I am honored to be invited to participate in the Second International NC Merfest 2015.

I am a native Californian, born and raised in the coastal cities of Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades and Malibu. I based my Make-up and Visual Effects Studios, RSPinc, in Marina del Rey, where 30 years ago, I designed and created the now iconic mermaid Madison from the 1984 romantic comedy Splash.

I'm looking forward to sharing never before seen photos and behind the scenes stories of the making of Splash, Cocoon, Sabrina Down Under, Ace Ventura Pet Detective and many of the other sea creature projects I've had the pleasure to work on. My design philosophies are at the heart of my creations; I will take you on the journey from concept art to construction to on-set supervision and post-production.

My three decades of technical, creative and artistic achievement in the fields of Visual Effects and Make-up Effects have brought to life many of the screens most indelible characters. As an Academy Award winner (Beetlejuice/1989) I've fostered a unique blend of styles and techniques in the design and creation of my projects.

I have always had an affinity for any project that has to do with water. I learned to scuba dive in the early 70's and have had the wonderful opportunity to professionally dive on many of my jobs around the world. Two of my very first films were Alligator and Piranha, creating the make-up and underwater effects. It was this background that contributed to me being hired to create Madison the mermaid for Splash.

As an Underwater Make-up and Visual Effects specialist, I have also designed and created the mermaids, mermen and merlings for the TV movie Sabrina Down Under, and the dolphins for Cocoon, Cocoon the Return, Ace Ventura Pet Detective, and Joe Versus the Volcano. In addition I designed the character of the sea creature Nim for the TV series Surface as well as transforming Jim Carrey into a merman for Herb Ritts' Rolling Stone spread.

I look forward to sharing many of the secrets behind the making of these projects with everyone in North Carolina and meeting many more new friends at NC Merfest 2015.

For more information about my work, please visit www.robertshort.com