South African make-up artist and hair designer Gale Shepherd has won the 2024 Daytime Emmy for Hairstyling and Make-up for Netflix docuseries African Queens: Njinga.

Gale was one of three South African winners at this year’s Daytime Emmys. Production designer Warren Gray won the award for Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design and Casting Director Christa Schamberger,  shared the Casting award, with UK-based casting Olissa Rogers, all for the same show.

Executively produced and narrated by Jada Pinkett Smith, the four-part docu-drama delves into the fearless warrior Queen Njinga of Angola, featuring expert interviews and re-enactments.

An industry stalwart with over 25 years’ experience and more than 500 international TV commercials and fashion shoots under her belt, Gale says winning the Emmy still feels a bit surreal.

“Just before the announcement was made at the award ceremony in Los Angeles, I had a very clear intuition that I was going to win. It just felt that it was meant to be!

“Of course, this is not just an award for me personally, but for my whole department, and for the director and the producers, who trusted my vision. 

“With so little historical evidence about her appearance to go on, I had to trust my gut instinct about how this incredibly powerful woman used her stature and her appearance to impose a sense of power and authority not just over her own people but in her dealings with the Portuguese and Dutch colonists as well. 

“At the same time I had to make her accessible and appealing to today’s audience. This really let me be creative with the hair design, and I went to town with big, sculptural styling and accessories like shells and beads. But I definitely couldn’t have pulled it off without my talented braiding team, who were fantastic,” says Gale.

“There were also some very technical aspects to the series, like getting the European characters authentic to the period, which involved lots of wigs, as well as the different tribal makeup, like the war paint of the Imbogalas.  And some challenging SFX in the fight scenes. 

“But overall my biggest satisfaction was creating an iconic appearance for this incredible African leader, who defied the gender constraints of her time to lead a 40-year war of resistance against the European colonial powers. And being the first African woman to win a Daytime Emmy – to the best of my knowledge – I can’t think of more fitting subject matter!”

Gale adds: “Winning this award confirms my belief that the South African film industry is truly on a par with the best in the world. International producers and directors need to know that they don’t have to bring crew with them to shoot features and series of the highest production values here. And I really hope the global recognition that production designer Warren Gray and I have received through our respective Emmy wins will help grow respect for our talented and dynamic South African industry. And bring more work here – we need it!”

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