When Messina Salter picked up a sewing needle for the first time, she had no idea she would go on to forge a career in costumes.
"My mom sewed for the longest time. She used to do costumes and stuff for Nancy Delmonte (Dance School), so I started helping her when I was super young. My grandmother sewed as well, I didn't really know anything else."
She has a home business called Rule 63, and has created a number of costumes for dozens of film and television productions. Big budget American dramas like The Strain, Suits, Reign, Hannibal and Heroes Reborn have featured her work. One of 2016's biggest box office hits Suicide Squad also included some of her props that she created for the characters of Captain Boomerang and Deadshot.
Although she now happily resides in Toronto, she is a true northern girl.
She was born in Iroquois Falls. She lived in Sault Ste. Marie and North Bay, and then moved to Timmins when she was in the first grade. She is an alumnus of Bertha Shaw Public School, Golden Avenue Public School, and Roland Michener Secondary School, but only for Grade 9 and 10.
"Then I got kicked out because I got my lip pierced," she said, highlighting the Draconian 'zero tolerance' policy that was enforced by R.M.S.S. administration at the time. This led to a large number of east end students having to go to Timmins to complete high school. Salter continued her studies at TH&VS.
After graduation, she entered the three-year Fashion Design program at Fanshawe College, and says it was a lot harder than she thought it would be.
"It's no Basket Weaving 101," she said.
At the end of the third year, each student had to create a line of clothing, they all competed to get a slot at Toronto Fashion Week.
"I ended up getting a spot too, which was really cool. I guess then I realized at that fashion show that I didn't really belong in that realm. I'm a little different than a lot of the fashion people, not to put any of them down or anything. But I didn't really fit in," said Salter.
She then decided that going her own route was the best for her.
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Messina Salter is working her way up one piece at a time. Andrew Autio for TimminsToday "I just want to create cool stuff, that's all I want to do. I just want to be around creative people. I want to be inspired."
Salter loves working with leather in particular, and says she can see herself pursuing a costume designing position in the future.
"I like to be able to get lost in something. Maybe spend 40 hours straight, just killing it. It takes a lot to do that. I don't think I belong in a 9 to 5 office setting with beige walls, or even worse, grey walls. It has to be something fun, something insane. I'll just keep on this path until it leads me to another, and we'll see what happens."
She has had enough experience in 'the biz' to know not to get attached to costumes or props she makes for productions.
"There's always a chance it'll be changed beyond recognition, barely seen on screen, or flat out scrapped from the film altogether."
Salter has become a member of the I.A.T.S.E. (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) union local 873, which gives a huge leg up on getting regular work on Toronto-based productions. She feels the production industry, although generally exciting, is not all what many people believe.
"It's a lot of 'hurry up and wait', and there are always conflicting visions of what a prop should look like, and you have to try to cater to everyone's vision. I personally write down everyone's specifications, and quite literally stare at a blank piece of paper for about an hour until my brain works it out into something that my hand can pencil down. After a few sketches and a bit of research, I try it out. Sometimes it fails, so then it's back to the drawing board. You just keep at it until it works. But the thing is that you have limited time to make something, so the pressure is on. But that's what makes it exciting. It's cerebral, artistic and can be satisfyingly intense."
