Fon Davis on Practical Effects & Remembering Grant Imahara | Celebrity Interview

On this episode of The Staffa Corner Podcast, a celebrity interview in the heart of Hollywood filmmaking features Fon Davis, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) veteran and CEO of Fonco Studios. This film industry interview dives into the world of visual effects, creature design, and practical filmmaking, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how iconic film and television visuals are brought to life.

Fon shares stories from working on major Hollywood films, along with expert insights into practical effects vs CGI and why physical models still play a vital role in modern filmmaking. From building creatures to crafting cinematic worlds, this episode is a must-listen for filmmakers, VFX artists, and fans of movie magic.

The Staffa Corner Podcast is your destination for celebrity interviews with Hollywood actors, filmmakers, and entertainment industry insiders. Tune in for expert insights, behind-the-scenes stories, and real conversations across film, television, and visual effects.

Follow Fon Davis on Instagram HERE

Learn more about Fonco Studios HERE 

Click HERE to learn more about the Grant Imahara STEAM Foundation.

Transcript

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Entertainment & Film Industry - Fonco Studios CEO Fon Davis: ILM, Industry Future, & Remembering Grant Imahara

Greg Staffa 0:00

You're listening to the Steph of Corner Podcast, a staffer, an entertainment life with your host, Ray Steph. My guest this episode is someone that I'm excited to have on. He is CEO of Funko Studios. The studio includes things like production, art department, set prop fabrication, a model shop, creature shop, costume and wardrobe, and more. He is known a lot for his feature 50 films, as well as countless music videos, commercials, TV shows, and other stuff. He is an alumni of Industrial Light and Magic and also is an instructor at the Stan Winston Studio. Fon Davis, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you. I admit that most of my knowledge of you comes from watching you on Adam Savage stuff. You appear a lot on his stuff, and so I've grown to um get to know your work and stuff like that. And so this is a true pleasure in having you on. I love watching you and Adam work together. Adam Savage is one of my dream interviews. He is one of those people that he he's a celebrity, but he doesn't act like one. And he's done some amazing things. If you're if you're a child of the 70s, you two are like our dream, kind of like you're our our our babe root of of you know movies. Um thank you so much.

Fon Davis 1:48

Adam's great. I love being on his show. Uh Tested is really uh yeah, that's really his baby. And everything you see there, that's exactly how he is. He's just down to earth and a really good storyteller.

Greg Staffa 2:01

Well, what amazes me about him, and I'll get off of him in a minute here, but what amazes me about him is he a while back did like a two-hour video

Why Process Videos Captivate Non‑Makers

Greg Staffa 2:10

where he deconstructed his it was like a plastic uh vacuum mold system that he had made, and it was a two-hour video of him deconstructing and reconstructing, cleaning it out and and putting it back together. And after two hours, I realized that I cared nothing about vacuum seal molds, I cared nothing about any of that stuff, but yet I was riveted for two hours listening to him go through the process, and and that's one of the things I love about him, and then also you being a model maker, being a creature designer, there is there's a lost art in what you guys do that I just find riveting, even though you don't have to love what they're talking about. The way that you guys talk and break things down for people, I think is just riveting.

Fon Davis 2:58

Oh, I really appreciate that. Thank you. It was actually really surprising to me that that so many people do watch um my educational material in particular just for entertainment because I've done a lot of educational material with the Stan Winston school, and I I had some DVDs that were going to be moving our um my older uh DVD lessons onto YouTube, onto my YouTube channel. But I used to ask people to share with me what it is that they built using the techniques that I teach. And um everyone's like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, and then I was like, okay, that's weird. Um, and I never got any photos of of the things that people make. And then um finally I was at San Diego Comic-Con one year and someone bought the DVD and I said that to them. I'd love to see what they make. And they said, Oh, I have no intention of making anything, I just like to watch you work.

