2019 Industry Icon Award Winner
DELPHINE WHITE
Delphine studied Political Science at university and during her education she spent a year in Great Britain where she became aware of film and theatre production. When she returned to Canada, she finished her degree in Political Science and moved to an urban environment with the intention of pursuing graduate studies.
A chance encounter with a film writer turned her career path 180 degrees. Armed with a sewing machine, research skills and a good work ethic Delphine did her first movie, a piece set in 1840. Eventually, after a couple of years in the business she was afraid she’d be “found out” as untrained and went to college to learn design and pattern drafting. Since that time, she has worked continually in all aspects of the film, on feature films, mini-series, television series and commercials.
Delphine established herself with the early films of David Cronenberg including Fast
Company, Scanners, The Brood and Videodrome. She has worked with directors and producers Guillermo Del Toro, Jim Sheridan, Terry Gilliam, Norman Jewison, Antoine Fuqua, and Barry Levinson, and assisted on films directed by Gus Van Sant, James Foley, Paul Schrader, Nick Cassavetes and many more.
Her television work includes “The Kennedy’s After Camelot”, the tv Pilot for “Taken” and the miniseries “The Dovekeepers”, as well as “Copper” for BBC America, and “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”, “Hidden Room’, ‘War of the Worlds”, Phillip Marlowe Private Eye” and the final season of “The Strain Season IV”.
Delphine has been nominated for several awards during her career including Genie Award nominations for Best Achievement in Costume for Scanners and Kids in The Hall: Brain Candy, Gemini Nomination for “Lives of Girls & Women”, Daytime Emmy Award Nomination for ABC After School Special “My Mother Was Never A Kid”, as well as Canadian Screen Award nominations for “Copper” and “The Kennedys: After Camelot”.
She is a member in good standing of IATSE 873 in Toronto, and The Costume Designer’s Guild IATSE Local 892 in Los Angeles. In Toronto, Delphine sits on the Costume Committee and works with the Educational Committee developing and instructing courses for costume department members and permittees. Known for her commitment to training new talent, Delphine has mentored many members of the costume community.
In the late 70s, she was one of the founders of the Association of Canadian Film Craftpeople (ACFC)- and served as their vice president. Delphine is a founding member of CAFTCAD (The Canadian Alliance of Film and Television Costume Arts and Design) where she helped develop the membership categories and criteria. She was one of the Costume Designers featured in the “Otherworldly: The Art of Canadian Costume Design” exhibition at the TIFF Bell Lightbox and was a panelist at the TIFF “From Stitch to Screen: Contemporary Canadian Costume Design” panel. Recently Delphine was also featured in CAFTCAD’s “From Concept to Creation: And Exhibition of Canadian Costume Arts and Design”.
Delphine is quite involved in her local community and volunteers at the Warkworth Arts and Heritage Centre both as a featured artist and curator. She has developed programs that engage the local youth in art projects such as the very popular event, “Warkworth By Night Family Street Festival”.