Special Effect MAke up artists
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Actor/SFX wizard/stuntman/director Tom Savini was born in Pittsburgh. Inspired by the film Man of a Thousand Faces (1957), a young Savini became fascinated with the magic and illusion of film. He spent his youth in his room creating characters by tirelessly practicing make-up. Later, as a combat photographer in Vietnam, Savini saw first-hand the gruesome carnage for which he later gained fame, simulating it on screen.
He has acquired a remarkable cult following among film fans, primarily due to his ground-breaking SFX in the "splatter movie" explosion of the early 1980s. Along with fellow special make-up legends Dick Smith and Rob Bottin, Savini was one of the key SFX people behind the startling make-up & EFX seen in the fantasy/horror genre films of the 1980s-'90s. Savini was heavily influenced by the remarkable silent-era actor Lon Chaney, and he sought to emulate the amazing theatrical make-up effects that were a hallmark of Chaney's career. In Savini's insightful book "Grande Illusions", he speaks of his early attempts at applying prosthetics to his face using "spearmint gum", having misinterpreted that he was meant to actually use "spirit gum"! His first work was in low-budget fare, providing SFX and make-up for independently made horror films such as Deranged (1974) and Martin (1977).
He really caught the attention of horror buffs with his grisly effects in the cult George A. Romero-directed zombie film Dawn of the Dead (1978), and then in the controversial slasher film Friday the 13th (1980), the movie generally identified as the kickstart for the aforementioned "splatter movie" genre. Savini also contributed the incredible EFX & make-up to other splatter thrillers such as Maniac (1980), The Burning (1981), Creepshow (1982) and Romero's third "Dead" film, Day of the Dead (1985) (for which he won a Saturn Award). In 1990, Savini directed his feature film debut Night of the Living Dead (1990), the remake of the original zombie-classic.
Not content with only being behind the lens, however, Savini has appeared in dozens of films, and can be seen demonstrating his capable acting skills as "Morgan, the Black Knight" in Knightriders (1981), as "Blades", one of the biker gang members in Dawn of the Dead (1978) and as "Sex Machine", another leather-clad biker--but this time with a groin-mounted gun--in the wild vampire film From Dusk Till Dawn (1996).- Make-Up Department
- Special Effects
- Additional Crew
Giannetto De Rossi was born on 8 August 1941 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He is known for Dune (1984), High Tension (2003) and Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar (1999). He was married to Mirella De Rossi. He died on 11 April 2021 in Rome, Italy.- Make-Up Department
- Special Effects
- Actor
Rick Baker was born on 8 December 1950 in Binghamton, New York, USA. He is an actor, known for Planet of the Apes (2001), Men in Black (1997) and The Wolfman (2010). He has been married to Silvia Abascal since 8 November 1987. They have two children. He was previously married to Elaine Alexander.- Make-Up Department
- Producer
- Special Effects
Gifted SFX and make-up wizard, who learned his trade under the watchful eye of SFX splatter guru Tom Savini. Nicotero and buddies, Howard Berger and Robert Kurtzman started KNB Efx Group in 1988 and the group has provided eye-popping & jaw dropping special effects for major Hollywood releases including The Green Mile (1999), Vanilla Sky (2001), Sin City (2005) and Land of the Dead (2005).- Make-Up Department
- Special Effects
- Actor
Howard Berger was born in Los Angeles, CA. Howard was raised on monster films and knew at an early age someone made those monster for the movies and began figuring it out at age 8 when he was introduced to Famous Monster of Filmland Magazine. His parents were very supportive and indulged his obsession of makeup and monster. When Howard went to a sci-fi convention in LA, he saw his idol Rick Baker speak and that was it! Howard was hooked and with the inspiration from Rick, Stan Winston, Dick Smith, Rob Bottin and others, he forged a path towards his career in film and TV as a special makeup effects artist.
Once out of high school he began working at Stan Winston Studios on PREDATOR, ALIENS, PUMPKINHEAD and then moved on to work for Rick Baker on the Oscar winning HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS.
