MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: ALICIA CHOWEN
Inspired by her Jamaican grandmother who owned a salon, Alicia Chowen learned the art of styling Black hair in high school. Now, after joining 891’s Hair Department in 2024, and working on big productions like “Yellowjackets”, Alicia has built on her success as a motion picture hair stylist by harnessing her creativity and community building to expand mentorship opportunities for others, including creating pathways for more Black hair stylists to enjoy the benefits of working in film.
“If I could go back to my fifteen-year-old self and tell her about some of the people that I've met, or what we were going to be doing now, I think she'd be pretty hyped,” says 891 hair stylist Alicia Chowen.
Alicia shares this happy reflection after describing what she, in hindsight, can call a funny story.
The incident involved a scramble to fulfill a high-pressure last-minute impossible ask – the kind many film workers are more than familiar with. As the creative process of motion picture production unfolds, last minute changes can require crews to work their magic and put the skills of their craft to the test. It often means improvising under a tight deadline to incorporate a new detail that will bring a character, scene, or story to life.
The fact that all the hair salons were closed wasn’t going to stop Alicia from at least trying to deliver on the unexpected ask that came her way late in the day. Her producer called her to ask if she could find the perfect grey shade of hair dye for a cast member flying in early the next morning. That cast member just happened to be someone Alicia had been inspired by since she was a teen: none other than hair stylist, fashion designer and mother of Beyoncé, Tina Knowles, affectionately known by her fans as ‘Miss Tina’.
“We always reach out to our cast to see if they need anything, have any product requests, or to get their thoughts on the character. The producers kept telling me that Miss Tina is a cosmetologist, and used to be a hair stylist, so she's doing her own hair and says she doesn't need anything.”
“On Sunday evening, one of the producers calls me and he's like, ‘So, Miss Tina just called me, and she's decided she wants some grey streaks in her character's hair in the front.’ And I'm like, ‘Okay, she’s flying in at 5 am tomorrow, and everything's closed right now,’ and he was kind of a funny guy and responded, ‘Well, good luck with that. Don't mess up or the Beyhive will be after you.’ I literally hung up the phone and thought what do I do?”
Alicia wandered through one of the only stores she could find open and picked up some hair dye. She spent that night experimenting on hair extensions and to her horror, one turned purple.
Persisting, she eventually figured out a combination of dye that she could try the next morning. When, to the surprise of Miss Tina, Alicia came in ready and able to assist in creating the exact desired look for her character, Miss Tina was full of gratitude, which made the quest worth it.
"She was like, ‘Girl, I know all the supply stores were closed. I was betting on nothing being here. I thought I would just bring it up and see if you had something. I wasn't expecting anything. But you did it!’"
“I said, ‘Of course I'm going to try to do what you need.’ And she's like, ‘Well, I appreciate that. Obviously, you went above and beyond,’ and you know, I think going above and beyond sometimes, or at least trying, people, especially our talent, they can feel that.”
“I think it did gain a bit of trust from her because for the four days when apparently she didn't want anyone to do her hair, I did her hair the whole time.”
Today, Alicia’s credits include The Flash, Yellowjackets and Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia, a TV movie about the life of Mahalia Jackson in which Alicia was nominated for a 2022 Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Award. Alicia describes becoming a member of IATSE 891 in July 2024 as an emotional achievement, built from years of hard work and seeking good mentors along the way to help her succeed.
Now she’s determined to pay it forward, with efforts to help other Black hair stylists get a foothold in the film industry, and to increase awareness and skillsets for how to style hair for Black artists and talent.
SHARING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING TRUST
“My grandma had a salon while I was growing up,” says Alicia about how her love of hair styling began. “I've always been around her and Black hair was something that I feel confident in.”
“I was working with people that would either ask me if I knew where they could learn, or ask me to teach them, which I'm always happy to do. If I can help share my knowledge, I'm more than happy to do so.”
After seeing a need and high demand for Black hair styling skills in the motion picture industry, Alicia launched The Texture Workshops in 2019. As the founder and creative director of the program, she teaches fellow professional hair stylists different techniques for styling coily and curly hair textures.
