Ed Edmunds Talks Making Monsters
Travel Channel

Ever since I was very young, I have always loved Halloween masks as well as practical effects.  Before I was allowed to watch horror movies, I would catch as many special effects features during the preview periods for HBO and Showtime.  Fast forward to the present, and I am still just as interested in practical effects and masks.

In 2013, a Travel Channel show called Making Monsters followed Ed Edmunds and the other fine people at Distortions Unlimited that only lasted three seasons.  A shame, really, it was a very entertaining show while at the same time giving people a peak at what goes into making masks and props.

Recently, Ed Edmunds talked to us about his show, his work, and, of course, his beard.

Horror Geek Life: Thank you for talking with us.  I know there were many influences that led you to create masks and progress to all that Distortions Unlimited does today. Is there any one moment that stands out that was the tipping point to make you think, “I can do this?”

Ed Edmunds: I grew up in Long Grove, Illinois, and moved to Pueblo, Colorado, in ’72.  While I was there, I sculpted my first couple of masks, in Long Grove, several actually, and then moved to Pueblo and continued sculpting.  I had my dentist, Joe Scheibel, he was wonderful, make a cast of my face out of dental alginate.  He poured dental stone into it so I could sculpt appliances and things on that… and I did.  I made eight makeups and different things.  Well, one night, he calls me up and says, “Hey, my brother’s here, would you want to bring over some of your things and show it to my brother?”  I said, “Sure, Joe.”  So I bring over the stuff, and he’s looking at it.  Well, it turns out his brother is head of the art department at the University of Southern Colorado.

He looked at the stuff and offered me a scholarship to make monsters for art credit.  And I turned him down because I didn’t think I could make a living.  So that should have been the moment… wasn’t the moment.  Then fast forward a few years, I’m going to college up here in Greeley, Colorado, to become an art teacher.  I thought that’d be a pretty good gig.

I started making masks for drawing credit and stuff.  They were very tolerant of me.  I was also able to make a little money on the side painting masks for the Party Palace here in Greeley.  It wasn’t much money, but it was, you know, it was something.  So, I ended up going to a costume contest in the Don Post werewolf mask and hands… beautiful piece.  I lost to a guy that was wearing a mask that I had painted for Party Palace.  So I thought, “Well, I’m just going to make a costume that’ll win costume contests for next year.”  So I started in November.  I sculpted Andromeda, I was going to do this whole alien thing.

So the moment became right around when I took Andromeda in to show Jim Faust.  I said, “Look, I made a mask, not just painted an existing mask”, and he goes, “Huh, could you make more of this mask for me to sell at the store?”  And I’m like… “Huh, yeah, I guess so,”  I think that moment was compounded when Jim Lawrence from Morris Costumes wanted to know if they could carry the mask because then I made a few and started advertising them in Fangoria Magazine, and Jim Lawrence saw them.  So there was squishy room between making that one and showing it to Jim Faust at Party Palace and when Jim Lawrence wanted to know if I could mass produce them.

Right in there was that moment when it was like, huh, maybe I could make a living doing this.  Nowadays, it would be an easy yes, but back then, it was a very different world.  It’s hard to describe how hard it was to get started in the business back then.  It was a very closed, black box, sorta thing.

Horror Geek Life: It really does seem like the industry has changed a lot over the years.  Out of all of the masks that you’ve created over the last three-plus decades, which is your all-time favorite, and which gave you the most trouble?

Ed Edmunds: Well, you know the early masks, the ones that Jordu likes, are all kinda merged into one for me.  Time Traveler, Creeton, Krem, Human Error, Andromeda… all those are kind of like one mask.  I couldn’t say, “Oh, Krem is the one that rings my chimes.”  That era was kind of magic for me because I found a way to make money making monsters.  So I don’t know if I can pick it from that era.  There are two masks that we produced that had a huge impact on me personally.  But neither of them I sculpted.  I think they probably are my favorites, even though I didn’t sculpt them.  And that would be, first of all, The Sixth Finger that John Chambers sculpted.  There’s a whole long story that I will probably be telling in Lee’s book about what poor John Chambers had to go through to get me that mold… it’s a good story.  You don’t want that now, it would take the whole interview.

RELATED: Creator Spotlight: Mask Maker & Makeup FX Artist Vicky Clerici

That was kind of the mask that really messed with my head as a kid.  The other mask that really blew me away was Giger’s Alien.  Both of those were relatively easy to acquire, license, and produce back in the day.  Again that’s back before the movie companies got capitalistic.  It was like “Hey, we could make tons off of these licenses.”  So those stand out as far as masks.  As far as props, it’s the electric chair.  And specifically, it’s Shake and Bake.  To me, that’s a product that is going to be very hard for even us to top.  We probably never will… not just the product itself, but what it did to the haunted house industry.

