Media contact: Cynthia Medina, [email protected], 848-445-1940

From The Stage to The Big Screen: Teaching Digital Costume Design at Rutgers

Costume concept artist Shane Ballard on helping students break into the world of movies, video game design and more

Newswise — New Brunswick, N.J. (April 8, 2019) – Shane Ballard, is an illustrator and frequent collaborator with Paul Tazewell, the Tony Award-winning costume designer for Hamilton.  His work with Tazewell includes Steven Spielberg’s upcoming West Side Story remake, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks with Oprah Winfrey and NBC’s The Wiz Live! Ballard also teaches the strange art of digital costume design at Rutgers-New Brunswick’s  Mason Gross School of the Arts.

Ballard spoke about how a background in theater or interest in cosplay (a performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character) can lead to a career designing costumes for the theater, blockbuster superhero movies and more – and how the industry networks of Mason Gross faculty members can connect students with great opportunities.

His career is the perfect proof: the head of Mason Gross’ costume design department, Valerie Marcus Ramshur, introduced him to to Tazewell, which led to Shane working with the Hamilton designer on NBC’s The Wiz Live!

Read his full Q&A interview on Rutgers Today.

Downloadable photos of Ballard are available at THIS LINK

For more information or to schedule an interview, contact Cynthia Medina.

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Broadcast interviews: Rutgers University–New Brunswick has broadcast-quality TV and radio studios available for remote live or taped interviews with Rutgers experts. For more information, contact Cynthia Medina [email protected]

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