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= Frank Ippolito (Special FX Makeup Artist, Producer, Director) =

Personal Life
Birthday: April 18, 1978

Frank Ippolito grew up in Highland Heights, in the suburb of Cleveland Ohio, with his late parents, Linda and Frank, and his two younger sisters. Early in his life his grandparents would always make sure he had access to supplies for making his monster masks, and his paternal grandfather, also named Frank, is still his hero. His favorite food is whiskey and his favorite color is clear. In his down time he rides dirt bikes and enjoys movies and video games.

Career
Frank worked at McFarlane Toys, in the late 90s, as a mold maker, before following his career goals and moving to Los Angeles, California. Once transplanted, he launched his now 19+ year career working in the special effects industry in Hollywood. He began making creations for movies, tv shows, live performances, theme parks, museums, and video game companies. During this time he was also behind and in front of the camera in many different aspects; directing, producing, acting, and costume performing. His earliest projects included work with Film Illusions in 2001/2002 working on Scary Movie 2, Shallow Hal, Friends, and Star Trek: Nemesis. Towards the end of 2002 he also worked with Harlow FX (now Morphology FX owned by Joel Harlow) as a fabricator and on set technician on shows such as Star Trek: Enterprise and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He was also helped bringing the Lensors (the “bloodhounds” of the Necromongers) to life in Chronicles of Riddick by creating their signature lens faced look, and sculpted the iconic scar that adorned all of the Necromonger's necks. Between 2003 and 2005 Frank’s work varied from creating fake breakable babies for Marilyn Manson’s Music Video “Personal Jesus”,  to working with the The Chiodo Brothers on props for Arrested Development. Meanwhile, his worked progressed with The Chiodo Brothers, after creating puppets for the Stargate SG1 “200” episode. The likenesses of each main characters were sculpted to be recreated into marionette style puppets for the quintessential episode.

Frank spent months in the Caribbean Isles in 2005 and 2006 working on Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man’s Chest and At World's End for Disney’s Pirates movie franchise. He was part of the team that created the beating heart of Davy Jones that laid inside the “dead man’s chest” and helped create dozens of Cannibals’ makeup from At World's End. In 2006 he continued working on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest as Head Laboratory Technician and Makeup Artist/Makeup Lab Tech. Frank also sculpted the “P” scar prosthetic that adorned Jack Sparrow’s wrists for both At Worlds End and Dead Man's Chest.

In 2008 and 2009 Frank began producing and directing several short films with Ezekiel Zabrowski at their company Ghostworks LLC, a film and production company that specialized in the horror genre. Frank and Ezekiel included a third director on their first short: Teller of the magic duo Penn & Teller. Sans Penn, this new venture was titled from the usually silent sleight-of-hand-er: & Teller . The short film was crafted within the rules of George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead filmmaking contest, which landed them a prize spot in the competition. They duo continued work on & Teller 2, and & Teller 3.

The reception given to these short, comedic creep-fests emboldened the storytellers to take on a thicker story, with even more top talent in the forms of Dean Cameron (Rockula and Summer School) in The Growth, and none other than Doogie Howser himself, Neil Patrick Harris, in Dracula's Daughters vs. the Space Brains.

Teller's involvement in the directing pair's first four films led up to his performing partner Penn Jillette (Penn Jillette, Penn & Teller: Bullshit!) taking a starring role in Night of the Little Dead. The cast also included horror favorite Bill Moseley, Martin Klebba (Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 2, and 3), and Adam Savage (Mythbusters/Tested.com).

After appearing as a contestant on SyFy’s Face Off Season 1 in 2010, Frank’s notoriety grew. He began forming the concept of his company, Thingergy Inc. Between 2012 and 2013 he grew his workspace, that he shared with FX artist Mike Hill, from 300 sq ft to 2,400sq ft. His work continued with projects like Beast Wishes (Associate Producer/Camera Operator) and 8 episodes of Zombie Family (Zombie and Gore Effects/ Associate Producer). Adam Savage started tapping Frank’s skills to help create his Admiral Ackbar Cosplay for his incognito entrance to San Diego Comic-Con in 2013 and Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia. Frank continued to collaborate with Adam Savage and the Tested.com team on other projects such as an animatronic Zoidberg, real life Professor Farnsworth from Futurama, Star Wars Rancor costume, EA Sports: Star Wars Battlefront II Sentinel Messenger Droid , Creepy Lego Head Figure , and a Han Solo in Carbonite refrigerator. In 2017 Frank separated from Tested.com to focus on the growth of his company, Thingergy, but projects like the space suites from the movie The Martian are still being collaborated on by both Adam and Frank to this day.

The pop culture and gaming scene also picked up on Frank and Thingergy’s talents. The Gore Magala from Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate by Capcom was a project that took up most of Frank’s then smaller shop, standing at 8 feet tall, 14 feet wide, and 12 feet long. Another video game company, Riot Games, commissioned Frank to reproduce the League of Legends Summoner’s Cup in 2014. This trend continued with the Super Gamer Build of Destiny: The Taken King, Titan Armor for Sony Playstation and the Lawbreakers armor for the live action trailer used in the debut of the Lawbreaker video game in 2015 by Nexon. Between 2016 and 2018 Frank worked extensively with video game developers like Ubisoft, EA Sports, Riot Games and Blizzard Entertainment bringing Thingergy into the spotlight for special fx and specialty costumes. His work included Murloc costumes used in the promotion of Hearthstone expansions - Mean Streets of Gadgetzan and Kobolds and Catacombs which debuted at Blizzcon 2017 in Anaheim, California. That same year the Lich King costume used for the promotion of the Hearthstone: The Frozen Throne expansion was debuted at San Diego Comic Con. His latest project included his production company Ghostworks LLC. Thingergy Inc and Ghostworks LLC were tasked to produce, create, direct, and film a live action trailer promoting the Kobold's and Catacomb’s expansion for Hearthstone. This also included the creation of all props, scenery, and costumes for the short film.

Franks love of dirt bikes, motocross, and his history with making trophies lead him into the world of racing. He paired up with Mechanix Wear to create the Brian Lunniss Lifetime Achievement Award trophy along with the MVP (Most Valuable Pit Crew) award for NASCAR. In 2018 he worked with Fasthouse and  Redbull to create over 410 trophies to be used in the Day in the Dirt racing competition that happens yearly at Glenn Helen Raceway in Santa Clarita, California.

As Head Puppet Fabricator, Frank worked with Tippet studio on Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2016. His experience in advanced mold making and painting skills were advantageous in resurrecting the dilapidated stop motion creatures originally used in Star Wars: A New Hope’s Dejarik Holochess scene. The creatures were re-created and used the traditional method of stop motion in the film.

He has been a past contributing columnist for Makeup Artist Magazine and continues to host a podcast with Len Peralta, Creature Geeks - A Special FX Makeup Podcast from the Fan and Pro Perspective. He is currently working on a series of books on mold making and lab techniques and continues to grow his company's Thingergy Inc, and Ghostworks LLC.

Recent clients include EA Sports, Blizzard Entertainment, Capcom, Ubisoft, Riot Games,YG, Adobe, Timberland, Tyler the Creator, The Orville, A Wrinkle in Time, West World, and Disney.

Published Articles & Interviews
Makeup Artist Magazine, July/August 2009 Issue #79, "Lab Tech: Unlocking the mysteries of 3-D prosthetic transfers" - Article written by Frank Ippolito

Makeup Artist Magazine, March/April 2009 Issue #77, Pg. 22 - "Industry Buzz: Undead in the desert, makeup artists, magicians, shoot las Vegas Zombie Shorts" - Article written about & Teller short films

Fangoria Feb 2012, Issue #310 Pg. 9 "Night of the Little Dead: Hungry things in small packages" - Article about Night of the Little Dead

Makeup Artist Magazine, Jan/Feb 2010 Issue 82 Pg. 78 "Lab Tech: Creating a body for police training" - Article written by Frank Ippolito

Rue Morgue Magazine, Sept 2009 Issue 93 Pg. 46 "Abbreviated Terrors" - Article written on & Teller

Prosthetics Magazine, Autumn 2018 Issue 12 Pg. 6 "An industry Leader sets the scene for the issue" - Interview with Frank Ippolito about Thingergy Inc.

Thingergy Inc.
Thingergy Inc was formed in 2015. Based out of Burbank, California, it is a full service special FX and production shop. The 10,100 sq. ft. shop includes the following areas and machines:


 * Private makeup application rooms
 * Full woodworking shop (Dust Factory) including a CNC Router Parts 4x8 table
 * Mill and CNC: Tormach PCNC 1100, Bridgeport Mill
 * Full technical suite for 3D modeling, printing and digital design: Wacom Mobile Studio Pro, 22’ Wacom Drawing Display, 44in Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Printer
 * Dedicated areas for clean fabrication
 * Mold Making and Fabrication Area
 * Other Equipment: Universal Laser PLS 6150 Laser Engraving System, V- Former Vacuum Forming System
 * Employee break room, display room, and offices

Project Lineup
2014 - Capcom: Gore Magala Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

2014 - Riot Games: League of Legends Summoner's Cup

2015 - Sony Playstation: Destiny The Taken King Titan Armor: Super Gamer Build

2015 - Nexon: Lawbreaker Armor

2015 - Tyler the Creator Cherry Bomb Mask

2016 - Roots TV Mini Series (Headpiece)

2016 - Runic Games: Hob Statue

2016 - Blizzard Entertainment/Hearthstone: Murlocs

2016 - Mechanix Wear: Brian Lunniss Lifetime Achievement Award

2016 - Riot Games: League of Legends: Mid Season Invitational Trophy

2016 - Ubisoft: For Honor Armor

2016- Red Bull: Day in the Dirt 19 (trophies)

2016 - Hearthstone Championship Trophy

2017 - Blizzard Entertainment/ Hearthstone: Lich King Armor

2017 - Red Bull: Day in the Dirt 20 (Trophies)

2017 - Timberland: Two Below Zero Boot Display

2017 - Blizzard Entertainment/Hearthstone - Kobolds and Catacombs Live action Trailer

2018 - YG: The Boogie Statue