I’ve had trouble with production all through my life.  Everything’s got a unique challenge, it seems.  And nothing is standing out for masks.  If I would say what gave me the most trouble, it would probably be the giant skeleton.  But that is more than a mask, that’s 21 feet tall from the shoulders up.

Horror Geek Life: I remember seeing that skeleton on Making Monsters, and it really did seem to be a lot to deal with.  Is there anything you miss about being a part of that process, and if given the chance, would you do it again?

Ed Edmunds: We would do Making Monsters again in a heartbeat.  We loved it, it was really a magic experience.  However, I found with all these amazing things we’ve done, and we’ve had these moments that were amazing… we were so busy, we had so much responsibility, so much to do… it’s hard to seize the moment.  But, yes, we would do it again.  I’ve talked to Jordu and Mikey and the crew, and everybody loved it.  I’m sure a lot of people out in Hollywood and a lot of people that have done reality shows have a different opinion.  We just lucked out.  I don’t know if it was a God thing or what, but Warm Springs Productions had a very different attitude about television.

They didn’t set stuff up, they didn’t make us fight and cuss and create all this drama.  They just let us be ourselves.  And when they found out that we were a little bit stupid and made mistakes… you just throw Jordu into the mix, and you’ve got drama.  That was awesome, and everybody loved it.  And the crew that filmed us, the cameras should have been on them.  I say that, and you think, “Oh, he’s being nice.”  I’m telling you, these people were so colorful and so unique.  Each and everyone in their own way.  You could have done a reality show on them filming us.  And it would have been as good or better.

Horror Geek Life: It sounds like you all really enjoyed it.  I know that I am not alone in saying that I would love for the show to return.  I feel like I have to ask one Jordu Schell question since he was on Making Monsters with you, helps you from time to time, and is a bit fanatical about your work.  Is he as much of a live wire off-camera as he is on?  It always seems that he has so much creativity that even he cannot contain it.

Ed Edmunds: Yeah, Jordu is… this is not building him up to nice or something… Jordu is truly amazing.  I have been sculpting all my life, almost, and I sit there and watch him, and it’s like, “What’s going on here, how do you do that?”  I”ve filmed him, and I’ve watched a film of him, and I’m like, “Wow…”  So, he’s super talented.  As far as being a live wire, let me tell you.  When he started, he kind of was a little bit… in fact, the way he comes across on film… he’s a little bit less than he can really be in person.  Believe it or not.  You know, people probably think, “Oh, he’s really hamming up for the camera.”  Let me tell you, he isn’t.  In fact, when it was the behind-the-scenes stuff and stuff that could have been used for a scissor reel, it was just too inappropriate.  We go to restaurants, and I’m sure the staff thinks that there’s something wrong with this guy’s head because he just does crazy things.  Anybody in Hollywood could tell you about Jordu.  So, he is quite a live wire.

When they approached us about the show, I said, “Ya know, there’s a guy I know that I think should be a part of this show.”  And that was Jordu, and he really spiced it up.  He’s not only a phenomenal sculptor, but he is quite an actor.  All of us, we can do us.  We can do what we do, and we can say what we say.  We’re not great actors.  I’ve been in front of the camera enough that I can be comfortable and a little flamboyant.  But Jordu, he could be a professional actor.  And actually, he wanted to make monsters, and he wanted to be an actor.  Making Monsters gave him the opportunity to do both, and it was wonderful.  So, yeah, he is really, really… really crazy.  In a good way.

Horror Geek Life: It’s definitely always amazing to watch him do his thing.  You’ve worked on a number of micro-budget short films with Jerry Lentz, helped to create a monster for the web series Star Trek Continues, and last year were credited with making the feet of a Big Foot costume for a movie called Fishing Naked.  How has that experience been and are you looking to do more work relating to film?

Ed Edmunds: We actually did some kind of crazy Big Foot-type film for somebody.  It was a little bit based on Big Foot.  Somehow big foot was in there.  I have never seen that film come to think of it.  We did a Big Foot for Dick’s Sporting Goods and a whole publicity thing… and it just went great.  Ya know, the film thing, we’ve enjoyed that.  I think it’s not going to be our bread and butter because we are in the wrong state to have it be our bread and butter, but when those jobs come along, it’s great.  I enjoy it, I like the feedback.  This is something I never had.

For so many years, we’d just make the stuff and send that out to Morris Costumes usually.  People would buy it, they would have fun.  I never know what they thought or said.  In fact, it was a little bit of a shocker after all these years that we had fans that loved the masks and things.  Because I had no way to connect with them.

