Howard Berger Added to IMATS Sydney Roster

Oscar® winner Howard Berger and special make-up effects artist Gino Acevedo have been added as guest speakers for the International Make-Up Artist Trade Show (IMATS), held Sept. 12-13 at the Sydney Convention Centre in Sydney, Australia.

Berger, who won an Oscar® for his work on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, will take the stage along with the make-up team from Narnia. A Los Angeles native, Berger was hired by Stan Winston to work on Predator and Aliens. Later, Berger was hired by Rick Baker to work on Harry and the Hendersons. In 1988, after working for various studios, Berger and Gregory Nicotero formed their own studio, KNB EFX Group, Inc. in Los Angeles.

As the prosthetics supervisor for Weta Workshop, Acevedo oversaw all three Lord of the Rings films. In addition, he oversaw the paint designs of all the films’ creatures. He has worked on Alien 3, The Nutty Professor, Godzilla, Men in Black, Independence Day and Peter Jackson’s King Kong, among other productions.

Along with the guest speaker presentations, IMATS Sydney will feature more than 50 international cosmetics vendors and educational seminars throughout the weekend. A gothic theme has been chosen for the IMATS student competition’s beauty/fantasy component; the prosthetic/character competition has an X-Men mutants theme.

IMATS Sydney is sponsored by Make-Up Artist magazine, which covers professional make-up artistry in film, fashion, TV and theater. It was created in 1996 by Emmy® Award-winning make-up artist Michael Key and is internationally circulated. In addition to IMATS Sydney, Make-Up Artist magazine hosts four other annual trade shows: IMATS London, held in January; IMATS Los Angeles, held in June; IMATS Toronto, held in November; and IMATS Vancouver, B.C. held in April.

For more information on IMATS Sydney, go to http://makeupmag.com/imats/ and click on Sydney, Australia.