Howard ended up meeting fellow monster makers Greg Nicotero and Robert Kurtzman and the 3 became fast friends, room mates and eventually co-owners of KNB EFX GROUP, which was founded in 1988. In the decades to come Howard and Greg would gather a cache of great directors, actors and films to work with and in 2006, Howard won an Oscar for the makeup work in THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE. Howard would then be nominated again for his work on Sir Anthony Hopkins for the film HITCHCOCK.
Howard continues to be a guiding force at KNB, along with Greg Nicotero, and has added being a Makeup Dept. Head to his list of achievements, starting with Peter Berg's film LONE SURVIVOR. In the past decade he has Dept. Headed over a dozen films and TV series.
Howard is a Governor of there Makeup Artists and Hair Stylist Branch at the AMPAS. He lives in Sherman Oaks with artist wife Mirjam and he has 3 grown children, none of which followed in his foot steps, and followed their own dreams as he did.- Make-Up Department
- Additional Crew
- Special Effects
Rob Bottin was born on 1 April 1959 in El Monte, California, USA. He is known for RoboCop (1987), Total Recall (1990) and Se7en (1995).- Make-Up Department
- Special Effects
- Additional Crew
Beginning with such characters as Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) and Chucky in the "Child's Play" films, Kevin Yagher has established himself as one of the top make-up effects artists by developing and creating life-like creatures, aliens, animals and humans with meticulous detail. His company, Kevin Yagher Productions Inc. (KYPI), has created effects for such high-profile projects as Paramount Pictures thriller Face/Off (1997), Enemy of the State (1998) Volcano (1997), Starship Troopers (1997), and Conspiracy Theory (1997). KYPI's creations have also graced the screen in a variety of genres from Columbia Pictures' Radio Flyer (1992) to Paramount Pictures' action-adventure Mission: Impossible II (2000) to Walt Disney's comedy Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992). Yagher has further expanded his creative efforts by directing. For the HBO series Tales from the Crypt (1989), he directed all of the show's wraparounds and several promotional spots, one of which earned him an Emmy in 1992. He also helmed two episodes for this cable series, (HBO's Tales from the Crypt (1989)) receiving a Cable Ace nomination in the process.- Special Effects
- Make-Up Department
- Visual Effects
Sergio Stivaletti is most certainly one of the greatest European experts in the field of special effects and make-up to which he has been dedicated for over 20 years. Born in Rome in 1957, he has collaborated during his career with some of the genre's most important Italian directors, like Dario Argento, Michele Soavi, Lamberto Bava, Gabriele Salvatores. He debuted in feature film directing in 1997 with Maschera di cera.- Make-Up Department
- Special Effects
- Additional Crew
Academy Award winner Matthew W. Mungle is regarded as one of Hollywood's premier Make-up Effects & Prosthetic Artists. With over 250 film and television projects to his credit, Matthew has earned accolades and recognition as one of the industry's top masters of Makeup Effects Illusionist.
Born in Durant, Oklahoma in 1956, Matthew was one of five children born to Atoka dairy farmer Jene and Becky Mungle. As a boy he recalls seeing Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy. In 1964 with the release of The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao and The List of Adrian Messenger, Matthew credits the films as having been his greatest influence and deciding factor in becoming a Make-up Effects Artist. He was fascinated with the make-up, often "borrowing" his mother's cosmetics to create his own version of horror. In 1968, a film that would revolutionize make-up effects and further impact the small-town boy from Atoka was the release, Planet of the Apes. It is hard to say how many times Matthew saw the film. What he did know was that he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his idols, namely Lon Chaney, Sr., Jack Pierce and John Chambers, who won the Academy Award for the specialized make-up creations for Planet of the Apes. As he got older, he would learn from books and magazines such as Richard Corson's Stage Make-up & Dick Smith's Do It Yourself Monster Make-up Handbook and would send away for theatrical make-up from New York and Dallas specialty stores - experimenting with face casts and prosthetics on willing family members and friends. Although his parents thought it was a phase he would soon outgrow, Matthew knew differently.
