR, they will get that additional support for education and advocacy.” This summer, BBR will host a luncheon to celebrate Black excellence in TV, film and fashion. Says Okrah: “It’s an opportunity to discuss what more is needed to push Black beauty equity across entertainment and fashion.”
Photography by: