Talks

Practical Character Effects & Why They Still Matter: Alien Romulus, Starship Troopers, Death Becomes

Alec Gillis grew up in Orange County, California within sight of the Disneyland fireworks show. As a kid he roamed the mean streets of Main Street Disneyland, sometimes summering on Tom Sawyer’s Island. It was here he gained a lifelong appreciation of animatronics, but it was in the local movie theatres that he fell in love with genre films.

At age 20 Gillis began working for Roger Corman on a film called Battle Beyond The Stars, along with James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd. It wasn’t long before Alec dropped out of UCLA Film School in favor of the education Corman offered. Gillis was recommended by James Cameron to Stan Winston, where Gillis worked on effects for classic films such as Aliens and Predator. In 1988 he co-founded Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc. (ADI) with Tom Woodruff, Jr. Tremors was the company’s first feature, and the film’s giant subterranean worms gained notoriety for Gillis.

The ensuing 34 years saw the duo’s work garner Oscar nominations for Starship Troopers, Alien3 and a win for Death Becomes Her. Gillis has earned numerous other honors such as BAFTA and Saturn Awards. More recently Gillis’ work has been seen in the Disney/20th Century Studios Predator feature Prey, and Alien: Romulus. Gillis has also written numerous screenplays and books and produced/directed a feature film. He is an actor who has been cast by Neill Blomkamp (Oats Studio, Volume 1).

As of 2022, Gillis is now a solo Creature FX Designer, founding his new company, Studio Gillis. His mission is to continue the tradition of creating high quality practical characters and to promote the art of Practical FX. To that end, his production company, Pro Machina, produces modest budget genre films as well as creating miniature effects for films such as Alien: Romulus.

Gillis’ upcoming work includes Smile 2 and Werewolves.