Crypticon is this weekend, and what better way to preview, than with an interview with another guest! I was lucky enough to chat with a contestant from one of my favorite show, Syfy's Face Off...Enjoy my Q&A with Crypticon guest and Face Off season 2 finalist, RJ Haddy! The Steve Strout: What have you been working on since Face Off?
RJ: Good question, I've been working on all kinds of stuff. I just finished a movie called Night Watchman. That took place in Annapolis and it's a juicy vampire kind of film. It's gonna be out Halloween hopefully. The next one, I was working on another picture with Becky and House from Face Off. I went up and did a week with them on a show that they were working on in Ohio called The Funhouse Massacre, I believe. That should be out , I think around the same time, Halloween.
Other than that we're working on getting our You Tube videos up for our Beauty and the Beast channel that were working on. It's gonna be more like a Q&A think where people can send in emails and we can respond to you with video messages and that kind of stuff.
Of course My film, The Family Business, we're doing that too. That trailer should be ready to go, probably by June, or the end of June, I would hope.
Other than that we're just doing the conventions, hanging out, meeting folks, teaching workshops, and having a great time.
I was going to ask if you've collaborated with any other contestants from the show, but that kinda answers that question for me.
Yeah, we'll meet up all the time to teach classes together so that would go with that question. Becky, House and I are great friends and we've always wanted to work together. Finally after three years we got a chance to set that up, so that's pretty cool.
Are you actually a fan of Face Off and keep up on the show?
I was on season two, so I was a huge fan of season one, which made me want to audition. I was a big fan of season three, and I'm still a big fan of the show in general. I don't get to watch it as much as I used to because of the convention and travel schedule that I have. It usually keeps me busy on the road or in the shop doing something. I owe all of that to Face Off, so I couldn't complain if I wanted to.
The show has been a boost to the career?
Yeah definitely.
You actually had a career doing makeup and stuff in movies before Face Off?
Oh yeah. I lived in LA from the time I was about 18-19 til I was about 25. I stayed out there off and on. I would come home for a couple months here and there. For the most part I lived out there full time. I worked on a lot of films being a shop monkey working with Tony Gardner on Batman and Robin, Contact, and Mortal Kombat, the second one.We did a lot of stuff for There's Something About Mary. During that late 90's period, Tony had his hand in a lot of stuff that was coming out in that time period.
If it wasn't for those guys, I would have never held my own on Face Off as long as I did. Everything I did on Face Off, I flashed back to my former life as a shop monkey, and it really helped get through the show. I also worked for ADI (unfortunately had rough phone service during the interview so I had to paraphrase a bit here and there) briefly before I moved home.
Then, I went on to graduate school and started teaching after that. It was weird. I stayed a teacher for about 8 years almost. That was a good run there, but you kinda get to the point where you can't move forward any more and your kinda just like dealing with it. Then Face Off premiered, and it was actually the kids
That's a very cool way to get pushed back into it. So, what's been your favorite project to have worked on, so far?
You talking entire life, or post Face Off? Entire, I'd have to say The Family Business has been my favorite project. But... I will say this...When I was a kid, and this is kinda a neat thing, you remember the Secret? You know that movie that came out a couple years ago called The Secret, that tells you to focus on the things you want in life, and eventually it will happen.
Alright, this is a weird story. I ended up out in L.A. Right before I did, you know those little yearbook things you fill out and say "in five years im gonna be blah blah blah", well I filled it out before I went to L.A. and I didn't look at it again. I went off to L.A. and worked on Batman and Robin, came home, and as I was digging through my closet I found that little book. I took that book out and I'll be damned if I didn't write, and I wish I still had it, but I wrote "I'm going to be an effects artists in Los Angeles working on the next Batman
movie", and if that isn't what happened! It is the weirdest thing. So, I always say, even if it's just a subconscious thing, you know they say write your goals down? Man, DO IT! Just do it. Write your goals down. 
Very cool, and good advice.Yeah, so I'd have to say in my entire life, my favorite project has been Batman and Robin. Even though it was a turkey of a movie, at the time I was just out of high school and excited to be working on a Batman movie!
