Los Angeles, CA. (2009) -- How far will you go to become human? If you're special effects and make-up veterans Chad Waters and Matt Rose, the answer is as far back as NOVA asks you to go. After years of success in the movie industry, Waters and Rose's SFX company Grimm Grotto Goods has taken on its most challenging and prestigious project to date: the NOVA presentation Becoming Human: Unearthing Our Earliest Ancestors, a three-part television special.
As with most projects of this kind, there was an evolutionary process that changed the face of the production over time. What started out as an invitation to give a two-day workshop on special effects make-up at San Francisco's Academy of Art University, slowly grew into a full-scale production for Grimm Grotto Goods as NOVA partners Shining Red Productions recognized the importance of live actors to the recreation process. As a result, Waters, Rose, and good friend and actor John Alexander (brought in as the movement consultant for this project) and several students found themselves joining forces with computer animation company Virtual Space Entertainment to create elaborate sequences that would bring Homo Sapiens Neanderthal Heidelbergensis to living, breathing life. The result is blockbuster-grade make-up effects for NOVA and honorary doctorates from the University for Chad Waters, Matt Rose and John Alexander. Creative partners for ten years, at Rick Baker's Cinovation Studios, Matt Rose and Chad Waters share a combined total of 33 years in the special effects/make-up field. Together, they have worked on such memorable characters as: the big red title character in Hellboy, the Bethmoora Goblin in Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Samara's corpse in The Ring, the guilty space alien Mikey in Men In Black and the loveable giant gorilla in Mighty Joe Young. Their need to produce their own work led to the formation of Grimm Grotto Goods (GGG) and the creation of the memorable characters and unforgettable stories behind P.M.A.C.: When Zombies Attack!!! GGG continues to take the special effects industry by storm, through involvement in top tier motion pictures and industry recognition, including a Saturn Award for design work on Hellboy and now an honorary doctorate from San Francisco's Academy of Art University.A favorite of special effects gurus Rick Baker and the late Stan Winston, John Alexander is often found buried under extensive make-up or wrapped in complex animatronic suits. His resume includes such memorable characters as the gorilla Digit in Gorillas In The Mist, Will Smith's nemesis Jarra in Men In Black 2 and, most recently, the disembodied character of Johann Krauss and the legless Bethmoora Goblin in Hellboy II: The Golden Army. He has also acted as Movement Consultant, Choreographer and Puppeteer in many special effects extravaganzas.
NOVA is the highest rated science series on television and the most watched documentary series on public television. It is also one of television's most acclaimed series, having won every major television award, most of them many times over.
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