After much delay on our part, we finally have an interview with Tom Lauten, twenty year FX veteran and Project Manager of UK based effects house, Nimba Creations.

NE-FX: Thank you very much for interviewing with me today

TL: My pleasure, gets me out of the workshop! [laughter]

NE-FX: Well someone has to give you a break from the fumes!  Who did you learn from and how did you get your start?

TL: Well…that’s an interesting one. I didn’t lean directly from anyone really. I would say I was influenced. I started getting into effects in the “golden era” I guess you could call it, just as Star Wars was released. Before that I dabbled as a kid with plasticene Planet of the Apes sculptures, Star Trek props and the like. Star Wars kicked me into high gear what with all the coverage on it’s special effects.

NE-FX: I saw that same coverage in middle school.  All I got was a desire to play clarinet a-la- the creature cantina.  When was Nimba Creations founded?

TL: My Fiancee’ and partner, Siobhan Hall founded Nimba Creations in 1999 and I joined in a year later.

NE-FX: Congratulations on your engagement, perhaps my next question is a bit risky then...oh what the hell.  In a fight, who wins.Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft or Jennifer Garner as Elektra?

TL: Hmmmm…I have seen ‘Tomb Raider’ and only read ‘Daredevil’. I would have to say that Ms. Jolie could undoubtedly tear up a comic book with some ease, so I’d have to say Angelina Jolie, although Elektra could inflict a serious paper cut or two if “she of the pouty-lips” is not careful. [Tom does his best Homer Simpson] Mmmmmmm…female superhero/Hollywood starlet fighting.

NE-FX: Those lips are so dangerous, there ought to be a law! I'm sure you are no stranger to tight deadlines, what is the scariest deadline you've been up against and what were you doing?

TL: The deadline for our full-size T-Rex, no contest! Many monies…many people waiting…many technical pressures…many people watching us install it and even more watching it run for the first time. Jeez, I’m beginning to feel sick just thinking about it again!

NE-FX: Take it easy, need a little moment?  Better? ok...  Being willing to experiment and invent seems to be one of the recurring themes to successful FX artists. What was the hardest/most complicated effect/character etc. you ever did, and why was it so difficult?

TL: That’s a tricky question. Every effect brings its own challenges, hence the name “special” not “easy” effects!! Doing 120+ full size replacement animation heads to “morph” a little boy into Jeff Bridges for “Starman” was quite an effort and had some unique complexities. Each head had to change shape, begin to look more and more like Jeff Bridges, line up with the previous head AND all in 1:1 scale!! Dick Smith headed up that part of Starman…what a GENIUS!

NE-FX: Glad to hear you are a fan, we subscribe to the Dick Smith Fan Club around here too. He is so generous and honest, just a great soul. Starman is my favorite chick flick!  What advice would you give to aspiring makeup and effects artists?

TL: Work. Simple as that. Work and take good photos of that work, then do more. If you are as keen as you might say you are then NO obstacle will get in the way of you creating SOMETHING. When I was a kid I always found materials to do something with, money wasn’t always an issue. Cardboard and masking tape, plasticene, plaster etc. I did something with what was to hand. That is the evidence of ones dedication…being prolific. If you cant motivate yourself to do the very thing you say you want to and evidence that work to show to people, well, how the heck are you going to get the motivation up to make it in the competitive world of filmmaking?!

NE-FX: Good point.  What has been your favorite character to create so far?

TL: Bigfoot…beyond question. That was fun and I am pleased with the results…of course I’d do it differently if I were to do it again! [laughter]

NE-FX: I understand that yourself and Nimba Creations' creative director Siobahn Hall, recently spent time as part of the talented crew at the multi Academy Award winning Weta Workshop in New Zealand. How was your experience working with the 'Kiwi Kings of FX'?

TL: It was fantastic. What a group of genuine, and talented people. We made friends there and that was the toughest part about leaving. These people, from all over the world, are some of the best you will find anywhere. Sometimes you have to practically hold a gun to their heads to get them to accept a compliment! (Talented and modest JERKS! [laughter] ) WETA itself (as a facility) is a kind of sprawling rabbit warren of rooms and workspaces. In any given nook or cranny you will find some full-on craftsperson doing their thing! You are invited to ask others about what they are doing and they do the same with you. It really feels like a collective of artists who respect what each other are doing and above all else respect and value the skill, artistry and vision of people who love film-craft. THAT’S a WONDERFUL environment to be in.  To watch films with Peter Jackson in his private cinema (as was the case every week or two) along with the rest of the crews was a phenomenal memory. To do such key work on The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe was an honour. To work along side talented artists and learn so much was a God-send. To be under the direction of Andrew Adamson was exciting and to work on Peter Jackson’s next film just after he won best picture and best Director LOTR ROTK was mind-numbing! PLUS, whenever I wanted, I could play with soooo many cool props and costumes from the LOTR films!!!! HA-HA…sorry, that was cruel. Oh yes, Peter Jackson really does not wear shoes, even in the workshop (unless it get COLD!) It’s a Kiwi thing.

NE-FX: I have been watching the behind the scenes stuff at Kongisking.com and Peter Jackson looks great!  What is the last movie you saw? What was your opinion of it?

TL: Uh oh…this is where I lose credibility….Ummmmmmmmmm…..Hellboy. I just don’t go to the movies that much!!! Sad eh? I loved it! What good fun. Ron Perlman is such a good actor and can sell anything, even something as daft as Hellboy! There is a man who knows how to act right through a prosthetic.I also loved Shaun of the Dead, I saw that at WETA and the whole theatre was in stitches. I can’t remember the last time I have laughed sooooo much! Inspired!

