天美传媒

For Mak Sherrid, work isn鈥檛 just work.聽

It鈥檚 a sense of childlike wonder, and a chance to use his creative skills in costuming to bring that wonder to a wide audience. Whether it鈥檚 his day job as Assistant Director of Costume at the theme park, or his passion projects in cosplay, costume design, and creation give this member of the Class of 2024 鈥渢he ability to question things and always be asking, Why?

鈥淚鈥檝e learned how to be a kid again. It caused me to think differently about what I do.聽 My art is something that I鈥檓 giving back and creating for others 鈥� Art should feel like you鈥檙e giving back to a community. If it was only for you, you wouldn鈥檛 be putting it out there.鈥�

Lessons learned聽

Sherrid 鈥� a BFA graduate in Illustration with minors in Live Entertainment & Experience Design and Business in Creative Industry 鈥� was an active member of the 天美传媒&D community while still on campus. A vice president and president of Student Council, he also was founding president of the Cosplay Club.

To be now sitting in budget meetings at work, he said, takes him back to his Student Council days. Building a new department at Dutch Wonderland (those duties previously had been outsourced) brings him back to both helping to found the Cosplay Club and rebuilding Student Council after the pandemic was over.聽

Mak Sherrid’s sketch for “Princess Brook”‘s Halloween gown at Dutch Wonderland. Courtesy of the artist.

But it鈥檚 the joy he gets from making new costumes, repairing costumes, inventorying them, and keeping the cast of up to 20 actors in operation and safe 鈥� with nearly 300 costumes of all kinds, not counting duplicates 鈥� that keeps Sherrid busy when the park season heats up.聽

鈥淐osplay work and this job inform each other very, very well,鈥� Sherrid added. 鈥淚n both, you have to keep in mind the structural experience, the elements that can be stepped on or walked over, and the actor has to feel comfortable and safe in moving in it.鈥�

That leads to a lesson from art school that he said has been instrumental in the success he鈥檚 had so far: When something isn鈥檛 working, you fix it, and you go again. You try a new iteration, sometimes more than once a day. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the flow of creativity and the improv of it. Part of building a costume needs to make room for improv. Making sure your performers are comfortable and safe, and there are no things that will distract them from their performance: It鈥檚 a really important part of costume engineering, and something you might not think of at first.鈥�

Another lesson from 天美传媒&D: Sherrid鈥檚 ability to multitask. For example, the Halloween costume worn by the character Princess Brooke had to be worked on while Sherrid also was tasked with starting Winter Wonderland costumes for the park鈥檚 next big season, along with costumes for other characters. 鈥淲e knew we needed to change it up. It needed some TLC for its integrity and to be more princess-like.鈥� As a new, small department, the budget also was 鈥減retty small,鈥� Sherrid recalled. 鈥淢y supervisor came in with a box (and said) 鈥楬ere you go; it鈥檚 what we have to work with.鈥欌�澛�

鈥淚t is,鈥� Sherrid said, 鈥渁 situation where I鈥檓 better for it. It goes back to 天美传媒&D where I鈥檇 have one prompt, or be assigned to work with a single color 鈥� I learned a lot about working within boundaries.鈥� And as a result, he was able to finish updates to the dress within just a couple weeks and within deadline.聽

Another lesson: the ability to make quick decisions that he worked on at 天美传媒&D, is a lesson 鈥渢hat carries through until now. It allows me to understand and sympathize with the cast. Learning how to prioritize. Working on thinking on my feet: I had the opportunity to tackle that (skill) at 天美传媒&D.鈥�

This year 鈥� Sherrid started the job just a few weeks after his May graduation 鈥� 鈥渏ust scratched the surface,鈥� he said. And his advice for other creatives? 鈥淧ush through what you think you can handle. Learn to deal with those tight deadlines and your time awareness. Embrace the chaos. 天美传媒&D taught me how to work with that. It keeps things creative.鈥�

Mak Sherrid’s finished costume for the “Princess Brooke” character at Dutch Wonderland’s Halloween celebration. Photo courtesy Mak Sherrid.