“I realised a lot of the Black casts were either doing their hair at home before they came to set – which is not something someone wants to do at four in the morning – or they were bringing their own product.”
“I can’t count the number of times I was in a trailer and a Black cast member comes in and looks at me with this look of relief like, ‘Okay, you're going to know how to do my hair.’ Hearing some stories of what they’ve gone through, I just really wanted to change that, because it's not right.”
In Alicia’s workshop, participants got hands-on learning in various hair styles, braiding and wig application. The Union supported the initiative by allowing IATSE 891 members to get reimbursed for taking the course, which is just one example of the type of reimbursable training that 891 members can access to help advance their careers.
Alicia has since expanded the course offerings to salons throughout the Lower Mainland and the workshops are also now offered at the JCI Institute as part of the curriculum for one of the main hair schools in Vancouver. Historical context, says Alicia, was important to include.
“When it comes to Black hair, there is a lot of history behind it,” says Alicia, “and there can be a lot of deep-rooted trauma when it comes to hair. I felt it was important to help get people that are outside of the Black community to understand.”
“I've spoken to a lot of my colleagues, other hair stylists, and they can feel the hesitation of some Black talent when sitting in the hair stylist’s chair. Often the trust is already not there from the beginning based on experiences that they've had. So when I was developing the workshops, I felt like it was really important to include a bit of a history lesson so that there is an understanding, and then I bring in models that have different types of curl textures or curl patterns.”
The Union now has its own training available on how to master working with textured hair and Black hair styling, developed by 891 Hair Department members (which you can learn more about in our Member Spotlight on Sheryl Wilson).
Alicia hopes to get more involved in helping the Union continue to advance its equity, diversity and inclusion efforts. She is eager to expand on her community building and mentorship skills as a Union member, by exchanging knowledge and experience.
“IT'S ABOUT BEING SUPPORTIVE OF THE FILM INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE”
In addition to her workshops, Alicia also led efforts to launch a Hair Diversity Training Program for working in film, with a grant from Creative BC. The program, which took place on a small production in April 2024, aimed to give Black hair stylists working in salons the opportunity to gain experience working on set.
Alicia says it is important people brought into the industry aren’t set up to fail, but are given hands-on experience before being thrown into the job.
Alicia Chowen, with hair kit ready, does some final touches on Kylie Bunbury for a promotional shoot for ‘Big Sky’ (left) and adds some final touches on Courtney Eaton, who plays Teen Lottie on Season 3 of 'Yellowjackets' (right).
“A lot of productions would often contact me to ask if I knew anybody who they could bring in to work on Black hair that feels confident. There's a handful of people I could recommend, but it's kind of hard to find people sometimes. What I'd often see is a production kind of scramble to find a Black hair stylist from a salon.”
“For someone to go from a salon environment into the film industry and then go straight into the trailer with lead cast, that's tough. It’s a fast-paced environment. Usually someone would start doing background and work their way up.”
Six people were chosen for the training program, out of over 100 applicants. Alicia spent a week focusing on film education, including how to read a call sheet, break down a script, and develop an eye for continuity between takes. She also focused on hair styling for all kinds of hair, and then trainees were brought onto set two at a time.
“Our lead on the production was Tamara Mowry, and she was thrilled about the program and so supportive with everyone who came on. We confirmed everything beforehand, and told her there were going to be these trainees in the trailer watching and helping. She's had her own experiences when it comes to her hair, especially as a child actor, so she felt it was so important to have a diversity trainee program like this.”
The trainees were paid for their work, and while afterwards some described the crash course into the industry as enough of an eye-opener to know that motion picture production work wasn’t for them, others caught the bug and found the work thrilling.
“A few of them have continued to try and pursue a career in film. The Hair Diversity Training Program was about laying that foundation and letting them know that it's an option, which I didn't know about back in the day.”
Alicia has enjoyed getting to travel for work, including to work on a production filmed in Belize.
As she was working on the training program, Alicia would get questions from others in the industry about whether she should worry that her mentorship efforts would end up taking work opportunities away from her. She strongly disagrees.
