After being nominated five times, Tsawwassen resident Terry Hanson finally has his own Leo Award.
He received the recognition on the 25th anniversary of the Leo Awards, given out by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of B.C.
Hanson couldn’t accept the award in person because he was out of town when the awards night took place at the Hyatt Regency in Vancouver, but he’s awaiting the arrival of his own personal version, engraved with his name.
Hanson, along with Andrea Simpson and Brenda Turner, won the award for best hairstyling in the dramatic series category, for the science-fiction thriller Motherland: Fort Salem.
The film is a fantasy about three witches who are trained to work for the American military. Hanson won for the episode, Homo Cantus, which aired in June 2022.
Motherland: Fort Salem, ran for three seasons on Disney Freeform.
Set in a fantasy, supernatural world, the series features extravagant costumes and makeup.
“The show itself is very wig heavy,” said Hanson.
His role was to maintain the wigs so they look the same from shot to shot, in addition to styling, colouring and cutting.
It’s quite labour intensive, he said, with 18-hour days common during shooting.
The wigs, made of human hair, cost up to $5,000 each and have to be cared for much like a person’s hair is maintained.
Hanson is a veteran of the film industry, having worked in Hollywood North for 24 years.
After being nominated for five years and not winning, it’s good to finally be chosen, he adds.
Hanson said he used to joke he was the Susan Lucci (All My Children) of Vancouver because he’d been nominated so many times.
“So, I finally broke the Susan Lucci curse by getting it this time, quite funny,” he said.
Hanson said the movie business in Vancouver is thriving, except for the last three months, as effects of the Writers Guild of America strike begin to be felt here. He’s waiting for the announcement of another series so that he can compete for another project.
“It’s completely shut down, which affects lots of money to the city of Vancouver and lots of money all over the world,” he said.
