Donna Berwick
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Costume Designer
Donna Berwick was a costume designer with a unique background as a visual artist and fashion designer. Her work was most recently recognized with a nomination from the Costume Designers Guild for Best Contemporary Film, for her costume design on Spike Lee's Vietnam War veterans drama 'Da 5 Bloods'.
Her art was first recognized in the NYC press while just in high school, for her life-size sculpture, "Walking Tall". She went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts from New York's School of Visual Arts. With inspiration from her grandmother's traditional skill in designing and hand-crafting clothing, Donna's childhood fashion sketches led her to work in New York's garment district for over a decade, which included designing bespoke clothing for the music star, Grace Jones. Donna then earned an Associates degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology in Fashion Design before embarking on a career in costuming for the performance arts.
Donna was a member of the emerging modern art scene rising from Fort Greene, Brooklyn, that spawned artistic luminaries such as Lorna Simpson, Accra Shepp, Lisa Jones, Alva Rogers, and Nelson George. Out of this artistic renaissance, Donna became a member of the highly influential, Rodeo Caldonia artistic collective of female creatives that produced seminal art across different media. Rodeo Caldonia was first recognized by New York's art and style magazine 'Interview', with the group profiled in a centerfold story that remains an influential statement from one of the most important chapters in American modern art.
From her experience with Rodeo Caldonia, Donna began work as a film costume designer for director, Spike Lee. She worked on most of his early films, including 'Malcolm X' and 'Mo Better Blues' with designer Ruth Carter. She then went on to design the costumes for Lee's mainstream hit, 'Inside Man', (starring Denzel Washington and Clive Owens). She also designed the highly influential costumes for the industry's first drama that captured New York's African American hip-hop era youth, in Ernest Dickerson's 'Juice', (starring Tupac Shakur).
She went to be the disciple of multiple Oscar-nominated costume designer, April Ferry. With Ferry, Donna worked on seminal films, such as 'Donnie Darko', (starring Jake Gyllenhaal), 'U571', (starring Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, and Harvey Keitel), and HBO's 'Game of Thrones'.
Donna designed the costumes for author Nelson George's 'Life Support' on HBO. She also worked with Caroline Eselin on the period costumes for the acclaimed director, Barry Jenkins's 'If Beale Street Could Talk'
Her last film was director Tony Goldwyn's 'Ezra' starring Bobby Cannavale and Robert De Niro.
Her art was first recognized in the NYC press while just in high school, for her life-size sculpture, "Walking Tall". She went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts from New York's School of Visual Arts. With inspiration from her grandmother's traditional skill in designing and hand-crafting clothing, Donna's childhood fashion sketches led her to work in New York's garment district for over a decade, which included designing bespoke clothing for the music star, Grace Jones. Donna then earned an Associates degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology in Fashion Design before embarking on a career in costuming for the performance arts.
Donna was a member of the emerging modern art scene rising from Fort Greene, Brooklyn, that spawned artistic luminaries such as Lorna Simpson, Accra Shepp, Lisa Jones, Alva Rogers, and Nelson George. Out of this artistic renaissance, Donna became a member of the highly influential, Rodeo Caldonia artistic collective of female creatives that produced seminal art across different media. Rodeo Caldonia was first recognized by New York's art and style magazine 'Interview', with the group profiled in a centerfold story that remains an influential statement from one of the most important chapters in American modern art.
From her experience with Rodeo Caldonia, Donna began work as a film costume designer for director, Spike Lee. She worked on most of his early films, including 'Malcolm X' and 'Mo Better Blues' with designer Ruth Carter. She then went on to design the costumes for Lee's mainstream hit, 'Inside Man', (starring Denzel Washington and Clive Owens). She also designed the highly influential costumes for the industry's first drama that captured New York's African American hip-hop era youth, in Ernest Dickerson's 'Juice', (starring Tupac Shakur).
She went to be the disciple of multiple Oscar-nominated costume designer, April Ferry. With Ferry, Donna worked on seminal films, such as 'Donnie Darko', (starring Jake Gyllenhaal), 'U571', (starring Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, and Harvey Keitel), and HBO's 'Game of Thrones'.
Donna designed the costumes for author Nelson George's 'Life Support' on HBO. She also worked with Caroline Eselin on the period costumes for the acclaimed director, Barry Jenkins's 'If Beale Street Could Talk'
Her last film was director Tony Goldwyn's 'Ezra' starring Bobby Cannavale and Robert De Niro.
