Opening out of town: last looks finds niche taking school for makeup artists on the road. (Small Business).

HEATHER and Gregory Savalas vividly remember the day two years ago when the phone started ringing at 4:30 a.m.

The husband-and-wife team had shelled out $1,000 to place a tiny ad in New York's Village Voice, hoping to drum up business for the maiden run of their Last Looks Makeup Academy. And since their 800 number routed calls directly to their home, the first prospective students for the traveling makeup school woke the Savalases as soon as they saw the ad in New York -- and at the crack of dawn in Studio City.

"We were jumping up and down," said Gregory Savalas. "We couldn't believe we connected, that somebody would be interested. Then the second call was just as important and just as fun, and the third call and the fourth and the fifth, and all of a sudden we had 60,70 phone calls."

That first class, held in New York, sold out. This year the academy will conduct more than 35 classes in 14 cities including Austin, Tex., Chicago and San Francisco, nearly doubling revenues over last year.

"What made Last Looks very different is they came from the West Coast. The West Coast seems to be up on new ideas," said Craig Lindberg, a professional makeup artist for film and TV and director of makeup at Christine Valmy in New York, who has taken nine classes with Last Looks. "There have always been schools in New York here and there, but when I looked at the curriculums I said I already know this stuff."

Los Angeles has long been the mecca for training in such things as special effects makeup for movies and television, but Last Looks CEO Heather Savalas, a former makeup artist who once managed a traditional makeup school, realized a few years ago that many prospective out-of-town students were unwilling or unable to relocate for those classes or to pay the freight for a typical school -- about $10,000 for a three-month program.

At the same time, more and more film production was moving out of Los Angeles, increasing the demand for such training around the country.

"I would go to a lot of trade shows, and people would come up to the booth and ask if we were going to come to their town and teach them how to do makeup," said Heather. "People who are mothers or who can't leave their jobs for three months, they didn't want to pay that kind of money just for school and then have to pay to live here as well."

Instead, Heather Savalas figured she could offer individual classes of three to six days length in different cities. Together, all the offerings would constitute the full gamut of training available at traditional schools, but students could opt to take just a single course, say period and character makeup or trauma and injury makeup, or several classes at their own pace, and for a fraction of the cost of a full program at a traditional makeup school.

Working with Thom Surprenant, who won an Emmy for his work on the TV series "Deep Space 9," Heather developed a curriculum. Meanwhile, Gregory burned the midnight oil learning enough computer graphics to create advertising and promotional literature for the fledgling school.

For the first two years, the couple worked out of their home, with a minimal investment in additional phone lines and promotion. Both principals have other jobs -- Heather is a partner in Savalas & Stine, a business management company; Gregory is an assistant director and stage manager for film and TV.

And although the cost of putting on a class is high -- besides paying for the instructors and venues, Heather is in attendance at every class in every city -- the classes pay for themselves. Last Looks (which is a reference to what a director says when he or she wants makeup artists to check an actor's makeup before a shot) only incurs the cost when a class is actually held.

Tuition averages about $674 per course, which includes lab and other materials fees, that Last Looks also provides, and the school has recently begun offering payment plans that allow students to spread the costs over a three- or six-month period without interest fees.

"We always fill out the classes, so it's all built in," said Heather Savalas.

As film production has migrated away from Los Angeles, entertainment industry clusters have formed in a number of cities. Even when L.A.-based crews go on location, they hire local talent for a portion of the work, creating opportunities for local craftspeople -- such as makeup artists -- in many cities.

Last Looks draws students from among those who want to break into the business as well as those already working in the field, but need or want additional coursework to increase their marketability or qualify for higher pay.

"I used to cold call people just to get people to sign up in the very beginning," said Heather. "I just called Local 798 in New York one day on a whim and I started speaking to the president of the union, and she and I had built this relationship. All of a sudden she was giving me every name of every member and we were sending stuff to them."

The duo staffs classes only with Emmy or Oscar award-winning makeup artists, a practice that sets Last Looks apart from traditional schools. A makeup artist actively working in the business would have to pass up film jobs in order to commit to a three-month teaching schedule. But it's relatively easy to fit a teaching stint of a few days into a filming schedule, even when the artist is on location.

"We try to put out the schedule for the year," Heather said. "One of our teachers is working on a new show, 'Fast Lane,' and in between, if he gets a few days off, he can teach."

Such arrangements also help to give the school a cache others lack.

"It's an instant status symbol for people who don't know who we are," said Gregory Savalas, who broke into the entertainment business working with his uncle, the late Telly Savalas, best known for his portrayal of a hard-boiled police detective in the television series "Kojak."

"If you've got an Emmy or an Oscar, it's instant credibility."

Eventually, the pair hopes to expand to Canada and Europe.

"This whole world is becoming a studio," said Gregory, and with that in mind, there's going to be work everywhere.

RELATED ARTICLE: Spotlight

Last Looks Makeup Academy

Year Founded: 2000

Employees in 2000: 2

Employees in 2002: 2

Revenues in 2000: $87,600

Revenues in 2002 (projected): $360,000

Goal: To provide best practice training in makeup artistry in cities worldwide

Driving Force: The increasing trend to move film and TV production outside of Los Angeles