Nina Zepeda
Written BY: Grave Reviews Staff
Nina Zepeda, born in the Bay Area and currently residing in Fairfield, California, works as a baker and cake decorator, however she also has other mysterious talents as an FX designer. She has published a series of FX design works and has worked with numerous Haunted Attractions including 2016 and 2017’s Six Flags Fright Fest, and worked aside, FaceOffs’ Nicole Chilelli. We are here to speak about Nina’s works to date and where she hopes to be in the future. Here is what she had to say:
*********************
Q: Tell me a little bit about how you came to work on FX design.
A: It’s a funny story, I was working my first job at Barnes and Nobles and Nicole Chilelli from FaceOff happened to stop by the store because her best friend was doing a book signing and she came to support her. I was a huge fan of hers at the time and when I said hello to her on my break. My friend had told me that she had lived in the area and was doing work at Callson Manor which was a haunted house, and told me that I should apply, so I sent her an email of a couple of the pictures and art work that I have done and she invited me down for an interview for an apprenticeship with her
Q: Was that your first working event as a designer?
A: I have pretty much done art for as long as I can remember but yes, that haunt at Callson Manor with Nicole was my first time ever working with special effects makeup and even trying to do body paint and picking up an airbrush.
Q: So, tell me about what you do at Six Flags.
A: I am part of their special effects make up team so we do all of the makeup for all of the scare actors and zombies that roam around outside of the houses. Sometimes we dress up and scare people ourselves.
Q: Have you ever personally been an actor at six flags?
A: No I haven’t but there were times they needed help. However,I’ve always been the one that is trying to hide when that happens. Its one thing to do the make up but when you see that person in their zone and become that character its terrifying
Q: Growing up, was there a specific horror movie or characters that inspired you to pursue FX design?
A: Deep down, I have always had that interest for things that are dark or creepy and even if it scared me, I still loved it. A big inspiration would definitely be any of Tim Burton’s movies from BeatleJuice to Edward Scissorhands. Another tremendous influence and inspiration were the works of Guillermo del Toro (known for Pans Labyrinth). Just seeing these characters come to life and the makeup that creates them is spectacular.
Q: Where do you hope to take this within the next 5 or 10 years?
A: I would love to be able to try and take it as far as I can. I feel like there are some people who do it on the side and have fun but don’t want to make it a serious career. I would like to make that happen and take it as far as I can and learn as much as I can during my career.
*********************
We hope Nina is able to accomplish all her dreams. Her work is very inspiring and gives us tremendous enjoyment when viewing her works. For more works by Nina Zepeda, you can visit her social media page here.
Join the Conversation