By Angel Ellis/Reporter
Tulsa, Oklahoma —Mvskoke children all grew up hearing spooky stories about “Hahkvs” (monsters) but Tate Steinsiek managed to bring the monsters from his imagination to life on screen.
Steinsiek is an award winning SFX Prostetics artist, Conceptual Artist and Director. He has coordinated productions all over the world including Morocco, Romania, China, India, Mexico, Canada, Ireland, Turkey and England.
While he has been all over, most of his creations are born in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
His was one of the creature and puppet designers for “Puppet Master: The littlest Reich,” built prosthetics for “Sharknado 2: The Second One,” and even worked on the special effects crew of “The Amazing Spider-Man” and much more.
“On Sharknado 2, I made these miniature sharks that had springs in them so that when they bit onto the backsides of people the shark would wiggle when they ran,” Steinsiek said.
For a large portion of his career Steinsiek worked with Saturday Night Live, Law & Order, and even with the History and Discovery Channels.
A Graduate from Morris, he made his way onto the SyFy reality series Face Off for seasons one and five.
One of his more recent projects was directing a feature film reboot of a remake of 1995’s gory, gothic, straight-to-VHS, “Castle Freak.”
“I’m just living the dream here in Tulsa trying to make movies and play with monsters and not have to get a real job,” Steinsiek said.
He is currently working on special effects for a show being shot in Oklahoma called Reservation Dawgs.
“The project is being championed by Sterling Harjo, a local filmmaker, featuring elements of the Creek Nation and the tribe,” Steinsiek said.
While the project does not have monsters Steinsiek will be working on prosthetics and trauma effects. He says he has even worked on children’s films.
“As long as I am creating I’m happy, it doesn’t have to be monsters although I like monsters most,” Steinsiek said. “It’s really about the act of creating with my hands that I am into.”
A lot his projects begin with drawing and design. His drawings are displayed throughout his studio and one of his favorites to point out is a Native American Post-Apocalyptic Warrior.
Steinsiek says he was always drawn to horror.
“I was always a horror kid, even at a young age before I was even really introduce to horror or monsters in movies,” Steinsiek said. “I don’t know exactly the genesis of that but it did turn into an obsession with monsters.”
“It’s a healthy outlet to relieve some stress.”
Some of his work includes making masks to sell on his online store. Steinsiek even teaches the craft.
If you would like to find more information about his work, you can find his work and store at illwilled.com
