Alec Gillis is an award-winning special effects artist, filmmaker, and actor. He is best known for his work on the Aliens franchise, having worked on the first two films in the series. He has also lent his talents to films such as Predator 2, Tremors, and The Faculty.
Gillis was born in Los Angeles, California on March 4th, 1954. He attended the University of Southern California, where he earned a degree in design and film. After college, he worked as a production assistant for Academy Award-winning special effects artist, Stan Winston, on films such as The Terminator and Aliens.
In 1986, Gillis was hired as a special effects supervisor on the sci-fi horror film Aliens. He was responsible for overseeing the creation of many of the film’s creatures, such as the Alien Queen and the various Xenomorphs. For his work on the film, he was nominated for both an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award.
In the following years, Gillis continued to work on special effects for films such as Predator 2, Tremors, and The Faculty. He also began to dabble in acting, appearing in films such as The Blob (1988) and Freeway (1996).
In 1995, Gillis co-founded Amalgamated Dynamics Incorporated (ADI) with fellow special effects artist, Tom Woodruff Jr. The company specialized in creating prosthetic makeup and animatronics for films, television and commercials. They have worked on films such as The X-Files, X-Men, Avatar, and Blade Runner 2049.
Gillis’s work has been recognized with multiple awards, including two Saturn Awards from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. In addition, he was awarded a Special Achievement Award at the 1996 Academy Awards for his work on the 1995 film, Babe.
In recent years, Gillis has shifted his focus to writing and directing. His first short film, Harbinger Down (2015), was funded entirely through a successful Kickstarter campaign. The film was an homage to the creature feature films of the 1980s.
Today, Gillis continues to work as a special effects artist, filmmaker, and actor. He is currently in pre-production on his first feature film, a sci-fi horror set in the near future.
