Salons claim to be film studios in effort to avoid lockdown
Pair of St. Catharines businesses allow clients to ‘audition’ for shows, podcasts
A pair of St. Catharines hair salons are under investigation by city and regional bylaw officers after they reopened as film studios this week, purporting to make hairstyling-related productions as a means to operate under provincial COVID-19 restrictions.
Alicia Hirter, owner of Chrome Artistic Barbering on Lake Street, and Dennis Costantini, owner of Evolution Salon & Spa on Geneva Street, believe they found a way to slip around the provincewide emergency orders that shuttered personal services such as hair salons.
The pair, who have separately pushed misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic on social media, are leaning into the provincial lockdown rules that permit, with some restrictions, film and television productions to remain open.
Hirter said she has outfitted her salon as a movie studio and is filming for a podcast or TV show about the kinds of conversations people have while getting their hair cut.
Because hair salons are not allowed to open under the lockdown, she said her clients are coming in to “audition” for her proposed film projects.
However, people who arrive still have to pay for their hair cut during the “audition.”
Reputable productions for film, TV and theatre do not make actors pay for auditions any more than a person has to pay for a job interview.
Asked why, if her clients are auditioning, they are required to pay, she said the salon invested a lot of money in film equipment.
“I have not just set up my iphone here,” said Hirter, who added her salon follows all the safety rules for a movie production as laid out in provincial regulations. She does not require her clients to wear a mask on camera and she does not wear one while doing their hair.
“They are performing. They are wearing mics,” she said. “If they want to wear a
mask that is fine. I wear one when people come into the studio but not while performing. I mean, Tom Cruise is shooting a movie and he can do a kissing scene.”
Hirter said even with government supports, her salon, which has been in operation for 20 years, barely survived the first COVID-19 lockdown.
Small businesses like Hirter’s have been hit hard by the pandemic. According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, about 181,000 small businesses in Canada are considering shutting down permanently. The federation said that could put as many as 2.4 million jobs at risk.
At the same time, COVID-19 cases across Ontario are rising sharply, including in Niagara which now has one of the worst infection rates and highest pandemic-related death tolls in the province.
Hirter expressed the frustration of many small business owners ordered to close in Ontario amid rising COVID-19 cases, outbreaks and deaths — she had to close but big box stores remain open.
“Our industry is one of the most sanitary ones you can find,” she said, citing regular health inspections and regular safety measures meant to prevent the transmission of diseases at salons. “Yet you can go to
Walmart where people go the wrong way in isles against the arrows and touch everything. It makes no sense to me at all.”
There have been COVID-19 outbreaks in hair salons in Ontario during the pandemic.
Reached by phone, Costantini would not discuss his business unless a reporter booked an “audition.” He would not say if his clients have to pay for their audition.
“I’m busy. You are hindering my business right now. I know you are going to slander me,” he said before hanging up.
Costantini declared his intention to reopen his salon in a weekend Facebook post that spun pandemic conspiracy theories, including one that lockdowns are being used to foist vaccines on the public.
“There is strength in numbers,” wrote Costantini, who made no mention of opening a film studio. “If we stand together in truth, the corruption cannot prevail.”
Hirter has posted misinformation about the pandemic on Facebook and during an interview falsely claimed the World Health Organization is now advising people do not wear masks to limit the spread of COVID-19. In fact, the WHO continues to say mask-wearing is a key part of COVID-19 safety and its website has an entire section on how to properly use masks.
When the provincial government ordered the current state of emergency, it promised a
higher level of enforcement.
But Hirter, who said she was given the green light to open her salon as a movie studio by a provincial licensing officer, said she is not concerned about facing fines or authorities shuttering her salon and will challenge any punishment in court.
“I know my rights and I will fight for them,” she said. “If it comes down to not being able to pay for my mortgage, you bet I am going to fight.”
Reached by the St. Catharines Standard, the city and Niagara Region bylaw departments said they are jointly investigating both salons.
“As the province has declared a second state of emergency in direct response to an alarming
increase in COVID-19 cases, city bylaw enforcement along with regional bylaw enforcement and (the) Niagara Regional Police Service continues to enforce the provincial orders and regulations to ensure community safety,” said Tami Kitay, the city’s planning and building services director.
“We appreciate that these are challenging times; however, businesses that do not comply with the provincial orders and regulations will be investigated and can anticipate consequences.”