Mike Elizalde was born in Mazatlan Sinaloa, Mexico in 1960 and immigrated to the United States with his parents when he was five years old. Mike first became interested in monsters and creature effects as a young child watching films like Frankenstein and The Creature From the Black Lagoon. With the invaluable information outlined in Lee Baygan's book, Techniques of Three Dimensional Makeup, he put together a portfolio of original makeup designs and sent samples of his work to several makeup effects studios. Shortly thereafter, he landed his first job in the world of creature and makeup design.Entering the industry in 1987, Elizalde quickly established his career as a makeup designer, sculptor and one of the top animatronic engineers in his field. He has since worked on over 65 feature films, including Hellboy, Men in Black 1 and 2, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Fantastic Four and Hellboy II: The Golden Army.Elizalde and his wife Mary established Spectral Motion Incorporated in 1994 as a vehicle for producing and successfully marketing a series of original model kits sculpted by Elizalde. Spectral Motion participated in the creation of creature and makeup effects in successful collaboration with such top-level effects companies as Rick Baker's Cinovation and Stan Winston Studio in the years that followed.Today, Spectral Motion is recognized as one of the leading makeup and creature effects studios in the industry. Elizalde received his first Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nomination in the makeup category for his work on Hellboy II: The Golden Army, for which he also received his second Saturn Award nomination from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. He received a Saturn Award for "Best Makeup" in 2004 for his work in the original Hellboy film. As head of Spectral Motion, Elizalde effectively translates the design requirements set forth by the directors and producers of the projects he oversees. The end result is a diverse array of signature character designs which are showcased in the growing list of feature films in the Spectral Motion resume.Memberships include: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Screen Actors Guild and the Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Union, Local 706. Other memberships include The Academy of Magical Arts (Magic Castle) Magician membership and the United States Chess Federation. Show less «