Christien tinsley biography channel

An Interview With Master Innovator Christien Tinsley

Today's monster maker interview features Christien Tinsley, one of the leading Special Makeup Effects creators for film and television. Tinsley has been honored with an Academy Award for Technical Achievement, an Academy Award Nomination for Best Makeup: The Passion of the Christ, three Emmy Nominations (Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a series, Miniseries, Movie or a Special): Nip/Tuck, Glee, American Horror Story, an IFFA Award for Best Makeup as well as the Silver Lotus Award for Best Makeup: PAA. He also was awarded an Emmy for his work on Behind the Candelabra.  Christien owns and operates Tinsley Studio and Tinsley Transfers, Inc. while maintaining his working relationships as a makeup artist and character designer for a list of Hollywood’s best Directors, Actors, Producers, and Studios.

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CLICK on the video above to watch the FULL INTERVIEW.

Watch Christien's TUTORIAL on creating Prosthetic Transfers here HERE.

About Christien Tinsley

Tinsley was born and raised in Washington State and made the move to California at the age of 17 to pursue a career in makeup effects. Tinsley quickly garnered a reputation for inventiveness and raw talent, and after a few short years, he was provided the opportunity to work with his role model, Rick Baker, on Ron Howard’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Tinsley’s next film was Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor, where he was inspired to develop a temporary tattoo known as the Tinsley Transfer™, a timesaving alternative to specialty makeup application.

(Inventor of the Tinsley Transfer™, Christien Tinsley.)

Adventures In Makeup Effects

Christien's calling as an effects artist came at a young age. In our interview, he recalls adventures in makeup effects, from nearly defacing a friend in his first attempt at a plaster life-cast to mowing lawns in order to affo

“It’s always nice to be included,” declares “Emancipation” prosthetic makeup artist Christien Tinsley about his reaction to the film’s inclusion on the Oscar shortlist of 10 films vying for a nomination for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Tinsley is shortlisted alongside his colleagues makeup department head Ken Diaz, hair department head Andrea Bowman, and Judy Murdock and Pierce Austin, who respectively took charge of the makeup and hair for the film’s star Will Smith. For our recent webchat he adds, “I’m a huge fan of Ken Diaz. He’s been doing this for 40 plus years, and he’s been a colleague, a peer, a mentor. In a lot of ways, he was an inspiration when I was a child, uh, wanting to get into the business. So, to be working with Ken and then to be on the shortlist with him for the same film has been really spectacular for me.” We talked with Tinsley as part of Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&A event with 2023 Oscar contenders. Watch our exclusive video interview above.

SEEExclusive Video Interview: Andrea Bowman (‘Emancipation’ hair department head)

“Emancipation” is directed by Antoine Fuqua from a screenplay by William N. Collage, based on the real-life story of former enslaved man Gordon (named “Peter” in the film) who posed for confronting photographs of his bare back, heavily scarred from the whippings he endured during his time on a plantation in the South. The worldwide outrage that followed the publication of these now-iconic photos in 1863 gave the abolitionist movement proof of the cruelty of American slavery and a rallying cry to end it once and for all. The Apple Original Films drama stars Oscar winner Will Smith (“King Richard”) as Peter, who flees the plantation after being whipped to within an inch of his life, separated from his loving wife Dod

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