Greg Staffa 3:52

Well, I think a lot of it comes down to I'm I'm 51 years old. Uh, most of the guys that I know that are you're kind of nerds, whatever. We all have the the box set for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the extended edition box set. And I think you and Adam Savage, you guys are almost like the real life version of those box sets. And so it doesn't surprise me to hear that people are watching you for you, not necessarily to recreate or or to follow what you're teaching, but in order to watch, you know, we watch hours and hours of extended footage of Lord of the Rings, and I think you guys are kind of that version of that for an audience like myself that grew up on these kind of things of you know how things are made and how things are done, where it doesn't surprise me that people are like, I'm not here to make something, I'm here to just listen to you. I think that's what find that's what makes me find you and Adam Savage and and people like that so fascinating. I mean, we're you know, the Stan Winston school, you know, to be an instructor there is you know, if you grew up watching Star Wars, that's you know, if you don't know who Stan Winston is, it's just that's your nerd dream of to be able to be an instructor on something like that. Uh it's simply amazing. Let's talk about a little bit about what got you involved in you know this kind of life.

Early Spark: Making Of Star Wars

Greg Staffa 5:18

What what was the early stages of being involved in Prop Master or creating models and stuff like that?

Fon Davis 5:25

You know, I was it was in grade school, you know. And the funny thing is, I I did go see Star Wars with a lot of my um, you know, like a lot of people my age, um, back in the when it came out in the 70s. But I went to the library and I picked up a book called Um Star Wars Making of the Movie because I was fascinated with not just the movie, but how they made the movie. Um, I've just always had that interest. And I picked up the book and I flipped to the page that showed professional model makers. And I was I was like, that's a job. I think I want that job, you know. It just really opened my eyes to the idea that I could do something I love for a living, you know. Uh, even at that age, it was it was uh life-altering to see that that that that was a career path, you know. And then I just worked really, really hard. I'm gonna make it sound super simple, but I worked really hard for a long time and I got to I got to have my dream job before I get at the ILM model shop.

Greg Staffa 6:24

Growing up in the 70s, the term ILM has almost a reverence to it. You know, if you're in your 50s or or whatnot, ILM is the place that just there was there's other studios and stuff like that that did that kind of stuff, but ILM was was the you know the the place to be. What was that like to be, you know, use like you said, you had the book, you know, you were reading on that and learning about stuff, but then to actually start working at ILM, what was that like?

Fon Davis 6:54

You know, it's funny at that point. I had been working for quite a while in in movies and television. I'd already done Nightmare Before Christmas and Jims and Giant Peach, a lot of commercials and music videos and stuff. So it felt weirdly, the nerd side of myself, you know, the little kid in me wasn't really activated the way I thought it would. It was work, and I really enjoyed my work. And that's pretty much that was pretty much my focus. And it was very, you know, it was very normal. It was just, you know, that was my job. Uh but every now and then I would get a project and it would kind of awaken that inner child in me, and I I kind of nerd out on stuff. Like the first time I got to work on an R2D2, there was one that needed some paint and it had to be stripped and repainted. And I'll never forget, I had it next to my desk, and I took the head off and I set it aside, and then I turned to look inside it, and there were the straps and the little footholds for Kenny Baker. And I realized that I was working on one of the original New Hope R2 D2s. And so I I did I did pause and have a moment where the where the seven-year-old and me could just really enjoy the fact that I was working on R2D2, you know. So there it had its moments like that for sure. But but the but the primary you know, time you spend at a workplace like that, you're really, really focused

ILM Reality And Childhood Awe

Fon Davis 8:20

on productivity and doing good work, you know.

Greg Staffa 8:23

And I mean the people that have come out of there, Grant Namhara, Adam Savage, uh, I just had another ILM worker, I don't know if you know him or not, but Anthony the Surro. Yeah, you know, what what is that kind of breed? Because you know, back in those days, model making and everything like that was a big thing. You know, we had all kinds of, you know, we had various studios now doing these kind of things. It's it was almost romanticized. The idea of you know, guys in the backyard filming Star Wars, the original Star Wars and stuff like that. Did it feel when you were working that you were? I mean, used to the nerd factor wasn't really there because it was a job, but was there kind of an appreciation of what you were doing was different?

