Round-Up: Tom Savini, Steve Johnson & Sergio Stivaletti Announced for Ill Willed FX Workshops’ International Classes, Plants vs. Zombies Comic Book, Syfy Renews 12 Monkeys

2015/03/12 23:41:57 +00:00 | Derek Anderson

Jason Voorhees, the living dead of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead, the librarian phantom from Ghostbusters, the reanimated dead of Cemetery Man—these memorable horror movie characters and many more came to life onscreen due in large part to the talented hands and crafty eyes of FX legends Tom Savini, Steve Johnson, and Sergio Stivaletti.

Tate Steinsiek, an FX artist who also has an impressive résumé, teaches Ill Willed FX Workshops around the world, and on his international tour this summer, he's bringing in the aforementioned talented trio to offer their priceless advice in select sessions, with Savini joining the Amsterdam series, Johnson coming in for the Dublin series, and Stivaletti set for the Rome series. Also included in our latest round-up are details for Dark Horse's Plants vs. Zombies: Bully for You #1, the first issue in a new comic miniseries debuting in June, as well as news on Syfy's renewal of their 12 Monkeys TV series for a second season that will include two new showrunners.

Ill Willed FX Workshops: From Tate Steinsiek: "About a year ago an Irish FX Artist named Ali Gordon contacted me and asked me if I would be interested in coming to Dublin to teach a class on silicone prosthetics. Naturally, I was all for it. I went over, he and I hit it off and planned another couple workshops. From there the word of mouth sort of caught fire, both in Ireland and all over Europe. Ill Willed FX Workshops has taught a variety of FX-related workshops this past year in Ireland, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Spain, the US, and Canada. 2015 is taking IWFX to Italy, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Croatia, and all over Australia.

The next series is a really special treat for FX artists of any level. Joining us for the Dublin series in April is Emmy Award-winning FX Artist Steve Johnson, responsible for some of film's most memorable characters in Ghostbusters, The Abyss, Spider-Man 2, War of the Worlds, and Blade 2. The following series in July takes place in Amsterdam, and we are bringing over the Master of Gore, Tom Savini. His work obviously shaped the industry completely with films like Friday the 13th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Creepshow, Day of the Dead, and pretty much every other horror film of the late ’70's to early ’80's. He is the king. The volume of experience and knowledge possessed between Steve and Tom is an invaluable experience to FX artists of any skill level. These two legends will be lending their advice, favorite techniques, and industry insight to our students in one-on-one fashion.

Interested students can contact us directly through the Ill Willed FX Workshops FB page.

Later in the year we are headed to Rome to work with the one and only Sergio Stiviletti, the man behind Argento's madness, The Cemetery Man, Demons, and just about every Italian horror classic. Those workshops are tentatively set for August."

12 Monkeys TV Series: Syfy revealed today that their 12 Monkeys will be coming back for a sophomore season sometime next year. It's not yet known how many episodes the second season will comprise, but this first season consisted of 13 episodes, so you can expect a similar number for the second go-around.

Season one showrunner Natalie Chaidez will be leaving the 12 Monkeys series to focus on another Syfy show, Hunters, so co-executive producers (and co-writers of the pilot) Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett will fill in the vacated showrunner slot. For more information, we have the press release with full details.

If you missed it, check out Christopher's Q&A with Matalas:

http://dailydead.com/exclusive-qa-12-monkeys-tv-series-showrunner-terry-matalas/

Press release (via TV by the Numbers) - "NEW YORK – March 12, 2015 – Syfy announced today that the widely praised adventure thriller 12 Monkeys has been greenlit for a second season, expected to air in 2016.

With Natalie Chaidez prepping her next Syfy series (UCP and Valhalla Productions’ Hunters), Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett (Nikita), co-executive producers and writers of the pilot, will be stepping up to serve as EP/Showrunners. Atlas Entertainment’s Richard Suckle (Suicide Squad, American Hustle, The International) and Charles Roven (Suicide Squad, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, American Hustle) will continue to executive produce with Atlas’ Jake Kurily producing. Roven served as producer on the original film.

Currently in its first season, 12 Monkeys has reached 15 million viewers to date, and is experiencing record L3 lifts for the network (average L3 lift is 104%). The renewal also comes as the series continues to gain momentum, with its most recent episode (Friday, March 6) seeing an increase of 6% over the prior four weeks, with 1.5 million total viewers.

"We are absolutely committed to 12 Monkeys, and have been incredibly impressed by the outstanding critical and audience praise the series has earned,” said Dave Howe, Syfy President. “The talent both on and off-screen have delivered a series that has us all on the edge of our seats, providing exactly the smart, exciting storytelling Syfy is known for.”

Jeff Wachtel, President and Chief Content Officer, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, added, “12 Monkeys is a show that has exceeded expectations at every stage. It’s had a great first season creatively, and is building a dedicated audience. We can’t wait to see where – and when! – Terry and Travis will take us next.”

12 Monkeys stars Aaron Stanford (Nikita, X-Men: The Last Stand, X2), Amanda Schull (Suits, Center Stage) and Kirk Acevedo (Fringe, Oz, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes).

In this Friday’s episode* – the ninth in the 13-part first season – Cole (Aaron Stanford) finds himself in 2017 at the height of the plague. Out of options, Jones (Barbara Sukowa) faces an impossible choice to replace the Core. 12 Monkeys airs Fridays at 9PM ET/PT; the season one finale will air Friday, April 10.

12 Monkeys is produced by Universal Cable Productions in association with Atlas Entertainment, who produced the original Golden Globe winning theatrical film."

About the Author - Derek Anderson

Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.

When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.

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