There isn't much that effects artist Steve Newburn has not done. Across his nearly 30-year career in Hollywood, the multi-talented artist and designer has been a prop maker, model maker, prosthetics designer, costume designer, and creature designer. "I got into this business because I was a fan of genre movies like Star Wars," he reveals. "It wasn't the monsters or aliens that I was drawn to, either. It was the spaceships that caught my eye, so I initially just wanted to make miniatures."
"I spent a good chunk of my career working in that side of things," Newburn says. "Through the connections I formed along the way, though, I eventually fell into the prosthetic and monster world of the industry, which has turned out to be just as cool."
Newburn has crafted creatures for films like the Oscar-winning Suicide Squad and Beau is Afraid, as well as designing prosthetics for recent movies such as Dream Scenario and Shazam! Fury of the Gods. In 2020, he got an offer unlike any other when he was asked to work on the newest movie from indie filmmakers the Zellner Bros.
"I was told, 'It's a Sasquatch movie,' and I was like, 'Oh my God, that's the bucket list creature that I haven't gotten to do yet!'" Newburn remembers. "They said, 'It's very independent. It's gonna be low-budget,' and I told them, 'I don't care. I want to do this. We'll figure it out and make it happen.'"
The fruits of their labor are on full display in Sasquatch Sunset, for which Newburn was tasked with transforming stars Jesse Eisenberg, Riley Keough, Christophe Zajac-Denek and co-director Nathan Zellner into Bigfoot through elaborate creature suits and layers of prosthetic makeup. "We've seen other Sasquatch designs over the years, but they always look like low-budget monsters or they're in cheesy commercials for beef jerky," he jokes.
"I was like, 'God, if I ever got a chance to do a Sasquatch, that would be my dream job,'" he says. "If I were to give you a list of my favorite movie monsters ever created, the Sasquatch in Harry and the Hendersons would be in the top three. I love the hairy Sasquatch suits that Rick Baker made for that movie, and I've always wanted to do something like it."
Below, Newburn shares with A.frame his five favorite films.
Directed by: Steven Spielberg | Written by: Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb
If you look at it from a modern effects standpoint, the shark's a little goofy, but I think Jaws really is a perfect actor-driven movie. There's not actually a lot that happens in it, but it always keeps you on the edge of your seat, and the performances are great. I really think I was the right age when I saw Jaws. There's something about it that's very relatable. There's nothing too fantastical that prevents you from getting lost in it. The film doesn't require you to suspend your disbelief too much.
I grew up in a family that had a boat, and I'm an avid scuba diver. I have been since I was 16, so I've always been able to relate to it. I've been diving with sharks, and I know the chill that goes up your spine when you see one for the first time. The movie really captures that feeling.
Directed by: Richard Donner | Written by: Chris Columbus
When I think of my favorite films and the movies I loved as a kid, I think of The Goonies. I loved that movie when I was younger, and I found it, honestly, to be really inspirational. I think it's just amazing. It's an all-around great, fun, and family-friendly adventure movie. I still love it.
Written and Directed by: George Lucas
My dad worked for NASA, so he was a big fan of science fiction movies. When I was growing up, we used to go and see every sci-fi movie that we possibly could. I saw Star Wars so many times in the theater because of my dad. There had never really been anything like it at the time, and I was the perfect age for it. It came out when I was six years old and watching that film was a mind-blowing experience for a six-year-old kid.
Directed by: Steven Spielberg | Written by: David Koepp
I love Jurassic Park. It's very much a popcorn movie, but it's also got a great story. When it was made, it was completely groundbreaking, innovative, and ahead of its time. Like a lot of movies Steven Spielberg has made, there's this perfect storm swirling around inside of it. The movie just works.
Directed by: Steven Spielberg | Written by: Lawrence Kasdan
I grew up in the 1970s and '80s, so a lot of my favorite films are probably go-tos for a lot of people who grew up in that era too, and who are also in my line of work. That's certainly true for Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's a great adventure film. It's practically perfect. I can't think of anything that you would want to change about it.