Return of the Planet of the Apes was released when he was a sophomore in High School and he encouraged the owner of the local movie theatre to let him dress up as one of the chimpanzees to promote the film. Not only did he dress and act the part but also created his own prosthetic make-up. The realism was so startling to the small town of Atoka, that many thought Hollywood had sent an actor to hype the film! Matthew would continue to promote films at the Thompson Theatre in Atoka by applying his own make-up and costumes until he graduated from High School.
Although his sights were still on Hollywood, at his father's insistence, he applied and was accepted into Oklahoma State University as a theatre arts major in 1975 after graduating from Atoka High School. Working with props and make-up for various productions, Matthew eagerly absorbed the educational tools being given.
Matthew finally arrived in Hollywood in December 1977 after applying and being accepted into Joe Blasco's Make-up Center - the premier academy responsible for training many of the film and television industry's elite Make-up Artists. "From the very beginning, Matthew showed exceptional talent!" claims Blasco, whose own career as a top make-up artist turned educator, has been instrumental in graduating Academy Award winners. "I instinctively knew that Matthew had what it takes to become a success in this business. His dedication to the art form and rapid ability to master the craft led me to hire him as an instructor following his graduation from my school in 1978. He stayed on-staff as a teacher until his own popularity as a working make-up artist became too demanding."
Matthew credits Joe Blasco with his professional start & as mentor in the industry. "I was a sponge, absorbing every ounce of knowledge I could. Whether learning the techniques of beauty make-up or casting molds and working with prosthetics, I wanted to be as versatile as I could". Today, Matthew is a veteran voice to up-and-coming artists hoping to find their own niche in the industry. "If you want to be a working make-up artist, then you should learn and perfect all areas of the craft".
Matthew's professional career began on low-budget projects such as The Dorm That Dripped Blood, The Kindred, War Party, The Guardian & Navy Seals which taught him to think quickly on his feet and how to be a great department head Make-up Artist. Matthew joined I.A. Local 706 in the summer of 1989 and passed his test to become a Journeyman Make-up Artist in early 1990. His first major film was working with Ve Neil on Edward Scissorhands in 1990. Matthew has accumulated an impressive list of credits and an equally impressive genre of box office successes including: Bram Stoker's Dracula, earning him an Oscar in 1992 with Michelle Burke & Greg Cannom; Schindler's List, giving him another nomination in 1993 with Christina Smith & Judy Cory; creating Arnold's pregnancy stomach in the comedy spoof Junior; tackling special make-up effects for Outbreak, Congo, Primal Fear, and aging James Woods to 72 in Ghosts of Mississippi, which earned Deborah Lamia Denaver & him his 3rd Oscar nomination in 1996. His transformation of Glenn Close and Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs earned Lynn Johnson, Martial Corneville & him his fourth Oscar nomination in 2011.
Matthew's expertise in prosthetic aging & character make-up created a vast field of job opportunities in both film and TV --- HBO's Citizen Cohn, starring James Woods and earning him his first Emmy in 1993 along with Deborah Lamia Denaver, Lynne Eagan & John Jackson. Another nomination followed in 1997 for Miss Evers' Boys. Two more nominations were earned in 1998 --- TNT's Wallace and ABC's Oliver Twist and in 1999 for his work on TNT's Houdini. In 2000, Matthew was one of the first recipient of Local 706's first annual Guild Make-up and Hair Award for his work on ABC's The Beat Goes On.
