BIO
Whitney Anne Adams is a Costume Designer who has designed and worked on many internationally acclaimed films, several of which have been featured at the Sundance, Cannes, SXSW, Toronto and Tribeca Film Festivals. Whitney is an active union member of two I.A.T.S.E locals: the Costume Designers Guild, Local 892 and United Scenic Artists, Local 829 and is passionate about advocating for the essential art of costume design. She is represented by United Talent Agency.
Whitney is currently in New Orleans through early 2025 designing her next project! This past summer, she styled the Baseball is Something Else 2024 campaign for Major League Baseball featuring BRIAN TYREE HENRY.
Whitney currently serves as the co-chair of both the Costume Designers Guild Pay Equity Committee and the United Scenic Artists Local 829 Pay Equity Task Force. In addition to her Pay Equity Committee role, Whitney also served on the 2024 CDG 892 Negotiation Committee and Table Team. She is proud to have contributed to the pay rate gains that gave Costume Designers pay parity with Art Directors on the Hollywood Basic contract. Whitney also currently serves on the Local USA 829 Negotiation Committee for the Majors Agreement Negotiation in Fall 2024, where the committee just secured wage increases that give Costume Designers pay parity with Art Directors. Whitney also currently serves on the USA 829 Local Union Executive Board as an Eastern Region Trustee. She was voted in and sworn into office in the Summer of 2023.
She spent the rest of the summer of 2023 designing SOMEWHERE IN DREAMLAND in Savannah, GA. In late 2022, she wrapped design on THE SUPREMES AT EARL'S ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT (based on the book of the same name) in Wilmington, North Carolina. Directed by and co-written by Tina Mabry and co-written by Gina Prince-Bythewood, the film stars Aunjanue Ellis, Sanaa Lathan, Uzo Aduba, Russell Hornsby, Mekhi Phifer, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Julian McMahon, Kyanna Simone, Tati Gabrielle, Abigail Achiri, Clevland Berto and Ryan Paynter.
Two films that Whitney designed were released in 2023: WE HAVE A GHOST and STORY AVE . WE HAVE A GHOST, written and directed by Christopher Landon, was released by Netflix on February 24, 2023. The film stars David Harbour, Anthony Mackie, Jahi Di’Allo Winston, Jennifer Coolidge, Tig Notaro, Isabella Russo and Niles Fitch. In its first two weeks of release, the film was globally number one on the streaming platform and in the top ten in 93 countries. We Have A Ghost was watched for nearly 100 million hours. The independent feature STORY AVE premiered in Austin at SXSW on March 11, 2023. — Directed and written by Aristotle Torres, the cast includes Luis Guzman, Asante Blackk, Alex R. Hibbert, Melvin Gregg, & Coral Peña. Kino Lorber acquired the North American rights and premiered in theaters on September 29th, 2023.
Some of Whitney’s other released work includes THREE MONTHS written and directed by Jared Frieder starring Troye Sivan (Paramount & MTV), PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: NEXT OF KIN written by Christopher Landon and directed by William Eubank (Paramount & Blumhouse), INDIA SWEETS & SPICES written and directed by Geeta Malik starring Sophia Ali, Manisha Koirala, and Adil Hussain, FREAKY directed and co-written by Christoper Landon and co-written by Michael Kennedy starring Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton (Blumhouse), PIERCING written and directed by Nicolas Pesce starring Mia Wasikowska and Christopher Abbott (Universal), HAPPY DEATH DAY 2U written and directed by Christopher Landon starring Jessica Rothe and Israel Broussard (Universal & Blumhouse), KILLERMAN written and directed by Malik Bader starring Liam Hemsworth and Emory Cohen, IRREPLACEABLE YOU directed by Stephanie Laing and written by Bess Wohl starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michiel Huisman and Christopher Walken (Netflix) and THE EYES OF MY MOTHER written and directed by Nicolas Pesce starring Kika Magalhaes and Will Brill.
Whitney is first and foremost a lover of cinema - by the age of 2 she had Mary Poppins memorized in it's entirety as she learned to talk (along with a terrible British accent that lasted nearly a year) and her affection only grew from there. Many years later she had the pleasure of spending many months with Mary Poppins Costume Designer Tony Walton, archiving his entire body of work for the Library of Congress and spending hours discussing all things design, including that very first film she fell in love with!
Raised in Northern California, Whitney spent her educational years and the beginning of her professional career working in all realms of theatrical costume design, dressing and tailoring. She studied under Tony Award-winning costume designer Judith Dolan at UC San Diego while also working as a tailor and dresser at the La Jolla Playhouse. After completing her degree, she moved to New York City, landing a job as a first hand and tailor at Carelli Costumes. She worked there for several years where she constructed couture garments for Broadway, film & TV, as well as concerts and private clients. Some of her favorite projects there include helping build all of Beyonce's costumes for her 2009 "I Am" tour, working as Liza Minelli's personal seamstress on various outfits, and getting the chance to hone her fine embroidery and beading skills. During this time, she was also the personal seamstress to famed Oscar-winning costume designer Eiko Ishioka. Having such a detailed background in garment construction is one of the foundations of Whitney's design process.
Whitney then became four-time Oscar-winning Catherine Martin's costume design assistant on The Great Gatsby (dir. by Baz Luhrmann), and it was clear that film costume design was her passion. After working for CM and Baz for many years on a myriad of incredible projects after Gatsby (including Chanel No. 5 with Gisele Bündchen, Strictly Ballroom the Musical and several Met Galas) she left Bazmark to head her own department.
Since then, Whitney has designed a multitude of films, tv shows, and commercials, and has had several styling clients, including actor Brian Tyree Henry, director Baz Luhrmann, and director Tina Mabry. Film is still her passion as she aims to watch as many as possible when she’s not working. Whitney is incredibly dedicated to her craft and will stop at nothing to get the job done with a huge grin on her face. Her work gives her the chance to develop her own passions for the human condition, color, design, fabrics and accessories while also giving confidence to her actors. She is passionate about advocating for the art that is Costume Design as each costume defines the character and is an essential part of storytelling.
Member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829, IATSE & the Costume Designers Guild, Local 892, IATSE
Pay Equity
Whitney is currently is part of the Pay Equity Steering Committee for the Costume Designers Guild Local 892 and one of the Elected Co-Chairs in the United Scenic Artists Local 829 Pay Equity Committee.
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