Andy Schoneberg

Prolific and diverse two-time Emmy Award winner Andy Schoneberg has the wide-ranging skill, patience, and positive ade that it takes to succeed in the competitive world of creature effects.

Born in Casper, Wyoming, and growing up in Billings, Montana, Andy had to learn the business from trial and error and hints gleaned from rare books. Growing up a bit farther north in Billings, Montana, where they filmed Little Big Man, Andy studied art at Senior High and MSU Billings before turning Southwest to Hollywood. But even as young as 14 years old, Andy was carving foam body parts on a work table in the basement of his parents’ home. The challenges of working with limited materials in a small town developed in Andy an attitude that has served him well. A congratulatory note sent to makeup legend Dick Smith on his Oscar win for Amadeus led to a personal invitation to Los Angeles to take his course. Once that door was open, he moved to Hollywood, where his skill and tenacity turned him into a sought-after multi-talented artist in high demand.

Schoneberg has had a prolific and diverse career as a special-effects makeup artist, an FX sculptor, and even a puppeteer. His first job was at Mony Monsano's lab on Snow White, where he poured up and painted slip-cast dwarf feet, and he hasn’t stopped working since! He’s worked for most of the iconic creature shops, from Stan Winston Studio to Rick Baker’s Cinovation to ADI and KNB.

In addition to his two Emmy Awards for The Walking Dead, over the years, he’s contributed makeup effects and creatures to more than 100 films and television shows, including Batman Returns, Edward Scissorhands, Jurassic Park, The Pacific, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Mist, The Hangover II, The Hills Have Eyes, Planet Terror, Death Proof, Inglourious Basterds, Fear the Walking Dead and Creepshow just to name a few.

Andy is still drawn to painting, something he’s been doing since his parents bought him his first paint set when he was 12. He even created an exact copy of the “Mona Lisa,” using 15th-century painting techniques, including making his own oil paint and working on a poplar wood panel to honor Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece.

Oh, and did we mention he's also a composer? Andy Schoneberg composed the music for Shannon Shea's web series, Phantom Harbor. Is there anything this modern-day Renaissance Man can't do?