NE-FX: Shaun was rockin funny, not to mention a great gory mess! Nimba Creations website is a fairly extensive one, featuring (among other things) a guide to getting into special effects. You also speak of the potential videos and various how to documents you will be publishing. Not to mention run a FX supply shop online! You guys are like hummingbirds! how do you do it all?

TL: ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz…hmmph, wha? THE RESIN IS SETTING!!!!! Sorry, I’m listening!!! Siobhan does the website and she is like a steamroller with it. She just gets stuck in and goes and goes. Wonderful eh? The rest of the stuff just comes along when the time is right it seems. We pace ourselves and try to really plan ahead without losing the ability to act quickly. Basically we work too many hours and don’t pay ourselves enough. (Ahh, the glamour!Tee Hee!)

NE-FX: I have to say though your site has excellent examples in the behind the scenes area regarding casting, molding, painting, hair punching and animatronics! Are you ever concerned about giving away too much?

TL: Nah. I take a leaf from Dick (Smith) on that. He was always open with technical matters. If you have to rely on secrets about the use of openly available materials then you have built your career foundations on sand. Some techniques are best left to those who have experience, that’s a safety thing, but generally there is no problem whatsoever. If we have developed a real invention, something really special of our own that we use for specific purposes then we’ll play it close to our chests, apart from that, we are open books!

NE-FX: On your site, I especially like the 'Recreating Bigfoot' segment . Can you tell us anything about the schedule and details of that project?

TL: Well, I can’t say anything really but you will LOVE it when you see it! The Bigfoot head was a simple test and you won’t be seeing that model in the final program. We are in development right now and discussing where and when it will be aired is a HUGE “no-no”! Sorry.

NE-FX: Damn lawyers... oh well. In the U.S. most of the large productions are run by union labor. Are there unions in the UK and how does the FX trade fit in?

TL: Yes there are unions here and many of the workshops here “are union”, for lack of a better term, but I don’t think union membership is quite as much of an issue as it can be in the States.

NE-FX: As a project Manager, you must be faced all the time with the project triangle of time vs. script vs. budget. How does Nimba Creations approach projects that may have somewhat unrealistic goals or expectations when budgets are not in line?

TL: We can sometimes “play nice” if we feel particularly drawn to a project and give super value for money, but those are usually the exceptions. We have to always consider budget and there are times when turn work away even though it is paying because the schedule would not allow us to do a job we would feel confident saying was “our best effort”.  Many times we speak to producers directly and lay out the home truths in the nicest possible way. They often appreciate the honest analysis of the expectations and work with us to arrive at a realistically “do-able” plan that will give them what they need in the long run. There are many ways to “skin a cat” - something I have NEVER done the effect of by the way.

NE-FX: A lot of ultraslime and hair I would imagine... Nimba Creations has been brought up a few times on Christian Hanson's Monster Labs Discussion forums. What do you think of online sources for FX pros to research and newbies to ask questions in?

TL: Wow!, what I would have done to have had such a resource when I was thrashing my way through the early days of my career! It’s brilliant. Information is an artists best friend and that is (ideally) what the web is perfect for. A forum is the trading place for that information, more power to it!

NE-FX: According to Siobahn, you just finished lifecasting Pritchard and Dainton from the MTV show Dirty Sanchez for the second time. Are you gluttons for punishment or something? (kidding) How did it go?

TL: It went really well! They are very nice guys and the trip to the pub was a unique experience to say the least. They stayed over at our house that night and we life cast them the next day. Needless to say Siobhan and I were a teeny bit paranoid and bolted our bedroom door and armed ourselves with baseball bats but there were no early morning “prank-attacks”. The “Boyos” were on their best behaviour. We are planning to do some VERY special film work with them. That should be a wild project and something everyone will enjoy, particularly special effects fans!!

NE-FX: I admired the coverage you provided on the creation of the T-Rex. What can you tell us about this very complex project?

TL: What? You want MORE!!! Greedy! The T-Rex was an amazing project, it is hard to know where to start. I was so proud of the work our crew did on it. Three main crewmembers for the sculpture (done in 2 months!) [Editors note: HOLY CRAP!] and four crewmembers saw it through to the finish. I don’t include myself in that count as I couldn’t spend any great amount of time in one place, it was my job to leap around and be the busy-body and general “know-it-all”! The one area I did concentrate on was the mechanisms.

NE-FX: If you were hiring someone for Nimba Creations' shop what basic skills would you look for?

TL: Skills are dependant upon the job they would be undertaking. We will be releasing our “How to get into special effects” guide soon and that will outline many of the issues one needs to look at when going for work, especially within a given discipline. I would say that honesty, modesty, originality, a mature attitude and a keen eye for observation are must-haves. Workshops don’t need fans that act like fans. They need artists and technicians who understand the responsibility they hold, appreciate the realistic priorities of a project and pressures on the workshop as a business. Artists and technicians who are team players, who know when to innovate and even more importantly, know when to just get stuck in are gold. There are no stars in the workshop, apart from the job.

NE-FX: Never been better put.  What upcoming films are you anticipating most?

TL: Well, it may sound a little egotistical but I am honestly drooling to see King Kong and The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe. Having had an inside look at those two projects and knowing the content as well as the talent in the two directors…well, they are gonna be KILLER films, I cant wait. When you watch King Kong and the scene with the… oh, wait, I’d better not… Suffice it to say that the scariest, and I mean SCARIEST thing in King Kong is going to be..oops, I forgot, I signed a non-disclosure agreement..sorry! The battle sequences in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe with the army of evil...What? Oh, sorry I have to go, there is some resin setting and I’m needed in the workshop! Bye for now!

NE-FX: Wait!...Come back!... Can you hook us up with Gino Acevedo's email address!?!  Tom?...Tom?  Damn lawyers...

Well there you have it FX fans! Be sure to check out Nimba Creations website as well as their online store!
Until next time...