Patrick Tatopoulos (born September 25, 1957) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

- French

production designer In film and television, a production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Work ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

who lives and works in the United States. His designs have appeared in numerous motion pictures, including '' Pitch Black''; ''

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

''; ''

I, Robot ''I, Robot'' is a fixup collection of science fiction short stories by American writer Isaac Asimov. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines '' Super Science Stories'' and ''Astounding Science Fiction'' between 1940 and 1950 ...

''; '' The Chronicles of Riddick''; ''

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

''; '' Bram Stoker's Dracula''; ''

Stargate ''Stargate'' is a military science fiction media franchise owned by Amazon MGM Studios. It is based on Stargate (film), the film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin; production company StudioCanal owns the ...

''; ''

Spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawning, the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** ''Spawn: Armageddon' ...

''; ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...

''; ''

Stuart Little ''Stuart Little'' is a 1945 American children's novel by E. B. White. It was White's first children's book, and became recognized as a classic in children's literature. ''Stuart Little'' was illustrated by the artist Garth Williams, also his f ...

''; ''

300 __NOTOC__ Year 300 ( CCC) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 1053 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 300 ...

''; '' I Am Legend''; '' Man of Steel''; '' Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice''; ''

Justice League The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...

''; ''

10,000 BC The 10th millennium BC spanned the years 10,000 BC to 9001 BC (c. 12 ka to c. 11 ka). It marks the beginning of the transition from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic via the interim Mesolithic (Northern Europe and Western Europe) a ...

'' and ''

Live Free or Die Hard ''Live Free or Die Hard'' (released as ''Die Hard 4.0'' outside North America) is a 2007 American action thriller film directed by Len Wiseman, the fourth installment in the Die Hard (franchise), ''Die Hard'' film series. It is based on the 199 ...

''.

Early life

Tatopoulos was born and raised in Paris, France, to a French mother and an immigrant father from

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. His parents had a clothing store in Paris. Tatopoulos raced motorcycles, worked in 2-D advertising and drew comic book covers. He lived in

for ten years before coming to the United States in 1989. He is a fluent speaker of English,

and French. On October 11, 2015, Tatopoulos married '' Face Off'' host McKenzie Westmore. The couple met while working on the first season of the show. The wedding ceremony was held at Chateau Le Dome at Saddlerock Ranch Winery in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...

. Tatopoulos is currently based in Los Angeles.

Movie career

In Greece, while working as a designer artist in the production of commercials, he was continually fascinated by creatures and special effects. He studied at the École d'Art Décoratif de Paris, the École des Arts Appliqués de Paris, and the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

. From Paris he moved to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

where he began selling his illustrations. Eventually, his passion for the entertainment business drew him to the United States and within a short time became a designer for commercials, music video and motion pictures. Tatopoulos is a frequent collaborator of directors

Roland Emmerich Roland Emmerich (; born 10 November 1955) is a German-American filmmaker. Emmerich is widely known for his science fiction and disaster films and has been called a "master of disaster" within the movie industry. His films, most of which are Eng ...

Alex Proyas Alexander Proyas ( ; born 23 September 1963) is an Australian film director. He is known for directing the films ''The Crow (1994 film), The Crow'' (1994), ''Dark City (1998 film), Dark City'' (1998), ''I, Robot (film), I, Robot'' (2004) and '' ...

, and

Len Wiseman Len Ryan Wiseman (born March 4, 1973) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his work on the ''Underworld (film series), Underworld'' series (2003–2016), ''Live Free or Die Hard'' (2007), and the Total ...

. The main character in ''

'' (1998), Dr. Niko "Nick" Tatopoulos (

Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. He starred in ''WarGames'' (1983) as a teen government hacker, and ''Ladyhawke (film), Ladyhawke'' (1985), a medieval fantasy alongside Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer. He play ...

), is named after Patrick, who worked on that movie and several others made by the same creative team. In May 2000, Tatopoulos was honored by The Hellenic Times at its ninth annual Scholarship Gala in New York. The goal of the organization is to identify young American scholars who best exemplify the values of their Greek heritage and provide them with educational support. A Patrick Tatopoulos Creative Arts Award Scholarship was created in 2001 and Tatopoulos has personally presented the scholarship, in his name, to a deserving student in 2001 and 2002. He owns Tatopoulos Studios, Inc. and Patrick Tatopoulos Designs, Inc. The character of Niko Tatopoulos in ''Godzilla'' was named after his youngest daughter. He made his directorial debut with the 2009 film '' Underworld: Rise of the Lycans''. He worked on the live action film adaptation of the Darkstorm Studios graphic novel ''

I, Frankenstein ''I, Frankenstein'' is a 2014 American science fantasy action film written and directed by Stuart Beattie, based on the digital-only graphic novel by Kevin Grevioux. An international co-production between the United States and Australia, the fi ...

'', which was produced by

Lakeshore Entertainment Lakeshore Village Entertainment, LLC was an American independent film production, finance, and former international sales and distribution company founded in 1994 by Tom Rosenberg and Ted Tannebaum. Lakeshore Entertainment is headquartered in Bev ...

. The story follows the original monster of Victor Frankenstein who is the only force that stands between the human race and an uprising of supernatural creatures determined to overthrow the world. Filming kicked off in July 2010. The film was released in 2014. Tatopoulos created the creature figures of the upcoming

Stan Winston Stanley Winston (April 7, 1946 – June 15, 2008) was an American television and film special make-up effects artist, best known for his work in the ''Terminator'' series, the first three '' Jurassic Park'' films, '' Aliens'', '' The Thing'', ...

produced Speed Demon. He will direct the action horror film Suspension, which based on a screenbook by Scott Millam. Tatopoulos served as a judge for the first 2 seasons, appearing only several times on the third, on the Syfy original series '' Face Off'' which features makeup artists competing for $100,000.

