Simonette Berry, a classically trained fine artist and writer from New Orleans, has a long background in sculpting, painting, and designing. She is the daughter of two journalists who raised her to appreciate the vibrant culture of the city. As a child, she enjoyed making costumes, drawing, and writing and illustrating her own story books. When she was 7, her grandmother taught her to paint landscapes. She studied Visual Arts and Creative Writing at New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts in high school. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Tulane University, and had the opportunity to study abroad in Rome, Italy at John Cabot University and also to study at Boston University. She spent her twenties working as a decorative painter and muralist, freelance writer, and a designer and mold-maker at French Fountains, a fountain and garden design company. She wrote as a columnist and Assistant Editor at Louisiana Homes and Gardens Magazine and Our House Magazine, freelanced with other publications, and contributed to the book of post-Katrina essays New Orleans: What Can't Be Lost.
She began working in the film industry in 2012. Notable film credits include: Co-Producer, Writer, and Production Designer on City of a Million Dreams: Parading for the Dead in New Orleans (2021), Sculptor on Capone (2020), a Scenic Artist on Underwater (2020), Scenic Artist on Claws: Season 2 (2018), Scenic Artist on Logan (2017), Sculptor/Moldmaker on Geostorm (2017), Scenic Artist on Roots (2016), Sculptor, Moldmaker, and Scenic Artist on Terminator: Genisys (2015), Lead Sculptor on Into the Badlands: Season 1 (2015), Sculptor/Moldmaker on Maze Runner (2014), Sculptor on Salem: Seasons 1 and 3 (2014-17), Leadman and featured artist on Chef (2014), Production Designer and Scenic Artist on Bayou Tales (in post production), and others. Her company, Scenic Art and Casting Studio, has created sets for Southern Rep Theater, the New Orleans Opera, Fringe Festival, the Marigny Opera House Ballet, and other theatrical companies and events. Simonette now serves as Assistant Business Agent and Chair of the Board of Trustees for IATSE Local 478, representing the film workers of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. She continues as a working artist, writer, and filmmaker, and she also leads the 3,000-person carnival krewe Chewbacchus as a benevolent Overlord. |