COOLSHIRT Provides “Creature” Comforts to Costumed Actors
From hundred-million dollar blockbusters to historical period pieces, COOLSHIRT is a regular supplier to the film industry. We offer particular value to productions in which actors:
- Are dressed in multiple costume layers.
- Work in hot conditions.
- Are outfitted in heavy “creature suits” and prosthetics.
In most cases, actors wear our garments beneath other clothing. Key costumers, who often serve as the actors’ “handlers,” help them connect quickly to our portable cooling systems and then disconnect when the scene is ready to be shot. This saves actors time and keeps the production on schedule and on budget.
Here are some examples of our products at work in high-profile film productions…
Suicide Squad
In Suicide Squad, comic book supervillains accept a secret, high-risk mission—with explosive results. The cast includes Jared Leto as The Joker, Will Smith as an assassin, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc (a man with the monstrous appearance of a crocodile.)
With a range of costuming needs, Suicide Squad turned to COOLSHIRT for products that could keep cast members comfortable during shooting. Solutions also had to work beneath heavy prosthetics and allow actors to move without restriction in action-intensive sequences.
We provided several solutions, including our 2Cool Compression Water Shirt and Active Aqua Vest (both with and without hood). The production team powered these active cooling garments with COOLSHIRT’s portable bag system, MobileCool.
X-Men: Apocalypse
In the 2016 installment of the X-Men franchise, the heroes must combine forces to take on the world’s first mutant, a powerful adversary named Apocalypse. COOLSHIRT outfitted several actors with cooling gear, providing them with our waist pack system, compression shirts, and one of the largest custom garments we had ever created: a size 6XL Active Aqua Vest.
According to Erick Engebretson, who directs COOLSHIRT’s Film / FX Division, “When you’ve got actors playing larger-than-life characters, your solutions have to be sized to the challenge. Our manufacturing team worked with the production to get sizing and other requirements. Careful coordination made it all possible.”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
This sequel sees the Turtles confronting a new alien nemesis threatening New York (and the world). At COOLSHIRT, our job was a bit simpler: protecting the cast with cooling garments and systems that worked effectively and fit seamlessly beneath costumes.
The production made use of our 2COOL Compression Water Shirts and bag cooling system. Since some of the film’s costumes did not provide full torso coverage, we also customized a selection of our garments. Repositioning tubing and revising the cut of our shirts helped keep them out of sight without sacrificing comfort.
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Whether you represent a film production or you are part of another enterprise that could benefit from portable, lightweight, and effective personal cooling, get in touch with COOLSHIRT.