Joanna's early career aspirations of becoming a trapeze artist, a doctor, and then a poet, were all a natural progression to becoming a Costume Designer. Having a lucky relocation to Paris, France as an expatriate teenager, Joanna attended the American School of Paris where she outfitted the school productions with cast offs found at Parisian flea markets. Continuing on to the Theatre Program at Ryerson University, Joanna found she enjoyed the collaborative process of working with the talent and various departments on a production as well as the creative process of making doublets out of the drapes from the teacher's lounge.
A creative writing class, an astrologer, and drinking coffee in the right place at the right time led Joanna into the independent film industry in Toronto where she quickly used her talents and her ability to problem solve quickly to the advantage of many productions.
Joanna is honoured to have designed such a variation of film projects including the Sonny Liston bio-pic, PHANTOM PUNCH with Ving Rhames, .45 with Milla Jovovich and Stephen Dorff, the unemployed Easter Bunnies in HANK AND MIKE with Joe Mantegna and Chris Klein, TWIST with Nick Stahl, CENTURY HOTEL with Colm Feore and Mia Kirshner, and the black comedy, WISH YOU WERE DEAD with Cary Elwes, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenbergen, and Gene Simmons.
Selected Television includes gamer mockumentary PURE PWNAGE for Showcase, Seasons II & III of PARADISE FALLS for Showcase and Here Network, Hallmark's FAMILY GATHERING with Natasha Henstridge and Harry Hamlin, and Lifetime's STILL SMALL VOICES with Catherine Bell.
About me
Costume Designer with a recent penchant for vintage button collecting.