It's BATMAN!
Exactly, who cares (how bad the movie was), IT'S BATMAN!
Post Face Off I would say The Family Business has been my favorite project to do because I'm really just overseeing the whole thing from script to acting to directing. All that stuff. It's kind of like my pet project.
Now, you've been staying busy on the convention scene lately. What do you look to get out of the conventions?
The thing about being on a reality show is that people wath you and feel like they know you because people see you doing what you do and being who you are. I always feel like its my duty, because these people paid their hard earned money to come to these shows and learn effects, I feel like its my job to give them something that's worth that money to them. For me, I'm here to find out who YOU are, and understand who you are and talk to you guys for a little bit. It's important to me. It's very important to me especially with the economy. People work so hard for there money anyways, and they're coming to this show to see you and learn from your class. I feel a great sense of responsibility to the fans to do that, and to be a good guy. You know what I mean?
Your going to be at Crypticon in Seattle, as am I, later this month (May 22-24 to be exact). Is this your first trip to Seattle?
It is. I'm really excited. I've been wanting to go to Crypticon since I started doing conventions. I've heard nothing but good things about it, and am really looking forward to being there. We're gonna do some pretty cool classes. I'm gonna do a fangs class, to show people how to easily make fangs. We're also doing a Pros-Aide transfers class. We'll learn how to work with Pros-Aide transfers, which I love. It's probably one of my favorite things to play with right now, Pros-Aide transfers.
What exactly are Pros-Aide transfers?
Pros-Aide transfers are made out of the thickened glue that we use to glue foam and latex appliances with.
What kind of advice would you give to an aspiring makeup/fx artist?
Well, I guess it would depend on what age that person is, because I would say there's different advice for different age levels.
If your still in school, if your a kid and your in high school, and you have access to your art classes, take as many art classes as you can. Take art classes. Take anatomy classes. Take advantage of that. Go to your local technical education school. Use that as part of your study. Use that and learn, maybe cosmetology or dental tech. There's a whole world of things that you can apply those skills to in fx artistry, that you can learn at your local technical education centers. That would be my advice to kids.
If your an adult my advice would be, and to kids too, would be to check out online and look up the Stan Winston school. The Stan Winston school, online, all those videos and stuff are amazing. They're led by Academy Award winning folks that have 20 years of experience on what I got. These guys really know what they're talking about. Your definitely learning from masters. The cool thing about the Stan Winston program is that you can pick and choose what you want to learn. You don't have to go through a prescribed type of, you know , take this class, this class, and that class type of structured environment. AND, you can hang on to those videos forever and use them to reference and go back. I highly recommend checking that out.
I always wrap up by allowing my guest to add or plug anything they'd like to share. Anything you want to pass along?
I would love to try and plug my Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and those things. Our Instagram is just @rjhaddy. Twitter is @RJHaddyofficial. Facebook is just Facebook.com/RJHaddy. Oh and check out the film site at
I had to tell you before closing that your Tim Burton inspired bellhop (which I will be sharing a picture of) has been one of my favorite makeups on Face Off and thank you for your time.
Awesome, thank YOU!Hope to see you all at Crypticon this weekend! Be sure to stop and say hi to RJ and track me down as well! Make sure to check out and follow RJ Haddy on all his social media pages too.
Www.rjhaddy.com publicity page
Www.radfxco.com online store
Www.facebook.com/rjhaddy artist fb page
Www.facebook.com/thefamilybusinessfilm
Steve Strout is the media mastermind behind this site, host of the Comic Book Swap Meet, nerd, terrible artist, gamer, convention goer and comic book reader who spends more time rescuing toys from thrift shops than a normal adult should. He is also known around the northwest for his promotion of live music and stand-up comedy events and is the creator/producer of the Comic Book Swap Meet mini convention, and Olympic Peninsula Comedy Competition (which will make it's big return in 2015). Follow him on Instagram at http://instagram.com/thestevestrout, and He can be reached for comments at ptcomedy@yahoo.com on twitter at @thestevestrout
