Please tell us your name, job title and/or organisation and what area of the screen industry you work in.
My name is Josie Smith and I work in the Models Department at Wētā FX specialising in Fur Grooming and Wardrobe.
What inspired you to pursue a career in the screen industry?
I have always loved movies and fashion, but the thing that really inspired me at the beginning of my journey was watching Avatar in the movie theatres for the first time. There was a scene where Neytiri pulled down a leaf to drink droplets of water from it and for a moment I couldn't believe that what I was watching wasn't real. The realism and beauty of the world was so mesmerizing to me that it stuck with me forever. Ten years later I got to create one of Neytiri's loincloths in the second movie, it was a crazy full circle moment!
What is a project you’re most proud of and why?
There are many benefits of working in a large studio, but one of the main ones would definitely have to be the range of international projects that we get to work on. The project that I am most proud of would have to be Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) as it was the first time I got to collaborate with other wardrobe artists to work on the same characters. It was incredible to see world class artists play at their strengths to create something really awesome for the big screen.
The best piece of advice you would give to wāhine entering the screen industry today is?
Be focused on getting insanely good at your craft and learn to work well with others. Don't stress about making it in the industry straight away. If you are passionate and remain consistent you will eventually make it without even knowing it. Then you will look back and think, how on earth did I get here? Enjoy the journey and creating art with the people you meet along the way!
Give us one surprising fact about you people might not expect?
I used to make dresses for New Zealand Pageant Queens!
And finally, you're running from the apocalypse but can only take three things to watch! What are they?!
It would have to be... Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Goonies, Avatar the Way of Water
