Leif Maginnis :: Cat Designs

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SKILLS Mechanically inclined designer and fabricator with a broad knowledge of methods and materials. Experienced carpenter, welder, and electrician. Detail-oriented prototyper and foam sculptor. Experienced with molding and casting of plastics. Experienced set dresser.
EDUCATION Spring 2003 Summer 2002 Spring 2001 Spring 1999 Fall 1998	Masters Degree, Industrial Design Scandinavian Furniture Design Study Urban Design Laboratory Design Study BFA, Painting Artists Fellowship	Pratt Institute Denmark's Design School Arcosanti Institute San Francisco Art Institute AICAD New York Studio Program	Brooklyn, NY Copenhagen, Denmark Mayer, AZ San Francisco, CA New York, NY
FEATURE FILMS 7.04 2.04	Ghost Dance 35mm Feature Film. Keane 35mm Feature Film - Produced by Steven Soderbergh.		art director assistant production designer
MUSIC VIDEOS 6.09 1.07 9.05 3.01	Jamie Pineda Lil' Chris - Figure It Out Eurythmics - I've Got a Life Fat Joe		prop maker prop maker carpenter prop maker
TELEVISION 3.09 4.08 5.07 2.07 11.05 9.05 9.05 9.05 9.05 4.05 3.05 4.01 2.01 2.01 11.99 - 5.00 4.00 - 5.00 3.00 6.99 - 11.99 4.98	Nickelodeon - Kids' Choice Awards First Energy Speed Channel - Fine Tuned MTV - Human Giants Orbitz travel Mattel - Puffy Ami Yumi Burger King Nike Golf Discovery Channel - Monster House Comedy Central - Chappelle's Show CBS The Cut VH-1 - Name That Video HBO - Bob Costas on the Record Disney - Kids Channel Martha Stewart - Living Michael Moore's - The Awful Truth The Howard Stern Show Metro Channel Timberland	tv show spot tv show tv show spot spot spot spot tv show tv show tv show tv show tv show tv show tv show tv show tv show tv channel spot	sculptor prop master set designer prop maker prop assistant prop master carpenter carpenter sculptor prop maker carpenter prop maker carpenter prop maker prop maker prop maker prop maker prop maker prop maker
INDUSTRIALS 4.06 3.06 2.06 11.05 10.05 10.04 5.04 4.01 9/99	Disneyland Japan Space Mountain Disneyland Finding Nemo Submarine Universal Studios - King Kong The Grove Shopping Center - Winter Wonderland Los Angeles County Museum of Fine Art - King Tut Designers & Agents MTV - Licensing Summit American Museum of Natural History - The Genomic Revolution New York Historical Society- Grand Central Station History	theme park ride theme park ride theme park ride exhibit exhibit fashion boutique convention exhibit exhibit	sculptor sculptor sculptor prop maker carpenter carpenter carpenter carpenter prop maker
PHOTOSHOOTS 5.05 5.05 5.05 5.05 3.01 12.98 6.98 4.98 4.98	Ermanno Scervino Anne Klein Chinese Vogue Prada AVON - Inventions Elle Magazine Nautica Glamour Magazine Polo Ralph Lauren		prop maker prop maker carpenter carpenter carpenter carpenter prop maker prop maker prop maker
THEATER 3.05 10.04 9.04 8.04 6.04 4.04	Columbia University - Tierno Bokar - Directed by Peter Brook. Second Stage - Danny & the Deep Blue Sea Laura Pels Theatre - The Foreigner Regency Theatre - My Hometown La Mama Theatre - Blind Ness Roundabout Theatre Company - After The Fall		carpenter carpenter carpenter carpenter carpenter carpenter
ETC. Spanish speaking. Driver's license with no points and motorcycle endorsement. << Back < < View Portfolio

What's your story?
As a teenager, I learned troubleshooting and repair skills helping my father repair ice machines, walk-in refrigerators, and gas engines. After high school, I lived and worked at a retreat center in the Santa Cruz Mountains where I learned new skills such as concrete form-building, roofing, plumbing, wiring, and how to operate heavy equipment such as backhoes, crawlers, tractors, and forklifts. At the San Francisco Art Institute, I learned carpentry, welding, sculpting, and many other skills. During art school, I began building props and working on-set for photoshoots. After I moved to New York City in 1999, I began working as a carpenter and a welder building sets and props for countless projects in different scenic shops in Brooklyn. I worked several seasons in the art department on Michael Moore's TV show, The Awful Truth, and for the Martha Stewart Living TV show. More recently, I have worked on several feature films working with the production designers designing and fabricating special props. I now live in Los Angeles.

How can you help us with our project?
By fabricating or modifying props and sets on TV commercials, music videos or film. By fabricating mechanical devices for special effects. I am a creative, hands-on, problem-solving person with an art background that has a sense of design and mechanics. I am an experienced carpenter, welder, electrician, sculptor, and mold-maker. I have also worked on-set as a prop master and set dresser.

Are you an industrial designer?
I received a masters degree in industrial design. I tend to use my prototyping skills and materials knowledge when I work on props and sets.

Do you have a shop?
I have a large, well-equipped shop.

Do you have a kit?
I have several different kits, a small one with general art department and carpentry gear and a larger kit with all carpentry power tools as well as air, table saw, chop saw, and MIG welder.

Do you have a fax machine, scanner, color laser printer, DSL and laptop computer with software such as Photoshop, and Illustrator?
Yes.