“There's enough work out there, and I've always been such a collaboration over competition type of person. It’s true we’re at a time right now where work is slow, but looking at the big picture, I see the importance for training and mentorship like this. It's something that I just know is needed.”
“It's about being supportive: of the film community as a whole, of the Union as a whole, but also within the Black community.”
UNIONS PROVIDE A BLUEPRINT FOR BETTER WORKING CONDITIONS
Alicia’s journey into honing her chosen craft started at North Vancouver’s Carson Graham Secondary. The high school has a Trades Discovery program, which at the time included a program focused on hair styling. She then attended film school and first entered the film industry as an actor before starting conversations on set about how to get into doing hair for film.
She was first brought on to do hair for background actors, eventually working her way up to Head of Department on smaller productions. Joining the Union in 2024 felt to her like a milestone in her career worth celebrating.
“Coming into the Union, there is that brother, sister, family feel of being a Union member. I was working on Yellowjackets with a very talented makeup artist. His name is Micah. He's also Black, and we were able to swear in together. We sat together, and I just remember we were both feeling just so proud.”
“It is a really great feeling knowing that you have the support of the Union. It's always a good thing and you know it's nice to have benefits and extended benefits and the RRSP. It just makes you feel a little bit more solid in life just to know that you are a part of a union and working on things that you're really proud to work on.”
On 891 production Yellowjackets, Alicia led the hair styling for one character, played by two different actors. She did hair for teen Taissa, played by Jasmine Savoy Brown, and adult Taissa, played by Tawny Cypress.
“It’s cool being able to create the different looks for this one character that's being played by two different people, and also just seeing them on set and being able to watch how one person plays the teen version and then be there with the adult and just see how it synchronises and transitions together. That's been one of my favourite things.”
She also did Hilary Swank’s hair for the last 3 episodes of Yellowjackets Season 3.
Having worked on non-union productions, Alicia says there’s a notable contrast of better working conditions and support on union shows and films. There’s a blueprint, she says, for how to do things in a way that ensures workers are respected, valued and safe.
“Earlier in my career you have experiences that are bad, like in any industry, and the best thing to do is learn from it, and when you are in a leadership position don’t create that for someone else.”
“On the non-union films, I work as the Department Head, and I feel like my team is my responsibility. I have to be really adamant in a leadership position when it comes to production about certain things and use my voice to advocate for my team when I can.”
She says there’s a sense of safety by being part of the Union and knowing that there's a support system there that ensures proper working conditions.
If there’s one thing she’d like to see more of in the industry, it’s more established mentorship programs, similar to the diversity training program she helped launch.
“Something that really changed the game for me and my career was getting a mentor.”
“Even to this day, if I need advice or anything, I know I can call them. With the diversity program I did, there are a lot of participants that still reach out to me if they need advice. One woman was going to go work on a short film and she didn't understand how to negotiate what she wanted. They knew I was available to them and am still available to them if they ever need help.”
Making and maintaining strong connections with people is the key to both succeeding in the good times and getting through the hard times, she says, acknowledging that navigating work and life in the industry can be tough, especially during slowdowns.
For Alicia, she’s been keeping herself busy off set by putting work into a personal passion project, and will be opening her own hair salon called Locks & Co. in Vancouver soon. That hasn’t stopped her from checking in on her friends and close connections that she’s made from working in film. She encourages people to check in on each other as much as possible.
“I've gained such great friends through film, and just calling them, and checking in makes a difference. Little things can help, like asking to go for a walk, or driving around to do errands together, or other simple things can all help you to feel that sense of community.”
Alicia Chowen (middle) with crew mates on location filming of the series ‘Yellowjackets’.
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Written by Claudia Goodine, Copywriter for IATSE 891.
Are you an 891 member who’d like to be featured in a Spotlight? Know an 891 member making BC’s motion picture community a better place for all workers? Email Spotlight suggestions to communications@iatse.com. Read more 891 Member Spotlights here! Visit Ourwork.ca for more on the benefits of joining the Union.
