Jerry Macaluso

Jerry Macaluso
Born (1967-07-12) July 12, 1967
Connecticut, Hartford, United States
Notable work SOTA FX
SOTA Toys
Pop Culture Shock Collectibles

Gerald "Jerry" Macaluso (born July 12, 1967) is an American toy designer,[1] sculptor, film producer, and entrepreneur.

Early career

Jerry Macaluso was born in Hartford, Connecticut and is the eldest of four siblings. At the age of 17, Macaluso entered the field of special effects makeup assisting Norman Cabrera on the set of the horror film Scarecrows. A year later he became the special makeup designer on the film The Unholy. Shortly thereafter, Macaluso was hired to re-create Toxie for The Toxic Avenger Part II, Troma's sequel to the cult classic The Toxic Avenger.[2] By 1990, Macaluso moved to Los Angeles, California and formed SOTA FX with partner Roy Knyrim. The next several years were spent creating effects for such films as Darkman, The Indian in the Cupboard, Spawn, the Weird Science television series and Gods and Monsters. In the late 1990s, Macaluso formed a toy development company called SOTA Sculpture and Design which designed and created action figure prototypes for Hasbro, Mattel, Toy Biz, ReSaurus and Palisades Toys, among others.[3]

Work with Plastic Fantasy and Face Off

In 2001 a new company called Plastic Fantasy was created. Plastic Fantasy designed and manufactured action figures of porn stars including Jenna Jameson,[1] Brianna Banks, Christy Canyon and Asia Carrera. The company's products have been featured on The Tonight Show, Nightline and Newsweek. Following the success of Plastic Fantasy, Macaluso formed SOTA Toys to manufacture action figures and collectibles based on such properties as Capcom's fighting game series Street Fighter, the Universal film The Chronicles of Riddick, Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft and music legend Johnny Cash. SOTA Toy's horror themed line, Now Playing, featuring characters from such iconic films as The Thing, Darkman, Tremors, Saw and Dog Soldiers.[4]

In 2005 Macaluso began producing horror films under the Karza Productions and Centuri Films labels. The first film, Night Skies, is based on the true story of six travellers in Phoenix, Arizona who are terrorized by an unknown creature during the night of the Phoenix Lights incident on March 13, 1997. In 2008 a new company, Pop Culture Shock Collectibles, Inc, was formed. This company makes collectibles based on popular pop culture properties such as Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter and ThunderCats.[5]

In January 2012, Macaluso, was a contestant on the second season of the SyFy special effects competition reality show Face Off, where he placed 7th.

References

  1. 1 2 Gina Piccalo and Louise Roug, "Celebrity Hairbrush, Anyone? -- A Different Sort of Action Figure", Los Angeles Times, January 30, 2002.
  2. ↑ The Toxic Avenger Part II at The Internet Movie Database
  3. ↑ Condit, Jon (2005-01-21). "Macaluso, Jerry (SOTA Toys) | Horror Movie, DVD, & Book Reviews, News, Interviews at Dread Central". Dreadcentral.com. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
  4. ↑ "Night Skies". Jasonconnery.tripod.com. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
  5. ↑ "Thundercatslair.org". Thundercatslair.org. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
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