Do you have rigging skills?
I have some rigging skills. I worked on four theatrical installs in New York City. On a few of these shows, we hung large hanging sets and truss systems over the stage. At several theaters, I worked with a motion-control engineer to install computer-controlled winches under the stage and from the roof. I am an experienced rock-climber and know about safety protocol, gear, and knots.

Do you have IMDB credits? Yes. http://imdb.com/name/nm1749619/

Can you load and drive a 26' cube truck?
Yes, I have a California Driver's license with no points and a motorcycle endorsement.

Are you union?
No.

It says in your resume that you were featured on an episode of Discovery Channel's "Monster House" Were you selected to be a builder on this reality TV show and compete for prizes?
Yes.

Did you complete the project in five days before the midnight deadline and win the $7000 worth of tools?
Yes.

Portfolio :: Projects American Museum of Natural History	Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
DNA Spiral: This was part of a larger genomics exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. I was one of the fabricators on this project.	Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards: I fabricated the green slime wall on the stage for the Kids Choice Awards. The wall is made from plywood, a wire frame and coated with foam. The orange Nickelodeon blimp and the sponge wall I carved from foam.

The Grove Shopping Center	Theme Park Sets
Gingerbread House: This project was called Winter Wonderland and was built for The Grove Shopping Center in Los Angeles. I was responsible for engineering the weatherproof animatronic characters. The teddy bears wave their hands, the cherry on the ice cream cone spins around and the snowman turns his head back and forth. I also fabricated the Santa Claus clock and carved many different details on the house out of foam. Bear Video	King Kong: The first three pictures show a large castle wall for the King Kong theme park ride at Universal Studios. A few other sculptors and myself carved this wall out of urethane foam. Disneyland: For the Submarine Voyage at Disneyland, we worked from small models and carved large pieces of foam. Pictures four and five show the model and the completed 12' piece of sculpted foam. Picture six shows one of many sculpted sections sculpted to resemble coral. The last two pictures show a spacecraft for Space Mountain at Disneyland Japan.

Props and Sets	Furniture
Viking Boat: I built this 20' Viking boat for a digital feature still in production. Boat Video Prop Fridge: This was a prop for MTV's TV show Human Giant. In the show, an actor picks up the refrigerator and lifts it over her head. To make it light enough to do this, I made it out of styrene foam and painted it to look real. Plywood Stack on Car: I built this fake plywood stack and mounted it to a car for a comedy video that I shot. Pool: I built this 20'x30' pool for a Jamie Pineda music video. With three inches of water it had a great effect when the performers danced around in it. Radio Station: Picture 5 is from a 1954 radio station set that I built for a feature film. Motel Set: Motel night desk at a cheap motel. Prop Clock: The last two pictures are from the film Keane, I fabricated several prop clocks. We were shooting in the New York City Port Authority bus terminal and their clocks could not be changed. Time was central to the plot of this film and any prop clocks that we used needed to be self-powered, so I designed and built several prop clocks and put battery-powered lights inside. Steven Soderbergh produced this film.	Curvy Table: The table is made from laminated plywood. Red Leather Chair: The body of this chair I bent and TIG welded from raw steel tubing that I later polished to a mirror finish. The seat and back are made from 1/8" red leather that I stitched over the body. Red Conversation Chair: I designed and built this bent plywood chair for two people to sit and talk. It is made out of vacuum-pressed plywood. The six legs are made from bent stainless steel rod. Curvy Chair: I built this oversized chair for a photoshoot. Blue Chair: I designed and built this lounge chair. It is made out of vacuum-pressed plywood.

Monster House	Other
Helmet Dog House: The oversized motocross helmet I fabricated for the Discovery Channel program Monster House. Motocross was the theme of this episode. The first two images are of a motorcycle helmet that I sculpted out of a solid block of polystyrene bead foam. The visor was made from flexible plywood. The completed helmet was four feet high. Video Game Entertainment Center: In the third and forth pictures, I carved a road with hills under a mountain. The top half of the mountain I shaped from wire mesh, which I topped with plaster fabric. The surface of the carved foam was designed to appear like a motorcycle trail. The mountain hills and road were later painted and decorated with miniature trees and rocks. This X-box game station has four LCD monitors that I disassembled and modified to secure inside the mountain. Under the acrylic and glass table were sliding drawers that held the X-box video games and their controllers. Motorcycle Goggles: In the last two pictures, I sculpted four foot wide motorcycle goggles. Hidden behind the wall, I installed actuators on both sides which mechanically move the goggles down several feet by flipping a switch to reveal a flat screen TV.	Custom Intercom: A client of mine liked the functionality of their intercom but wanted a more contemporary look. For intercoms which use the homeowner's landline phone, there are few style choices as few companies manufacture them. My solution was to remove the electronics from the existing intercom and mount them in a new bronze housing that I designed and fabricated. Faucet and Scooter: Prototypes made from wood. Donkey: The donkey I carved from blue foam as a reference model Cast parts: As a test, I copied a Hello Kitty doll and cast it with three different resins Prototypes: I cast these two key prototypes for my thesis. Imbedded inside the cast pieces are computer chips.

Portfolio :: Art Sand Sculptures	Paintings
These are sand sculptures that I made at local beaches. The sculptures are made with sand and water. Sand Video	I painted these oil paintings from 1995 to 1999.

T-Shirts
The first seven shirts are designs I adapted from fruit and vegetable labels. The other seven shirts are drawings. I silkscreened these shirts with water-based inks.

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