Meet Kyla Metzker

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kyla Metzker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kyla, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

This is a great question. Keeping my creativity is really kept alive by learning from others! I get so excited about learning new things in my craft and am always striving to get better. I surround myself with creative people who are passionate about what they do as well. They inspire me to be better!

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I have been a makeup artist working in film, television, and commercial for 12 years. When I was a teenager I had thought I wanted to do editorial makeup, but my career has taken me down a different path into film and I am grateful and humbled to get to bring joy to people through creative story telling as well as having the opportunity to make a positive impact on the days of our cast and crew.

As my career has progressed I have grown extremely fond of department heading. I love organizing and guiding a team, as well as designing characters. Lately, I have been starting to learn more about the creature side of makeup effects and feeling really inspired and excited to create new things.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Outside of the technical aspects of my craft, the qualities and skills that have been most impactful are definitely communication, kindness, and passion. Communication is so important in my job between directors, producers, actors, and my team. I think that learning to really listen to people has really had the biggest impact on my communication skills.

Passion for my craft is also at the core of my career, which gets me through the long hours we work.

My biggest piece of advice, though, is just be kind to people and practice humility. You never know what kind of impact you can have on someone, and filmmaking is a true team effort. I believe we are in service to the project and there to make someone’s vision come to life- it’s not about us.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I’m always looking for people to collaborate with! Whether it’s other makeup artists, photographers, or filmmakers, collaboration is truly the way I keep my passion alive. You can reach out to me on Instagram @the.kyla.jean or by email at kylametzker@gmail.com

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kylametzker.myportfolio.com/
• Instagram: @the.kyla.jean
• Other: https://www.imdb.me/kylametzker

Image Credits

Photo 1 & 7- Ryan Read