Fon Davis 9:13

Yeah, I think I think that everybody there was there for the same reason. They really you have to love the work because the schedules are really difficult, there's not a lot of margin for error, you know, and you have to you have to consistently do this like this really high quality work. At the time, uh, when when Adam and a bunch of the people you named, um Grant and uh Anthony, when we were all working there, they were they were doing 75% of the visual effects work in the world, and most of that were the really big franchises like Star Trek and Jurassic Park and um you know the Harry Potter series and Pirates of the Caribbean, and so there was always an awareness that we were doing something really big and really special, and uh we we would all work really hard to achieve that. It felt very much like I think it felt more like a I don't know, like a laboratory in the sense that we were always experimenting and pushing the envelope and we we, you know, but held to a very high standard. We called it campus, we called the the the facility, the whole motion picture studio, we called it a campus because we all felt like we were students of the art.

Greg Staffa 10:26

And do you feel even now doing the job that you do is is that a trainable hireable job, or is it I mean, like I can teach anyone to serve fries at McDonald's, I can teach anyone you know to have good customer service. But when we're talking model making and and you know creature development and stuff like that, there almost has to be, I would assume, kind of a different brain of thought or a different approach to thinking. And is that something that is easily trainable or are there just certain unique people that fit that mold?

Fon Davis 11:01

Yeah,

Culture At ILM And High Standards

Fon Davis 11:02

that's a very good question. Because I I I will tell you, I grew up very much thinking that anybody could do anything if they set their mind to it. And I always felt like I was living proof of that, you know. All the way into my career, I I always thought if you just put your mind to it, you can do it. But when I when I shifted over into education, I started to realize as I was working with students that uh it is also important to have an aptitude. And I don't think that I think I still think anyone can do anything they really set their mind to, but I will say that some people are gonna have an easier time than other people achieving it. If that makes any sense, right? Oh, no, it does. It it takes, I will say that the number one thing that I see even to this day, that you have to have if you're gonna really, really succeed in this industry, is to have a thick skin, believe it or not, to be able to uh deal with the imperfections of the the business and the frustrating schedules and budgets. And yeah, you have to be able to get past all the frustrating parts and just focus on solutions and focus on the work. And and in that, you have to be good at the work. So, and a lot of that can be achieved with practice. But I think that people who have an aptitude don't have to practice as much. And I think if you have the right mindset and you're not you're not one to quit easily, I think that that that also is an aptitude that will really get you far.

Greg Staffa 12:30

And is some of the just life in general? I mean, I remember seeing clips of George Lucas going through and looking at photos or drawings of of creations that were you know being contemplated, and he would just line out through you know several of them go, nope, nope, nope, nope. And here you are working hours on these things. Is that part of it, or is this yes, more than just well, you don't, yeah, you don't get precious about what you do.

Fon Davis 12:57

Uh you you you don't get sensitive. Uh you know, a lot of the stuff that I built for the Star Wars movies was blown up, or for a lot of movies, they blow the stuff up. You can't get attached to it, and you certainly can't take it personal if if some of the work that you've done is is uh omitted from the movie. We've had entire models that we've built um for weeks or months that um you know the movie will come out, and that's

Aptitude, Grit, And Thick Skin

Fon Davis 13:22

when you find out it's not in the movie. And that's still that still happens. We did a miniature of Hawthorne Island for them um for a movie called The Menu. And I I went to see the movie, and the model's not in the movie. So it does happen. Uh luckily it came out with the when the Blu-ray came out, they had it in the the cutscenes. So our model has some life out there related to the movie. But um, yeah, that would happen on um, you know, on the bigger motion pictures, it tends to happen a little less because they spend so much money on things they're usually pretty certain if they're gonna do it or not. Um, but sometimes when they get into editing, that's when when they decide that um something is just not working for the timing of the movie, and the movie uh pacing takes precedent over our work.

Greg Staffa 14:11

And how much of the work that you do is written out and outlined for you, or is it just robot enters room and they say, Okay, Fawn, we want you to create that robot? Or is it do they kind of go through and describe what they envision, or is a lot of it just here's several different drawings, have the director or whoever choose the one that they like, and then we'll go from there?