In 2000, Matthew was hired on X-Files for special make-up and prosthetic designs. A coup to his already long list of credits, Matthew entered the show's 8th season and promptly won an Emmy in 2001 for the episode, Dead Alive. Shortly after the X-Files series ended Matthew was hired to work on CBS's C.S.I. Miami and Presidio Med. Even with a demanding schedule, Matthew found time to work on TNT's Door-to-Door, which earned him an Emmy in 2003. In 2006, Matthew took home his fourth Emmy for his work in HBO's final episode of Six Feet Under and in 2008, Matthew earned his fifth & sixth Emmy for Tracey Ullman's State of the Union and John Adams. To date Matthew has been honored with 26 Emmy nominations. Matthew finished his 11-year run creating graphic make-up effects for C.S.I. Las Vegas (CBS) in July 2015. With a full film and TV schedule, Matthew continued his work on NCIS (CBS) & Salem (WGN).
His impressive list of film credits include such box office hits as creating Brendan Fraser's many character looks in Bedazzled, Pay it Forward with Kevin Spacey, Red Dragon, Daredevil, Anchorman, The Punisher, House of D with Robin Williams, Skeleton Key, Polar Express, The Omen, X-Men:The Last Stand, Midnight Meat Train, The Bucket List, Inception, The Tempest, The Change-Up, What to Expect When You're Expecting and Lee Daniel's THE Butler aging Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey along with creating historical Presidents on well-known Actors with the talent assistants of Douglas Noe.
One of Matthew's many creative challenges started in 2003 with the hit Broadway show Wicked, producing the prosthetic face masks and prosthetics for the production's various characters. Balancing his film and TV projects, Matthew continued his work for the show's Broadway production & U.S. tours.
In 1999, Matthew conducted a 3-day seminar on advanced prosthetics for Screen Training Ireland in Dublin and in June 2000 was a featured guest lecturer aboard the Q.E.II during a cross-Atlantic vacation from South Hampton, England to New York.
He's appeared on a wide variety of TV shows including Discovery Channel's Mega Movie Magic where he aged a 12-year-old girl into an 80-year-old woman! BBC's Talk of the Town, a highly rated and popular London-based magazine shows. He has been interviewed for Turner Entertainment Report, E! Entertainment News, The Morning Show, FX Dailies, CNN, Good Day L.A. and Japan's CH. 5 News Networks. His interviews can also be seen on the behind-the-scenes trailer for the 8th and 9th season episodes of X-Files for video and DVD release, CSI behind-the-scenes on DVD release and, Inside Edition, Entertainment Tonight & CBS Sunday Morning. Matthew and his Husband of 41 years, John Jackson, closed their North Hollywood studio/lab in May of 2017 in and moved to Lago Vista, Texas outside Austin to retire. Matthew has set up a smaller studio in an old police station and after 40 years as a Professional Make-up Artist, continues to create prosthetic designs for Glenn Close, Robert De Niro & Tracey Ullman. He conducts educational seminars at Brick in the Yard in Dallas, Texas and contributed to the 3rd addition of Todd Debreceni's Special Make-up Effects book. He also contributed to the newest, 11th edition, Richard Corson's Stage Make-up Book (Matthew learned from when he was young) and shared over 20 different step by step procedures to the 470 page book with Jim Glavan. The book won the USITT 2021 Oscar G Brockett Golden Pen Award for significant publications in the field of design, technology and management.
