Today we’d like to introduce you to Sergio Guerra
Hi Sergio, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. While other kids were excited about what they’d get for Christmas, I was watching horror movies and dreaming up ways to scare people. My first Halloween in kindergarden won me my first costume contest. With the help of my mom and aunts, I pulled off a pretty cool Frankenstein’s Monster. We spent months watching old movies and the TV show “The Munsters” to get the look just right. I attribute the quality of my work to the attention to detail that my family instilled in me when I started this journey. I kept making making myself into other monsters and winning costume contests, which gave me the confidence to try more interesting and intricate designs.
Through High School and College I would end up doing make-up and costumes for my brothers and some of my friends, looking for any opportunity to make my spooky creations even if it wasn’t Halloween. Back then, there weren’t as many options for FX Makeup Schools as there are now so I had to learn on my own. I decided to leave Texas State University’s Music Education program to pursue FX Makeup full time. I read as many books as I could and bought videos on the subject but found that most artists didn’t want to reveal all of the secrets to their illusions, so I made trial and error my teacher. Eventually, I was able to fill in the gaps that were missing in the information I could find with the real-life results from the experiments and trials I was undertaking and began working as an FX Makeup Artist professionally. First, in Haunted Houses and eventually in Film, Tv, and stage.
Now, my FX company (The Darkness) has been providing masks, props, and makeup to the Halloween and Haunted House industry, Film/Tv, and private collectors since 2005. I’ve become best known for my time on the ScyFy Channel’s “Face Off” and I’ve been fortunate enough to provide consulting services to multi-million dollar Haunted Houses/Events and to work with indie filmmakers from around the country. If it’s Halloween/Horror related, we’re San Antonio’s one-stop shop!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Pursuing Special FX has not been the easiest of roads, especially outside of the traditional Hollywood structure. It took a long time to learn this craft and leaving a more stable career path in Music Education for something like this has come with plenty of ups and downs. Since there wasn’t much work out there I had to create my own opportunities by looking further away for clients that would take a chance on someone just starting out. Even after becoming more established, finding the right projects can be a challange. You have to find a balance between finding work that’s exciting and new while making sure you can keep the lights on at the studio. I compare my work to being like a farmer. If I plant the right seeds and have a good (Halloween) Season, I’ll have a great harvest and a full tummy. If the season is a little slow, I end up having to eat bologna sandwhiches or ramen noodles for the rest of the year!
Ultimately, I had to learn how to run a business so I could start my own company, since none existed in my area for me to get a job in. I had to educate myself on every aspect of Special FX so I could compete with other established artists/businesses. I had to push through the hard times, economically, to keep myself afloat and live to fight another day. I had to stay focused and sacrifice time with friends and family or the urge to buy things for myself in order to reinvest in my business. Thankfully, it has all worked out and I feel extremely lucky to get to do what I love for a living.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’ve always enjoyed the Dark side of things. I think that’s why I was attracted to Halloween and Horror movies since I was a small child. Even though I’m known mostly as a Special FX Makeup Artist, I rarely call myself that! I think of myself as more of a monster maker, lol!! Whether it’s through Digital/Concept art, sculpture, painting, or makeup my end goal is to bring something scary and different to life. That’s why I specialize in Horror.
This is a niche within a niche though so it is rather difficult. If I did regular makeup and/or hair I would probably make a lot more money, but I don’t enjoy that as much. I prefer to make things look scary not pretty. I think the thing I’m most proud of is that I’ve been able to carve out this very fine sliver of a niche in a place with less demand while still finding a way to make a good living off it.
I don’t like to compare myself to others so I can’t say that there’s anything, really, that sets me apart. I think that’s something someone outside myself could answer better. I do compete with myself though and try to be brutally honest with myself about the quality of work I deliver. I’m grateful that most of my work comes from word of mouth. I’m happy that the people I work with like my work enough that they refer me to others. Overall, as long as I’m trying to do and be better every day, I feel accomplished. There’s always a new direction to grow in.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Just loving the Spooky life! Follow me for more!
Pricing:
- Reach out for a Quote on anything Spooky!!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sergioguerrapix
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sergioguerrajr
- Other: https://tiktok.com/@sergioguerrafx
