Bio

 

I was born in Toronto Canada,  in 1976. My family immigrated to the U.S. in 1979 and settled in San Francisco, California.

In 1986 I was allowed by my parents to see James Cameron's film "Aliens" and from that moment forward I knew that I wanted to work in visual effects. I was so impressed by the creatures in the movie that I set out to create my own with whatever means were available to me. I used my meager allowance to buy clay and liquid latex; I used the clay to fashion crude molds out of which I would make latex masks and prosthetic wounds. My early works were a bit strange, wholeheartedly adolescent and centered around my love of the slasher horror movies of the 80s. I must also mention here that my mother's boundless patience and generosity was key to the success of my creative schemes, as her face was often subjected to my experimentation with all sorts of greasy make-up, caustic surgical prosthetic adhesives and foamed latex rubber facial appliances.

 

Prosthetic Make-up Age 13 - 14

         

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By my mid-teens my work and tastes evolved into more fantasy based subject matter, and my bedroom into a veritable make-up effects lab / sculpture studio / animatronics workshop, complete with piles of plaster molds, massive wads of plasticine clay, a bandsaw and as much interior damage as our little one bedroom apartment could handle without forcing our landlord to evict us.

       

Sculptures Age 17

          

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Immediately after highschool I started my professional life in Animatronics and effects working for Chris Walas, Oscar winner for his effects in "The Fly" and at Rick Lazzerini's Creature shop where I worked on several feature films including Mimic and Escape from L.A. as well as a few commercials featuring talking animals, most notably the Budwieser Frogs. My work building miniature mechanisims for the baby bug in Mimic, must have gotten around because very soon after the completion of Mimic's production I received a call from the creative management of The Jim Henson's Creature Shop to work on Dr Doolittle where I was asked to design a couple of animatronic pigeons.

 

Pigeon Mechanics and Controller: Dr Doolittle

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         My work was well received and I eventually found myself supervising the Mechanical Workshop while also designing and building many of the "hero" puppets. I was very fortunate to have worked alongside so many brilliant mechanical designers; most notably John Criswell, Micheal Scanlon, Samara Hagopian and Christian Ristow. I'm grateful to have benefited from their knowledge of design and their craftsmanship. Their resourcefulness never failed a project and continues to inspire me.

 

Mr Tinkles the Cat Mechanics: Cats and Dogs

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The people at JHCS were some the most talented artists and craftspeople I have worked with. I am privileged to have known them and have learned immensely from each of them; my time at JHCS was truly a unique experience. Eventually the toxicity and noise of the mechanical workshop forced me to re-evaluate my career direction and transition my skills for use in the digital realm. By 2000 I was creating visual effects, 3D animation and motion graphics.  In the time since, I have had the oportunity to provide my skill and vision to clients such as Nintendo, Sprint, Sonicare, Dunlop, Sting, Bon Jovi, Red Hot Chili Peppers,  Beyonce, MCA Records, Warner Brothers, New Line Cinema and more.

 

 

       

Dunlop                                                      Jay-Z

 

       

  New Line Cinema                                             Sting                

 

 

       

             Korn                                       Red Hot Chili Peppers    

 

 

 

Busta Rhymes

 

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