Fon Davis 14:35

Yeah, for that one, there's no straightforward answer because um it's it's everything that you said. It's sometimes you get a napkin sketch and an idea, and they're like, Okay, you need to dream it up. Uh, sometimes you get very, very specific detailed measurements. You might get a computer model that's completely spelled out, and you just have to make the physical version of that model. Sometimes it's a hybrid of both. So, for example, on the Star Wars movies, you would get a piece of artwork that really describes what something's gonna look like in detail, but it only shows one side of the design. So you would have to rely on your own intuition as to what the other side of that looks like.

Greg Staffa 15:18

And how much research goes into doing something like designing of a model? I mean, you you can't just say spaceship because a spaceship in Star Wars is very different than a spaceship

Detachment: Builds Cut Or Blown Up

Greg Staffa 15:30

in Star Trek. Uh Star Wars is dirty, Star Wars is broken down, and other pieces used to fix other pieces. Star Trek is very clean, and and so to have the same approach for something like those two different films. Um, you know, how much research goes into understanding a universe that you're trying to create? How much digging in, or do you talk to the director saying, you know, what does your world look like that I'm trying to create? Is it a a clean Star Trek E? Is it dirty Star Wars? I mean, how does that how does that work?

Fon Davis 16:03

Well, we we do we do take the the work we do very seriously in that sense because whatever story the director is trying to tell is has got to be your focus. So you're right. In Star Trek, it's going to be a different store story than Star Wars. In Star Wars, everything is used, you know, so it wants to look used, it wants to look like it's it's seen some things, you know. And then um, you know, Star Trek is clean because they're very scientific, it's a very organized future with different types of technology. What we typically do is a couple different things when we start on a project. One of the things I like to do anyway, I like to immerse myself in whatever subject matter it is. So if I'm working on, say, um a pirate movie, I'm gonna research pirates and galleons and wood technology of that time. You know, um, if I'm working on Pearl Harbor, I'm gonna dig into some World War II books. I'm gonna study maritime, I'm gonna study aviation of that period. I even went as far as to start uh starting to listen to big band and swing music and and um

Briefs, Napkin Sketches, And Autonomy

Fon Davis 17:12

uh radio shows from the 40s when I was working on that movie. Because I feel like, for me anyway, I I really like to be like exist in that world. So if I'm designing or fabricating anything for that world, I'm already in it. You know, so immersion is a really important thing. And those conversations, of course, with the director or the production designer, art director, um, about what is the storytelling of the item that you're creating, you know, whether that be a costume or a prop or a robot or a spaceship, it always has a backstory, and the backstory might not be spoken in the movie. So it's up to us as designers to create a story based on looking at it. You know, what how how does the story come across in the way it looks visually? So, you know, it's definitely not something we take for granted.

Greg Staffa 18:01

And is your approach? Like if the director says this is gonna be on screen for 10 seconds and then we're blowing it up, does that change your approach of how you do things, the details that put into it, or is it all created because you don't know the longevity of it?

Fon Davis 18:16

The the amount of screen time actually doesn't affect it as much as you would think. What we're usually really focused on is how big is it in frame? And you know, I guess the the boundaries that are created for us usually have to do with the timetable and the the schedule or the budget that you have to work with, like how many people can you put on it? Are you doing it by yourself? You know, um you're going to plan out the project based on how much time and money you have, more than you're going to be affected by how much screen time it has.

Greg Staffa 18:53

And is there a sense? I mean, you have your own company now. Is there a sense that you almost at times are the pony express of the world right now? As far as you know, things

Researching Worlds And Visual Story

Greg Staffa 19:06

like the volume. Uh, we saw 3210 studios closing in 2023, ILM studios close their their Singapore thing. Things like the volume make it a lot easier to create things and put it up onto a you know a background. Is there kind of a feeling of inevitability? Do you see a resurgence in practical effects and and practical things? How does that that play into your work?

