November 14th, 2019
After five happy years at Birmingham’s Conference Aston, Neill Gorton’s family-friendly SFX show has moved across the Midlands to a new home: Coventry’s Ricoh Arena. With its full day of education and artistry covering the whole prosthetics and SFX industry, The Prosthetics Event on Saturday 23rd November is for those passionate about prosthetics, makeup FXs, animatronics, masks, sculpture, mould making, puppets, face painting and body art for film TV, theatre, cosplay, live events, casualty simulations and much more. Get your ticket here.
Just 40 minutes from its previous home in Birmingham, the Ricoh Arena is within a 2-hour drive of 70% of the UK’s population and is easy to access by road, rail and air for all visitors. Host and Master of Ceremonies Neill Gorton has been busy recently with projects such as BBC1’s remake of Worzel Gummidge, creating a young Churchill makeup for Peaky Blinders, designing Andy Serkis’ prosthetics for Long Shot, and co-designing the prosthetic effects on the most recently aired series of Doctor Who which saw Jodie Whittaker make history as the first female Doctor.
“We’re hoping our fantastic new venue will make everyone’s experience of the Event even better,” he explains. “This year we’re introducing prosthetics and body art competitions and also a new forum specifically for tutors. We have such a fantastic attendance from colleges and universities across the country and so much of our educational content is aimed at the many students who attend, that we thought it would be nice to acknowledge the tutors too and give them a part of the day where we could bring some minds together to offer support and address issues specific to them. I hope to see many tutors at the Tutors’ Forum – look out for schedules near the day to find out when and where this will be happening.”
Göran Lundström
Main Stage and Education Stage
The Main Stage in Hall 5 seats 600 people and features a back-to-back education schedule of demos, discussions and seminars. It’s packed full of talent: from 2019 Academy Award nominee Göran Lundström (Border, True Detective); educator extraordinaire – and Warpaint judge – Stuart Bray (Games of Thrones, Men in Black 4); sculptor and makeup effects artist, appearing for the first time, Neil Morrill (Suicide Squad, It); and Hollywood sculptor Don Lanning (Lost in Space, Star Trek Beyond).
Hosting back-to-back demos, discussions and seminars, this area is always busy. Check the schedule ahead of time and arrive early to guarantee a seat. The Main Stage is sponsored by the Gorton Studio Online School, launching on event day.
The Education Stage in Hall 4 seats 150 people and is the platform for professional techniques, tricks and tips, and intimate, focussed discussions with industry artists. This stage gets very busy, so make sure you arrive early to get your spot. The Education Stage is sponsored by the University of Bolton Centre for Film and TV
Lucy Sibbick
Glue Like a Girl Panel
Multi-award nominee and founder of PAM – and Warpaint contributor – Kate Benton (Mars, The Last Kingdom) who is bringing Glue Like a Girl, a fabulous panel on-stage celebrating women in prosthetics. Featuring 13 of the industry’s high-achieving female artists including Academy Award, BAFTA, Critics Choice and Guild Award-winner Lucy Sibbick (Darkest Hour, Chernobyl), alongside Suzi Battersby, Shaunna Harrison and Victoria Bancroft-Perry.
Neil Morrill
Demos
Beginning on their stand and completing on stage, retail exhibitors Siân Richards London present makeup FX and character gurus Stuart Bray and Neil Morrill. They’ll be recreating the Reverend Brown makeup from one of the greatest prosthetic character movies ever made – Coming To America. Originally made for Arsenio Hall, Stuart and Neill will be working on none other than street style guru, Normski.
Another debutante is YouTube star Charlie Short aka PinkStylist. An incredibly successful special makeup FX artist and YouTube creator with 2.6 million subscribers, Charlie has an amazing collection of 400+ full character makeup tutorials on his channel, covering all genres from cartoon characters to full-blown horror, all of which are complete with costumes, wigs and props. He covers a wide variety of skill levels showing techniques suitable for beginners right through to advanced artists.
Charlie Short aka Pink Stylist
Retailers
Exhibitors from across the make-up and SFX industry are on hand to kit you up. Gorton Studios and Neill’s Materials will of course be represented, as are Cantor and Nissel, Screenface London, Titanic FX, University of Bolton , Kryolan, Tilt, Dashbo, Get Set Go Bags, Sîan Richards London, Airbase, Makeup Armoury, PAM and Fangs FX. You’ll also find Airbrush Bodyart, Crownbrush, Atelier Bassi, Tas Merah, Tiga D, MFX, Southampton Solent University, Bradford School of Art, Full Slap FX and Monster FX. The whole list of exhibitors is here.
Monster Mash
Growing year on year, you’ll find all things prosthetic in The Monster Mash. With moulds, masks and maquettes, creatures and concept designs, appliances, animatronic, animals and armour, this area showcases work from a wide range of artists. The list is here.
Lucy Sibbick on Darkest Hour
The Application Station
Showcasing the work of 10 exciting up-and-coming artists, this year has an added competitive edge. Divided into Newcomer and Pro categories, you’ll find them in Hall 3 applying full-scale prosthetic makeups throughout the day. Finished makeups will be paraded on the Main Stage at 4.30pm, when prizes for the Best Newcomer and Best Overall Makeup will be awarded.
Body Art Zone
Also located in Hall 3, you’ll find the Body Art Zone. Packed with colour and vibrancy, it’s also bringing competition to the floor. Painting throughout the day and incorporate prosthetics into their work, with the Body Art Catwalk on the Main Stage in the Body Art Catwalk at around 4.45pm before the winner is announced. All artists are here.
Portfolio Surgery
Your opportunity for a one-to-one consultation with a senior industry artist, the Portfolio Surgery makes a welcome return again this year and is already closed – click here to find out more.
Gorton Studios Online School
Launching on Event Day, the brand new Online School is a portal to a new world of online education with Neill Gorton: step-by-step tutorials on all the processes and techniques involved in making and applying prosthetics and many associated subjects.
Available worldwide, it offers unlimited access via computer, phone or tablet; voiceover transcription downloads which are ideal for translating; materials list downloads with alternative product names; and until December 2020, the Early Adopter Subscriptions gives access to all 50+ lessons currently on the site plus regular new additions. Watch this page for info.
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