Collaborators

Tatopoulos has worked with the following directors on more than one film: * Paul W. S. Anderson ('' Alien vs. Predator'', '' Resident Evil: Extinction'') *

(''

'', ''

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

'') *

('' Dark City'', ''

'', '' Knowing'') *

David Twohy David Neil Twohy ( ; born October 18, 1955) is an American film director and screenwriter. He is known for working on science fiction-action films, most notably Vin Diesel's ''The Chronicles of Riddick (franchise), The Chronicles of Riddick'' se ...

('' Pitch Black'', '' The Chronicles of Riddick'', '' Riddick'') *

(''

'', '' Underworld: Evolution'', ''

'', '' Total Recall'') *

Zack Snyder Zachary Edward Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American filmmaker. He made his feature film debut in 2004 with ''Dawn of the Dead (2004 film), Dawn of the Dead'', a remake of the 1978 horror film Dawn of the Dead (1978 film), of the same name ...

(''

'', '' Man of Steel'', '' Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'', ''

'', ''

Zack Snyder's Justice League ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' (colloquially referred to as the ''Snyder Cut'') is the 2021 director's cut of the 2017 American superhero film ''Justice League'', the fifth film set within the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), which is based ...

'')

Filmography

* ''

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

'' (1991) * '' Showdown in Little Tokyo'' (1991) * '' Bram Stoker's Dracula'' (1992) * ''

Super Mario Bros. is a 1985 Platformer, platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It is the successor to the 1983 arcade game ''Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series. It was origi ...

'' (1993) * ''

'' (1994) * '' Space: Above and Beyond'' (1995) * '' Se7en'' (1995) * ''

Jade Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...

'' (1995) * '' Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace'' (1996) * ''

'' (1996) * ''

'' (1997) * '' Dark City'' (1998) * ''

'' (1998) * ''

Stigmata Stigmata (, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion Five Holy Wounds, wounds of Jesus in Christian ...

'' (1999) * ''

Supernova A supernova (: supernovae or supernovas) is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. A supernova occurs during the last stellar evolution, evolutionary stages of a massive star, or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion ...

'' (2000) * '' Pitch Black'' (2000) * '' Battlefield Earth'' (2000) * '' Special Unit 2'' (2001) * '' Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within'' (2001) * '' Saint Sinner'' (2002) * ''

They In Modern English, ''they'' is a third-person pronoun relating to a grammatical subject. Morphology In Standard Modern English, ''they'' has five distinct word forms: * ''they'': the nominative (subjective) form * ''them'': the accus ...

'' (2002) * ''

'' (2003) * ''

Van Helsing Professor Abraham Van Helsing () is a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula'' written by Bram Stoker. Van Helsing is a Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the P ...

'' (2004) * '' The Chronicles of Riddick'' (2004) * ''

'' (2004) * '' Alien vs. Predator'' (2004) * '' The Librarian: Quest for the Spear'' (2004) * '' The Cave'' (2005) * ''

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

'' (2005) * '' Underworld: Evolution'' (2006) * ''

Silent Hill is a horror media franchise centered on a series of survival horror games created by Keiichiro Toyama and published by Konami. The first four main games—'' Silent Hill'', '' Silent Hill 2'', '' Silent Hill 3'', and '' Silent Hill 4: The ...

'' (2006) * '' Crank'' (2006) * ''

Eragon ''Eragon'' is the first book in ''The Inheritance Cycle'' by American fantasy writer Christopher Paolini. Paolini, born in 1983, began writing the novel after graduating from home school at the age of fifteen. After writing the first draft for ...

'' (2006) * ''

The Dead Girl ''The Dead Girl'' is a 2006 American drama thriller film written and directed by Karen Moncrieff, starring Brittany Murphy, Toni Collette, Rose Byrne and Marcia Gay Harden. The film was nominated for several 2007 Independent Spirit Awards incl ...

'' (2006) * ''

Aquaman Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 (November 1941). Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles ...

'' (2007) * '' The Messengers'' (2007) * ''

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2007) * '' Resident Evil: Extinction'' (2007) * '' I Am Legend'' (2007) * ''

'' (2008) * '' The Ruins'' (2008) * '' Outlander'' (2008) * ''

Pathology Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

'' (2008) * '' Starship Troopers 3: Marauder'' (2008) * '' Underworld: Rise of the Lycans'' (2009) (Director) * '' Blood Creek'' (2009) * '' Solomon Kane'' (2009) * '' Knowing'' (2009) * ''

'' (2009) * '' Gallowwalker'' (2011) * '' Underworld: Awakening'' (2012) * '' Total Recall'' (2012) * '' Silent Hill: Revelation 3D'' (2012) * '' Man of Steel'' (2013) * '' Riddick'' (2013) * '' 300: Rise of an Empire'' (2014) * '' Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'' (2016) * ''

'' (2017) * '' Maleficent: Mistress of Evil'' (2019) * ''

'' (2021) * '' Transformers: Rise of the Beasts'' (2023) * '' Damsel'' (2024)

References

External links

*
Tatopoulos Studios Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tatopoulos, Patrick American film producers French emigrants to the United States American people of Greek descent American production designers French people of Greek descent Living people École des Beaux-Arts alumni Film directors from Los Angeles 1957 births