In the spring of 2019, Glenn Close called Matthew to design and create the prosthetics for her character as Mamaw on the critically acclaimed Ron Howard film Hillbilly Elegy (2020). The prosthetics were applied on set by Eryn Mekash Kruger and Jamie Hess.- Special Effects
Robert Hall is known for Eagle Eye (2008) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007).- Make-Up Department
- Director
- Special Effects
In just over 25 years Robert Hall has become one of the most prolific special effects makeup artists in Hollywood and a prolific filmmaker with his own Horror Franchise LAID TO REST and directing hit TV shows Like "Teen Wolf'. Hall and his FX studios, Almost Human and Now PostHuman FX, have created some of the most horrifying and photorealistic FX work in film and television and have over 150 shows under his belt. Hall created FX for films like, Super Bad, Prom Night, Pineapple Express, Quarantine, The Burrowers, Paranormal Activity 2 and 3, Vacancy and the HBO film Lackawanna Blues (which was nominated for a makeup emmy in 2005). The independent film Los Bastardos garnered Hall with a Nomination for an Ariel (the Mexican Equivilant of an Academey Award). His most recent credits are the supernatural Gary Oldman thriler "Mary" 2018 and "Hell on The Border" with Ron Peralman (2019). Hall created all of the prosthetics, makeup fx and robots for the hit Fox show Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles as well as classic Television series including all of Joss Whedon's TV shows, Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and Dollhouse. Originall born in Detroit, Michigan Hall went to school in Albama and that's where took time off from his job deboning chickens at the Tyson Chicken plant to work on the Selma, AL lensed film ABEL FERRARA'S BODY SNATCHERS at age 18. He moved to Hollywood a year later where he perfected his craft working for such legends as Stan Winston, Steve Johnson, and ADI. He opened his own company at 23 and went on to be a graduate of the ROGER CORMAN SCHOOL OF FILM; responsible for effects and creatures for over 30 Roger Corman films and TV Series. He began to direct 2nd Unit, and VFX unit for Corman films such as "The Doorway" with Roy Scheider. In 2005 Hall made his writing and directorial feature film debut with "Lightning Bug" (96-minute) starring Laura Prepon (Orange is the New Black, That 70's Show), Hal Sparks (Queer As Folk), Kevin Gage (Heat). Hall's eye for talent led to the disovery of a young 12 year old actor called Lucas Till (credited as Introducing Lucas Till) who is now the star of (MacGyver) AND hit movies like X-MEN FIRST CLASS and WALK THE LINE. The semi-autobiographical drama won several top awards at film festivals including "Best Of Show" at the Trenton Film Festival and The George Lindsay Film Festival. It was also a "Festival Favorite" at the prestigious Philadelphia Film Fest where it broke the attendance records as the most attended film in the festival's thirteen year history. The film was distributed courtesy of Starz/Anchor Bay Entertainment and has amassed an impressive cult following. It was re-released and remastered for Blu-Ray by image Entertainment in 2013 and avialbale on Amazon. Robert wrote and directed his Slasher series Laid To Rest, Lena Headey (Game of Thrones), Thomas Dekker (Nightmare On Elm St Remake), and Kevin Gage (Heat, Blow). The unexpected worldwide success earned a Sequel CHROMESKULL: Laid to Rest 2 starring Brian Austin Green. Both films enjoyed a limited Theatrical release, a Fangoria magazine cover, and is now available on Shudder Streaming and Blu Ray/dvd. Hall is currently Crowd funding the third installment, Laid to Rest: Exhumed (2019). Hall created and directed a series for FearNet called FEAR CLINIC with Robert Englund (winning a Streamy for best visual effects) and served writer/director for the 2014 Feature film version of FEAR CLINIC distributed by Starz. In 2014 Hall Directed a block of Episodes for Season 3 of the Hit MTV show "Teen Wolf". Hall combined his love of rock music and directing and began directing music videos for bands such as Garbage, Drivin N' Cryin, Buckcherry, Manntis, Suicidal Tendencies, Powerman 5000, Infectious Grooves, Stone Sour and In This Moment. Hall lives in Los Angeles and Atlanta, where his new company PostHuman FX is servicing the bustling southeast with seamlessly integreated Makeup and Visual effects under one roof.- Make-Up Department
- Special Effects
- Writer
For more than three decades Robert Kurtzman has been an icon in the world of special make-up, creature effects, and genre filmmaking. His award-winning, photo-realistic effects work can be seen in hundreds of movies including Hollywood's biggest blockbusters, franchises and television series-most recently the Netflix hit series The Haunting of Hill House, Stephen King's Doctor Sleep, Russo Brothers/Apple TV's feature Cherry starring Tom Holland, Jerry Bruckheimer/Paramount's Secret Headquarters starring Owen Wilson, Jesse Williams and Michael Pena, Apple TV's The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey starring Samuel L. Jackson and the new Netflix series First Kill.