Fon Davis 19:33

Well, for us, we've always adapted with the times. One I was actually, you know, you talk about you know being of a certain generation. I was very fortunate that I was one of the first generations to be born into computer technology. Of course, we had pet computers in middle school, but by the time I started working at ILM, you know, Windows is already uh was Windows, the modern version of Windows, where they got past version numbers and started naming them after. Years. The modern version of Windows had come out. A lot of computer technology was coming out. I was at ILM while they were inventing things like uh, you know, performance capture and crowd scenes and and uh creature animation to a level that we've never seen before. So being around all of that computer technology kind of and being raised with a certain amount of exposure to it allowed uh some of us to transition into doing laser cutting and CNC work and using the vinyl cutter for details. And so then, and then also getting into later 3D printing and um CNC foam carving. And basically what I've learned through the years, if you can integrate and you can keep up with technology and you have a focus on technology, then you're not you're not sealing your fate to become like uh you know um extinct. So,

Screen Time vs Scale And Budget

Fon Davis 21:00

you know, for example, we still make physical items that we put on a volume on LED stages, you know. Um, so we've kept in touch with people who work in performance capture, in virtual production, and we make ourselves indispensable in any way we can in all of those areas, and that's bought us longevity that I think we wouldn't have had if we didn't embrace technology. So I like to say, you know, Fonco Studios is where traditional art and technology meet because we use both hand in hand instead of uh throwing the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak.

Greg Staffa 21:37

And does that shift to technology? Does that lose some of the childhood joy and I mean early Star Wars models where you take a bunch of models and throw the pieces into a pile and start creating? Does using technology does that lessen some of that, even though you're still doing a part of it? Does it does that hands-on approach kind of get lost in the technology where you're you feel like you're missing something, but you're still able to stay relevant?

Fon Davis 22:09

Yeah, I mean, we

Practical Effects In A Virtual Era

Fon Davis 22:10

still find ways to get excited about design. You know, ultimately it's the same. We still are very fortunate in that a lot of the things that we do at Fonco are still physical objects. So we do a lot of work in the computer. We use a lot of computer technology and robotics technology to create the the physical items, but we're still doing physical items, so we still get to do the painting. And you know, uh to be fair, a lot of things are designed in 3D in the computer and then printed or laser cut or CNC'd or you know, fabricated by machines instead of people. Um, but the end result is still sanded and painted, and and the electronics still have to go in. So there's a still plenty of work happening, you know, uh in the traditional art side of things. Enough that we still have um you know three times more space in our uh physical shops than we do in our art department where we do the digital work.

Greg Staffa 23:07

And as CEO, are you still able to sit down and and find that inner child and start building something? Or is now a lot of your work, a lot of directing and and you know, testing out to others to to do the jobs and supervising, are you still able to be the little kid working on that little project? Very little.

Fon Davis 23:30

So I I am uh, you know, it's funny because what'll happen is I don't get to do any of that stuff at work. You know, I don't get to do any of the physical hands-on work, but on my free time, I do find time to uh still work on my own robots, I still work on sculptures, I still do a lot of stuff at home. In fact, I started setting up a home shop and will be posting videos from my home shop for my personal projects on YouTube um probably a

Does Tech Kill The Joy Of Making

Fon Davis 24:00

little later this year. Um but I I I just in the last couple years finally got a space set up off-site that is my own. Uh, because even though I like the studio is mine, the priority for the space is to to do jobs. Yeah, you know, so I can't I can't just take over a work table. Um, and so I don't even have a a place to do the work or the time to do it here.

Greg Staffa 24:24

I think that'd be fascinating. I mean, like I said, as a fan of watching you and Adam Savage, there there's something to it. I think for our generation or my generation, you know, we we love those DVD commentaries, and to have DVDs almost be irrelevant now, I think we're missing out on. I think younger generations are missing out on something. I mean, there's a lot of us that would get DVDs just because of those those commentaries and behind the scenes stuff, and I think that created a lot of the people that you would see end up at ILM, and I think that there's a loss to that that we don't have those DVDs being promoted anymore. You don't find those box sets of Lord of the Rings.

