Mini Monsteroalooza, 2020... Ted Haines, The Foamfabber & guests STEVE JOHNSON & CONSTANTINE SEKERIS
Published 2020-10-08
STEVE JOHNSON and CONSTANTINE SEKERIS, what a duo! I can’t say what a joy it was to have BOTH of these men on the show at the same time. And it made so much sense to have them on together.
I hardly need to tell you who Steve is, or what he’s accomplished in the special makeup effects industry. Instead of listing Steve’s credits I’ll tell you about what I saw and learned from working with him over my six years at XFX. Steve is first and foremost an artist. He wasn’t the boss who walked the floor and asked how you were doing something or told you how he would do it. There was never any micro managing. Instead, he hired skilled people he trusted. He had a vision as to how a project should look and perform. He would task specific artists to execute a specific gag or effect, and always pushed everyone to innovate. To find and use new materials or to reimagine how we were used to doing something old. I have always credited Steve with trusting fabricators of all kinds to take charge and try and deliver something fresh to the screen. Because that’s what I believe Steve always did during his long career. Whether it was “The Fog” or “Bicentennial Man”, “Humanoids From The Deep”, “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”, “Innocent Blood” or “Blade II”, Steve was always pushing the craft to higher standards. Steve has always been and always will be a true artist. Not to mention a great employer and wonderful person to collaborate with.
My friend CONSTANTINE SEKERIS was at Steve’s shop when I was hired, and already an established and amazingly gifted artist. Walking into his upstairs office was like entering Santa’s work shop or going behind The Wizard’s curtain in Oz. His studio was lined with sketches and paintings and all kind of works in progress. He was alway so inviting, engaging and encouraging to me and others. I truly looked up to him as an artist. He always had great advice and pushed me to draw more and gave me pointers how to achieve better results. The collaboration between Constantine and Steve was fabulous. Each pushing the other to come up with something new and fresh. Constantine has now graduated to an incredible career as a freelance concept artist and costume and creature designer, working with studios like Marvel and DC developing looks for their universe of characters. If it’s a blockbuster film you’ve seen lately, I can almost promise Constantine has applied his skills to it... for example... "Avengers Endgame", "Black Panther", "WonderWoman", "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil", "Star Trek Into Darkness", "Where the Wild Things Are", "Thor: Ragnarok", "Man of Steel".... to name only a few. Not a bad resume at all. I know my friend Constantine will be entertaining us all for many years to come.
Please follow my friends Steve and Constantine on Instagram. You won’t be disappointed. They each have published books and are both working on follow ups. Links below...
www.instagram.com/constantinesekeris/
artofconstantine.com/
www.amazon.com/MetamorFX-Constantine-Sekeris/dp/19…
www.instagram.com/stevefuckinjohnson/
www.kickstarter.com/projects/stevejohnsonfx/rubber…