Expanding our Horizons With The Lost Agency

There is a number of different ways to look at the word agency which is partly why we are using it. It can be referenced to a management service or the idea of self-agency which in psychological terms is taking control of your own life, both are apt in the case of the lost agency. We wanted to have some degree of management and self-rule over our work which is overall what the lost concept is and why we are now bringing in The Lost Agency as part of our business future.

We often talk about the changes that have become part and parcel of the industry (both good and bad) and how commercial makeup, in particular, has become something of a “lost art,” instead the salon/party style is taking over and newer artists are focusing on the more personal side of the industry leaving people who want to work on the more film and TV level or commercial media side lost in the mix which we found frustrating as did some of our actors.

Focusing on the in-house staff we will be managing a small number of people and business elements as part of the ongoing work of The Lost Concept building on the creative, artistic and media work we have already done taking things forward and bringing The Lost Vision to new levels.

At the forefront of this will be our creative director JamesC who will be heading up more of the media elements and being central to the staff requirements for upcoming work taking a stronger more managerial stance and running The Lost Agency whilst simultaneously developing editorials and project work such as TV shows and photographic work for the sites portfolio and marketing needs.

What this means for the future of The Lost Creatives is we will be posting on the blog requirements for crew and looking at offering training positions on our work and tackling larger-scale projects. One of which we are close to finalizing at the moment with some fantastic brands/designers supporting the concept giving us a chance to showcase the creative work of our team.

Later in the year and into 2021, we will also be looking to put forward bids to take a team to London for off-schedule events during fashion week:

“Our plans and any work within the confines of The Lost Agency and affiliated sites/companies will be subject to agreed terms and a code of conduct. “

Stay tuned for news and updates on The Lost Agency and more in our blog.

Product Placement and Behind The Scenes

While we have been slow in going public with much of what we are doing, we are always working. Not just on the blog aspect but other elements and it has really started paying off for us in terms of a photo project and 2 short films with other aspects still in negotiation or set to be discussed soon.

In terms of the photo project, it has been split into different elements and lengthy calls and meetings have been held over the actual content in terms of how it will be shot, managed and promoted across the varying networks we have open to us and this took us down the path of product placement (which we are working through already and have a provisional interest for the editorial side from a designer in London).

Our creative director JamesC, has found a series of deals and offers with his preferred format of online magazines that will give us tear sheets and covers that will be promoted across the board, with a view to utilizing our resources in the designer realm and with our other contacts across South Asia at a later date, allow us to shoot editorials and submit with a higher percentage chance of publication with some careful structuring and planning at the creative director level.

Brushwork cosmetics code JamesC 10% discount

Something we are going to push is the “behind the scenes” element, capturing the team at work, focusing on the creative aspect because our talks are taking us down the line of makeup with options and avenues that we are keen to pursue heavily.

In the coming months, we will open this to allow for smaller packages and individual project support giving placement in the behind the scenes, in the projects themselves (for film and TV) and looking closely at building our own magazine.

The Lost Concept has been building slowly and we are really proud of what we have achieved and will be showcasing this in more detail soon with a series of new sites and public projects.

*featured image example of product placement is for Brushwork Cosmetics (promo code JamesC 10% off).

MonsterFX Supplies

Founded in 2014, MonsterFX has become a staple of artists kits worldwide.  From its humble roots in a spare room to a respected and loved brand of character appliance suited to the film, TV and print market.  

Created inhouse and developed by UK artists, the brand has gone from being an intellectual exercise and Halloween sideline to a cottage industry with global reach that has seen the product range increase to the now 40+ prosthetics including classics such as “the mummy” to the more contemporary “zombie” with the most commonly required casualty sim pieces.  

A horror artist dream when working to a tight budget the team is happy to talk terms and will even create custom pieces and orders when required.  The inhouse sculptors all bring something unique to the table and have built a stellar reputation both for their work with MonsterFX and within the industry. 

From a professional artist whose work goes across various budgets and constraints, the scope and potential of the MonsterFX range is epic and offers a creative playground that will not only add dimension to film and TV projects but save cost without compromising on quality.  

With the constant changes and innovations in the market, the company is excelling in the character field and giving artists of all stripes access to the best possible products and materials making the work of a makeup artist a little simpler and creating happy productions with the depth of horror required to offer thrills, chills and on Halloween a dimension of fear that will be unrivaled at parties.

To learn more about the Monster FX range or to purchase see:

MonsterFX Website.

MonsterFX Facebook.

MonsterFX Instagram.

MonsterFX Youtube.

MonsterFX Twitter.

Creative Direction and Marketing Within The Lost Group

The Lost Concept has really taken off and we cannot be happier about the direction it is taking. With clients across various genres: beauty in particular, within the realms of film/TV (in South Asia) and fashion services (London) and a travel company making full use of tour services as an industry blog to name but a few of the services we have provided.

In the next few weeks, we will be fully implementing our marketing plans with editorial and short films (for festival entry) before we release our new and exciting next stage in our venture. As the founder and creative director, JamesC is really excited and has been front and center of all the upcoming changes and planning for the new websites, his own portfolio upgrade and of course the selection of the scripts.

A big thank you to all the people who have supported The Lost Project and The Lost Creatives and helped make it the success it has been so far and continues to be Naturally, we are going to keep working hard on this and have got so much more to come.

We, of course, owe special thanks to the following people and companies for their support and encouragement (as well as trust), who have been a part of the onward journey:

Nepal Film Production.

Pinnacle Expeditions.

House of iKons.

World Fashion Media News.

Lola Makeup.

Over the next few weeks and months, there is so much more planned and we will continue to grow the business within the parameters of commercial arts and media with a series of projects designed for the marketing of the team and our clients.

Phone Calls, Planning and Pushing Boundaries

In the last few months, we have been working on something a little different that will change how we approach business longterm. While the goals are still the same it is the actions that will be redefined with a new corporate name and the closure of our books, we will not be taking in new staff long term but focusing on short term contracts and freelancers to create opportunities that will be agency (management based) giving us a more structured sense of control on the artistic and fiscal aspects of the work we undertake.

The overall feel of the Lost Concept is what we are planning to focus on and our South Asian contacts including Nepal film Production and a select number of artists in the acting field to create a stable of talent that will be at the heart of the business. HOD TV will be a major part of our future plans along with actor and model Raj Srivastava who has been a big supporter of the work.

Structuring a full-scale marketing plan built around different media elements such as editorial, short film, and TV with some cover images being created just for this project to showcase what we are and what we do.

New sites and business development projects/strategies that we will be announced soon are going to be leading the charge on how The Lost Concept is showcased and offering a different slant on how the creative art world works. While there is more to be done, we are really happy with the progress we have made and the support we have received so far to the prospect of our goals and proposals.

It is worth note that much of the work (and support) has been dependent on scheduling phonecalls via Whatsapp and Facebook messenger due to time differences etc.

Marketing using Magazines and Behind the Scenes

With the creative development work being done and a much more solid sense of the future of the Lost Concept, we are shooting content and work that is specifically tailored to marketing and will be slow-released as we set out our editorials and other magazine elements in the coming months.

Our goals have become really clear and we are determined to push forward with an agenda of creative commerciality that was our goal from the start of our journey.

All the strategies we are using require a certain amount of investment both financially and in terms of time but will ultimately bring into place what we want and can be used by a wide range of people to accommodate their own business model from makeup staff to the filmmakers themselves.

For us, we are focused on film and TV with a minor but none the less important aspect in fashion and print for the marketing value. *There are sites that are dedicated to magazines that offer different packages that with careful checks and a little effort will make good marketing tools for business.

The logic we are using to work this is we are a business, we want to create content that sells and promote ourselves in the best light with key members of the senior team organizing and looking at the different aspects structuring the photoshoots around the magazines to maximize the potential of the work across the board; this does mean we have had to calculate a budget to cover the costs and will be talking to a Google rep this week about SEO.

Our preference overall is for digital magazines and online content sites as the overall potential reach is higher when you combine the magazines reach and our own social networks (this can be a smart method of driving home your brand and giving validity to your skills).

From cover images to interviews, the options are endless and we are going to be adding behind the scenes stills and video to our arsenal with our script work in motion and a solid sense of the future of our company it is going to be a fun few months as we finish our additional sites and creative director JamesC reopening his portfolio site with fresh content, after 20 years in the job and his various travels the time feels right to relaunch his site, he will still be a heavy influence on our blogs but will also be influencing the direction of the business more strongly in terms of the look which we are all very excited about.

George Westmore Establishing an Industry the Legacy of Makeup Artistry

George Westmore an on Set Moment

In the early days of cinema, it was common for actors to do their own makeup and wigs, a craft that found its roots in theatre and vaudeville and carried over to the beginnings of the film industry and changed dramatically thanks to the savvy and artistic vision of George Westmore.

George Westmore, whose vision brought him from the Isle of Wight in the UK where he had established himself as a hairdresser and wigmaker, going onto become a leading light in the film industry working his way from Canada to the USA as a wigmaker with his family and taking risks along the way that led to a career and legacy that is still talked about today. 

With an inauspicious entry into cinema: offering his services for hair and makeup to the Selig Polyscope Company at a starting rate of $25 per week to later and by chance, it was Perc Westmore (son) offering support to Adolphe Menjou who had accidentally shaved off part of his mustache, which so impressed the legendary Douglas Fairbanks (senior) that the Westmore’s were hired to create all the wigs and take care of the hairdressing needs thanks to the professionalism of Perc Westmore and his father George Westmore (father of the clan and founder of the makeup artist industry we all know). 

With a client list that reads like the who's who of cinema throughout the years, from the Talmage family, Theda Barr, Douglas Fairbanks to name but a few, it is no surprise that the ethics and work started in early cinema with the Westmore clan have carried on throughout the cinema age into TV and beyond keeping alive a family legacy of excellence and defining a now multi-million-dollar industry.

To learn more about the Westmore family and its legacy see:

The Westmore’s of Hollywood Website

*With Special thanks to the Westmore family for supporting this blog series.

Westmore FX

Something that is often missed when talking about the Westmore’s as a brand (and a Hollywood family) is that they were also part of the FX revolution that for the film and TV industry has helped shape the film industry in particular character work in the horror and sci-fi genres.

Westmore Effects SilicONE Adhesive

Split into 8 distinct areas the Westmore FX range of glues, removers, and primers for FX work is a savvy and well-curated range designed to fit the needs of most situations:

1. SilicONE Adhesive

2. SilicONE Thinner

3. SilicONE Matte Adhesive

4. SilicONE Adhesive Spray

5. DEUX Adhesive

6. SilicONE Remover

7. PrimeONE Surface Prep

8. NEXUS Bond Enhancer

Developed alongside the Westmore Families’ own work in the industry, these are the products that have become staples of the smart FX artists working kit and are recognized for their pro-grade and homegrown industry credentials. Independently owned, the range is a standout in the profession with a heritage that goes back over a century making it not only a legacy brand in its own right but a must for those specialists who want a tried and tested range that will stand up to the rigors of the professional arenas of film and TV FX work.

With the pus points of being a vegan, USA made and cruelty-free the Westmore FX range is one of those professional ranges that is designed, manufactured and tested within the industry to the highest standards.

To learn more about the range or to find a stockist see:

Westmore FX website.

Westmore FX Instagram.

Westmore FX Facebook.

Westmore FX Twitter.

Nepal Film Production and HOD TV

In what will be a game-changer for the team at Nepal film production, we are very happy to announce our exclusive partnership with HOD TV, a digital distributor of horror and thriller films.  This deal will open doors to new potential commercial avenues for the industry in Nepal and wider, giving not only our own in-country talent a platform for their films but also offers an extra incentive to shoot in our beautiful country.

As a partner we have access to the parameters for projects in the thriller and horror genres to potentially be sold to a global audience, a major advantage for filmmakers across South Asia and worldwide making Nepal the new home of horror. 

For filmmakers, this means they can find a one-stop-shop for all their needs with our access to the best production staff and equipment with the added draw of a platform to sell your horror/thriller film.  Nepal is one of the most beautiful countries in the world with talent coming from every corner of the globe to work here on documentary films, commercials and more, so for us to be able to offer this additional aspect of support to filmmakers and take the stress out of making a horror/thriller and giving you more room to work on the story and visuals.

