Let's begin by talking a bit about you. What's your background? What are some things you've done that we would recognize?
Well I started out as a make-up effects artist in the early 90's. I worked as a sculptor and effects designer. During my time in make-up effects I worked on about 200 movies in one way or another, either as a sculptor, designer, make-up artist, painter, puppeteer... whatever was needed.
Over the years I have worked on films like "Sin City", "Narnia", "Kill Bill" and "The Green Mile" to name a few.
In 2005 I made the decision to switch to exclusively digital sculpture, character design and concept work. Since then I've worked on films like "Avatar", "Iron Man 2", "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", "Pirates of the Caribbean, On Stranger Tides", "Snow white and the Huntsman", "Thor", "I am Number 4", "Cowboys an Aliens" and of course "John Carter".
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Of all your creations, which is your favorite and why?
Hands down it was the stuff for "John Carter". Aside from the the fact that all the people involved with it were super cool, it was my all-time favorite book from my childhood. All the characters are so ingrained in my mind, it was defiantly a dream project. I love this martian world!
Tell us a bit about your company and its history.
Well I work for Legacy Effects. It is literally the legacy of the Stan Winston Studios. It is owned by John Rosengrant, Alan Scott, Lindsay Macgowan and Shane Mahan. When Stan Winston died in 2008 the guys decided to make a new start with Legacy.
I came on in 2005 for Avatar and have been there ever since.
What is your title? What does that entail?
I am the Lead Character Designer and Concept Artist. I usually get involved in the early stages of a project and help figure out what will be needed on a show, as well as the actual designing. Sometimes it might be character designs, or a mechanical suit, a robot, a creature -- whatever. I will help the director figure out what he wants/needs and if it will be a practical piece. In that case we will generate full-size pieces from our digital design models, or just a maquette for lighting reference, or in some cases just a cool design and a hi-res digital sculpt.
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