Gary Yee

Special Effects character creator and master mold maker for Stan Winston Studio, Legacy Effects, and other top FX Studios, Gary Yee, is originally from Brooklyn, New York, and lived in the heart of Coney Island, where he started experimenting with special makeup effects at 15 in his bedroom in a 20-story apartment building.

He is self-taught, and his prosthetic makeup subjects were mostly friends. Inspired by An American Werewolf in London to seek information about FX Makeup, he came upon a documentary with special effects makeup pioneer Dick Smith, who said the skills a makeup artist needs are to sculpt, to draw, and to be a bit of a chemist. And Gary thought, “I can do that!”

While in New York, Gary worked as a special effects makeup artist on East Coast productions, including Creepshow 2, Street Trash, the David Letterman short Chris Elliott: Television Miracle, and a couple of episodes of Monsters and Tales from the Darkside.

Gary moved to Los Angeles in 1993, where his first film gig was in the art department on Steve Wang's Guyver: Dark Hero. Following that, Gary volunteered to work for the makeup effects unit and never looked back.

Some of his career highlights include working for Optic Nerve Studios - then run by John Vulich - where Gary eventually became the mold shop supervisor and worked on Babylon 5, Crusade, and The X Files.

Gary would eventually get the opportunity to work at Stan Winston Studio on The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park III, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, and many other films. For several years, Gary would bounce between features at SWS and TV projects at Optic Nerve, where he had the chance to serve as the Makeup Effects Supervisor for a season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

Gary has also worked at Rick Baker's Cinovation Studios on Mighty Joe Young and on From the Earth to the Moon at Greg Cannom’s Cannom Creations, Inc. Over the last decade or so, Gary has worked with Arjen on Wonder and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and at Legacy Effects on many blockbuster films including Iron Man 2, Thor, Real Steel, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Jurassic World.