To learn more about HOD TV and the requirements for distribution email a member of our team. 

The Westmores of Hollywood

For anyone in the makeup industry, there is a nod of reverence due to the Westmore family that needs to be done as we move into a new decade: acknowledging those whose innovations and skills have helped to drive our industry forward, defining and shaping how we view the beauty side of makeup as well as creating iconic characters and showing the potential of makeup in a cinematic realm, the Westmore family is amongst those founding clans that have changed the way we look at makeup and created an art form second to none with a flourish that has spanned over a century in film and TV.

Icons of cinema and TV makeup, they are often overlooked in the public domain but remain firmly (and rightly), a part of cinema history with a continuing stance of professional standards that echoes across the world.  Hollywood royalty is a term that is often thrown around without knowledge and rarely looks at the talent behind the cameras who helped create the iconic images and star looks that are still held up today as a classics of both stills and moving images.

Credited as the founders of the makeup artist role in cinema, the Westmore family are seen across the board as being innovators at the start of an industry giving it an edge and sense of style to a world that is unrivaled to this day.  With reams of coverage over the years, the family historian, Christiana Benson a makeup artist and beauty marketing guru of repute in her own right, is taking the lengthy and storied history of her family and making them available to everyone as a part of cinema history. 

From its early days with George Westmore and his sons to its current family artists, the Westmore clan is amongst the elite of the elite in cinematic history and worthy of note to anyone in or entering the field of makeup artistry.  

To learn more about the Westmore family and their brands see:

The Westmore’s of Hollywood Site.

The Westmore Beauty Makeup line.

The Westmore FX line.

The Lost Creatives in 2020

In a short space of time, The Lost Creatives has become a major part f the Lost Narrative and we are really proud of what we have achieved to date. In 2020 we are looking forward to what will be a clean slate opportunity and taking the more strides toward achieving our creative goals.

We will be working on new and exciting projects with our affiliates and partners across the globe and making a concentrated effort to increase our marketing, expand on the narrative of professionals in the media sector. Our creative director is reopening his website as a portfolio only site and will continue in his capacity as the resident beauty blogger for The Lost Project and as our primary blogger as well as.

Expansion of the Lost Narrative is being worked on and we will be looking at bringing online (over the course of the year) an additional site that will become our home for film and TV, management services are also being addressed for the new year which will allow us a higher degree of control over how and where we are pushed as a brand.

Part of the expansion will include an increased and focused drive to work closely with our partners Nepal film production and of course HOD TV.

Both of whom we are really proud to be associated with on the film and TV side of our business. It is also worthy of note that World Fashion Media News will see more of our work in print and have exclusive access to the creative team for profiles etc.

In the coming year, The Lost Creatives will be pushed heavily and we will continue to work The Lost Narrative to showcase not just our creative team but the creativity and ingenuity of the media sector as a commercial entity.

Research and Planning

research and planning

We are just days away from the New Year (2020 is going to be huge) and our work has already started with blogs being prewritten and scheduled, stay tuned for a huge announcement, and we are now working on the next phase of our plans with a meeting lined up with one of our favorite indie film directors; Jim Manclark to discuss project development in TV and of course some new editorial behind the scenes and of course portfolio pieces for our creative directors new portfolio site.

Something we are really keen to get done is some projects designed specifically for the festival circuit and editorial submission as promotional material to help push the lost concept and of course, to promote our team as a whole.

Part of this will be a selection of small meetings and then a full-scale push through January to do the work. We are being selective about the work we do with planning and research being put in motion now. We are starting to add to the makeup artist library we have with new FX and character makeup books being added and a definite must-have that will be coming soon to our collection will be the book on out of the box FX.

From a purely creative stance, our plans are more commercial than artistic which ultimately what the business is all about.

Adding to the overall theme of change will be the addition of news sites and management services for the Lost concept already in the works allowing us to have a wider and more comprehensive business model and umbrella formation around the Lost Concept.