So, in that regard, it’s fun doing film because you get feedback, cause people see it, they know who you are, and you’re on the credits.  That’s pretty cool, and I like it.  I wouldn’t say it’s super profitable for us.  I think people come to us wanting to get as good a quality as they can get, but super good prices.  So it’s not like we’re going to build a business on it, but we sure do like it.  That’s kind of the fun side of what we do.  Kind of like when we did haunted houses.  Which I don’t think we’ll ever do again for a plethora of reasons, but it’s fun.

Oh, and that Star Trek Continues, holy cow, was that cool.  Holy cow, was that a bunch of work.  That suit… let me tell ya.  When we bid it, we thought, well, we’re gonna bid this low, and we did it really, really cheap.  But we said amongst ourselves, “Well, this would probably be a $30-$40k suit.”  By the time we got through with that suit, I don’t know if we would want to tackle that same experience for $70k.

Horror Geek Life: They really did get a good deal.  It looked great in Star Trek Continues.  Just recently, you have started creating a series of online videos called Monster Lab, where you share some of your mask-making processes and tips.  What made you decide to start this series, and do you know how many more you plan to create?

Ed Edmunds: If people enjoy it.  I have this attitude, and I think a lot of people in the industry do… it used to be a closed system, and you couldn’t break in.  They didn’t want your competition.  There was a day when Don Post wouldn’t let me in his studio.  He’d talk to me in the conference room, but he wouldn’t let me into his studio.  “Oh, you can’t go looking around the studio”, which was very disappointing to me, but that’s kind of changed.  But I also have kind of a thing about it.  I was so irritated when I was trying to get into the business, and everybody was so tight-lipped, they try to keep you out, that I’ll tell anybody anything.  I don’t care, I think it’s important for people to know this stuff and carry it on to the next generation.  I think it’s important for people to know this stuff when CGI comes on strong.  Because there’s going to come a day where you draw in ZBrush and like Landon Meier is doing now… he’s printing the molds, pouring the silicone in the molds, and making perfect masks.

However, I think that there’s still an art side to it that is really cool.  To just get your hands in clay and make something with your hands like that, three dimensionally.  I don’t have a problem with CGI, except when they overuse it or use it inappropriately.  But there’s something magical, and I don’t want the world to lose practical effects or the real thing… the taking your hands and making a monster.  The world changes and all of that, so we’re going to continue as long as we feel like people are interested.  It’s fun to do, and people like to see what we’re up to.  It helps with keeping us out there, branding, and so forth.  So it’s all good, and I kind of like to help people out.  People I’ll never meet.

So, yes, we intend to continue.  These little tips… boy, I’ll tell ya.  Even in my older age, Jordu showed me stuff, and it revolutionized my sculpting.  “Have you tried this tool, and if you just do this..”  Holy crap, it changes my life… it’s kind of cool to think about passing that on.  And everybody that we’re going to put on, people that work here… we ask them if they want to do the videos, and they say, “Yeah, I want to do it,” because they are the same way.

Horror Geek Life: Lastly, how much paint, clay, and other media do you end up with in your beard at the end of every day?  The people want to know!

Ed Edmunds: Actually, I’m clean-shaven.  This is all buildup over the years, and it kind of ya know… no.  You know, it gets kinda messy.  I get some stuff in my hair and beard, but not much.  Ya know, some of the people come out of Mike’s area looking like they came out of a coal mine.  But when I paint, I wear gloves on my hands, I try to protect my lungs, and so I have stuff on my face and a hat.  So no, I stay pretty clay free.  And it’s not like I’m throwing it everywhere.  That’s not to say we don’t get messy sometimes, but, uh…. Who are these people, and why did they want to know such a thing?

It is a messy business… I like it neat, but boy, when you start playing with clay and plaster and paint, and you’re doing it in massive amounts… I mean, I don’t know, I think the show represented it pretty well, but we put out tons of stuff.  I was thinking the other day, we have to have put out over a million products over the years, and so much of that I’ve done myself.  Especially lately, I’m the only real painter.  I mean, for the last seven or eight years… I’m it. I don’t know if people realize that, but if they order something, the old man’s painting it!

2 COMMENTS

  1. I’m a huge fan of the show and bought the entire series on iTunes. I love it because I’m a huge horror, Halloween, and haunted attraction fan (I used to set-up haunted houses in my parents basement when I was 10), and because the show doesn’t feel like the majority of reality shows where scripted drama and over-the-top personalities overshadow creativity and learning. The production values were great too, with EC comics style transitions that broke illustrated complex ideas or connected segments of the show. I love watching the artistry and production that Distortions Unlimited showed off, and geeked out when I came across a Baby Stinky and their zombie photo set-up at Halloween Express last week… I make sure to look for Distortions masks and Morris Costume products when I go Halloween shopping. Keep up the amazing work Ed, Jordu, Mike, Mondo, and the rest of the gang!

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.