Over the next year, our goals are to create, commercialize and push a narrative of the media as a commercial art form.

Flexible Planning Strategies

We are as a team pushing forward with the creative plans to update all our websites and with the upcoming relaunch of the JamesC site, it is going to be interesting to move into 2020. With so many new and exciting options being brought into play, not just with our UK clients but our partners and affiliates in South Asia (particularly Kathmandu and Mumbai).

It is our intention to start working on new, flexible strategies for the new year, something we have always maintained from the beginning has been we need to be flexible and open to new options and look at the possibilities, hence the revamping and reopening of our creative directors artist site and plans to bring in a set of new projects that will be used as showcase work for the team.

At the moment we have a digital marketing specialist looking at our sites and will be working on a strategic marketing campaign that will push the Lost Concept harder than our current organically built following.

Our lightbulb moment and planning come in place thanks to our friends and supporters including the fantastic owner of World Fashion media news and of course the author and scriptwriter Susan Ronnie Marshall, who have both been instrumental in the promotion of our latest articles.

Naturally, we will be working to set briefs for our initial commercial projects in line with the partnership with HOD TV (submission details and parameters on request).

We intend to continue down the path we are on and look forward to all this brings.

The Office of Lost Creatives

We have been really working hard over the last few months designing, meeting with stylists and wardrobe staff and negotiating contacts that will come into full effect in the new year. Much of the work has been done in our home office with emails, WhatsApp messages and our social accounts being heavily used for international calls and messaging.

There are some really big announcements to come as our continuing work Nepal Film Production and they're associated businesses along with plans to shoot a TV series here in Scotland mid-2020.

Portfolio wise, the JamesC mua site will be reopened for the new year and we are working with James on updates and script choices for festival entries (micromania film festival we are coming). Naturally, we will be looking at the Himalayan film festival as well.

Something we are focused on getting done is more of the out of the box fx work to update our books and give some depth to the upcoming shoots we have planned and of course there is our beauty work which will be tied to creative director JamesC webstore with My Beauty Brand.

We are really excited about the prospects for 2020 and so grateful to all our supporters.

Refreshing The Lost Concept

In the last month, we have been working really hard on the creative and more solid business elements of our work and we are really grateful to our partners for not only being in regular contact but helping with giving us a new direction and helping to define boundaries.

Over the next few weeks, we will be working with our creative director JamesC on what will be his relaunch, a new portfolio website and shop with My Beauty Brand is being constructed to showcase his work and separate him from the more lifestyle and art-based work of the Lost Project.

With all the new doors being opened up to us with our new collaborative relationships and partnerships in place with companies such as Nepal Film Production and HOD TV, whos horror and thriller distribution service we will be making good use of, we are really gearing up for the new year as the starting point of a whole new and fresh business year.

Lost Project will continue as an art, beauty and lifestyle blog with a new element of travel (which we are really happy to take on) with efforts made toward creating new work for that site around its current themes.

Lost creatives as a site is going to expand and we will have a new banner for production coming soon, with ties to our current team members here in Scotland and some more options coming to the fore with our partners overseas.

Overall, we are happy with our new direction and will continue to push boundaries with our team and media partners.

Tackling The Different Aspects of Our Business

Lost Creatives and Lost Project have become definable in their own right as credible beauty and PR avenues and we are in the process of expanding on this in a real sense as we work with different overseas elements such as our Nepal and Indian contacts, to such as degree that we are now giving serious thought to expanding this to an umbrella company once the new year starts.

We are very proud of what started as a beauty and lifestyle blog has taken on such wide-ranging and varied business concerns in a short amount of time.

Progression has been good on the behind the scenes side and its this forward momentum that has inspired much of what we are planning away from our roots in media and beauty and it has opened our eyes to the potential avenues we can and are pursuing. *We will add email addresses and a phone number for the umbrella company very soon (something we have been thinking about a lot recently).

Diversification is important to us and we will be building on this over the coming months to bring the lost concept to a wider and more diverse audience.

While much of what we are doing is consultation and brokerage work it really is interesting to take the business forward in such a positive direction.

The Process of Consultation and Management At Lost Creatives

As we move ever closer to our goals for the end of the year with contracts being reviewed and an increase in our consultation work for production and other areas, it is interesting to see how our work is being viewed and see the key areas that we wanted to tackle being put into action.

To date, we have secured deals and partnerships with Italy (HOD TV) and Nepal, with further plans to create our own projects in 2020 with some of our business contacts in India such as actor and model Raj Srivastava who has become integral, alongside the team at Nepal Film production, to our overall goals.

Of course, we do have plans for the UK and in particular, Scotland where we will be shooting some of the new content for our website (hopefully by mid-December), it has been slower on that front than we would have liked but certainly positive as we can say that our goals and aspirations are being met in a time frame that is frankly speaking ahead of schedule in key areas.

As we have always maintained, we would prefer to have all the I’s dotted and t’s crossed to ensure that things roll smoothly, which at this point the consultation and management structure we have in place is really moving things forward.

Continuing forward we are looking at stock levels, camera equipment and planning around this to ensure that we have everything in place to a level that creative director JamesC (also senior artist and blogger for Lost Project) is happy with.

In addition to our film and TV goals, we have reopened dialogue with some of our fashion contacts including London and Delhi.

Out of Kit Prosthetics

Out of Kit Prosthetics was an interesting Instagram find by our creative director who was researching options for upcoming projects including a TV series and several shoots which will require Prosthetics. What caught our attention as well as his, was the potential of the range and selection. Built around film grade materials (silicone and top quality skin-safe adhesives), the Out of Kit range is a film artist dream for cost-effective and high-grade materials that will revolutionize the indie film sector in particular.

Image courtesy of Out of Kit

What drew us into the potential of the out of kit range was this quote from the website:

“When you’re being crushed by production deadlines, there’s no room to do anything but react. You can only run around putting out whatever fire is burning brightest.”

As we are working with the team from Nepal Film Production on PR and project development, this has the potential to be a real asset to us long term and the catalog of items on the website have already got us thinking about how and where these items can be used to add depth to our character for the TV Show we have planned for 2020. Standing out for us is the fighter kit (available in 4 different skin tones), which would fit perfectly with one of our planned stills shoots).

Out of Kit offers a bespoke service (details available via the site below) as well as their premade items and collections including trauma, old age, fantasy, and character.

To learn more about the company or to purchase from the range see:

Out of kit Website

Out of Kit Facebook

Out of Kit Instagram

Planning and Development with a PR agency

Image Courtesy of Pexels

In what is a short amount of time, we have secured a great deal of support both in our (current) home base and with outside parties (Nepal Film Production) to a point where we have had early morning video calls back and forth, planning strategies via email, WhatsApp and occasional phone calls.

While this may seem a little strange for a creative team to be doing less of the creation and more of the management it is the nature of the work and we are happy with the progress and deals being pushed which include negotiations with distributors, PR support for the beauty blog side of the business (The Lost Stories) all of this leading to what will be a multi-faceted and diverse company.

This for us means we are making the right choices and dealing with the right people which is a positive step forward and will later, give us the flexibility to be creative as there will be a multinational team rather than just a local base, handling the work. Such an amazing opportunity for us to take risks and put in motion projects that have been on the backburner for a while.

With so much in the works and a clear set of short and longterm goals being placed in motion, it is really an exciting time to be a Lost creative.

TV Scripts and Other Plans

The last week has been really interesting from a purely momentum stance. We have secured additional support in the form of the Nepal Film Production team and have started looking at some of the scripts we have had sitting in waiting. Two real standouts have been picked and the first is now under review (by outside parties) with the second being looked at by the in-house team for potential future work.

In the short term, we are working on some of the smaller elements such as editorial and we will now be doing some character concept work (wounds, bruising, etc) to showcase our work and that of the team.

One of our favorite actors, who is currently in negotiations with Lost creatives to be an actor/director on our first TV series in 2020 with the option to join for the second project.

In the coming months, we will be working even closer to our overseas contacts with a view to taking the work to a different level.

On a side note to all this, we are really happy to be working on something special with the HOD TV team that will give a foothold in new territory. More on this later.