Fon Davis 25:08

And I'm funny that there's there's inspiration still on on things like YouTube and TikTok and other places in social media. Um, and I think there is a uh another generation

CEO Life And Finding Time To Build

Fon Davis 25:20

of people uh that are sharing these really inspiring creations and things like that online, it's just not in the same form. I by the way, I love that you compared what Adam and I do to those behind the scenes that's like uh videos because that's like a really great compliment because we love watching those as well.

Greg Staffa 25:42

So I think I mean I think it's a great analogy. I mean, like I said, I I watched two hours of him putting together something I didn't care about, but I found him the way he described it so fascinating that it's like, oh, that was two hours of something I I might as well have watched grass him talking about grass growing, but yet I was riveted to it, and so I would welcome you creating a channel of just you doing stuff. I think there's a almost a demand for it just because we don't have those DVD commentaries, and there's a lot of I think dreamers out there that would be enticed by seeing those things, even though I'm not a builder, I would love to be able to build my own R2 D2, but I would rather watch a video of Grant, you know, playing with his R2 D2 or Adam working on his R2D2 versus me building my own. And I think there's to hear you talking about your videos and being surprised that people weren't doing it to build, uh, didn't surprise me at all because I guess I would find myself in that same category.

Fon Davis 26:45

Yeah, it was really surprising for me because I my goal, of course, was to educate the next generation of uh model makers. So when I it was it was um it was pretty surprising. It's one of the reasons why a lot of people have been pushing me

Losing DVD Commentaries, Gaining YouTube

Fon Davis 27:00

to do a channel or to to start posting on my channel, so I think I might finally do it this year. I'd subscribe.

Greg Staffa 27:07

One of the things, and you kind of touched on it, is you know, are we are we losing the the George Lucases and Steven Spielbergs of the future generations? I mean, there was a almost a romanticize of how George Lucas created Star Wars or you know, Steven Spielberg and you know filming in their backyard and you know, or back lot of some you know place. Is there now you know independent films or smaller films aren't getting that that look at because they're not big budgeted or they're not and it's harder for these smaller films to survive. I'm not sure Star Wars could be made today, given the budgets, even though we're making small independent films. Yeah, are we losing those kind of directors and stuff like that, like Spielberg and Lucas?

Fon Davis 27:57

I don't think so. I I think that there are a lot of really great directors out there, there's a lot of wonderful storytellers. I think that the Hollywood machine at this moment in time is is uh I don't want to call it broken, that's almost too dramatic. But I will say that it's it's being rebuilt and upgraded in a way that

Are We Losing Future Spielbergs

Fon Davis 28:18

no one uh can foresee. The whole kind of Hollywood machine and how movies are funded and how they're made and how people make money with those movies is has not been working the same way. And I think it's really hard for anyone to predict how they're supposed to make movies right now. So uh I will say that we see all the time, uh, because we we we work on the really the biggest movies ever, and then we also work on these independent films, and there's still a real fire, a real passion behind uh creative people to make their own movies. And I will say, with the technology that's available today, it's it's way more accessible than it's ever been. And if you're a really good filmmaker, you could shoot with um you know some of the digital DSLRs. You don't have to have a red anymore. You could shoot, there's people shooting on their iPhones. The capability of an iPhone is mind-blowing, you know. So it's really do you have the ability to edit and do the storytelling and get good actors? And like if the quality is there, it almost doesn't matter what the technology is anymore. It's just got to be good quality storytelling and good engaging characters. And I think that there are a lot of people who have a finger on what that is, but it is a very difficult time in that no one has a clear vision of what the modern distribution model uh looks like, you know. Interesting.

Greg Staffa 29:46

One of the things that in talking to Anthony Azzuro, who also worked at ILM, one of the things that surprised me that came up during our talk was that his approach to life was influenced by working

ILM Mindset Applied To Life

Greg Staffa 30:00

at places like ILM or even for you, you know, Funko Studios. Did the creative approach that you have, how does that influence your life as far as looking at a problem? You know, when you're making a motto or you're doing something, you're creating something that A isn't there, but you're also finding a way to give the illusion that a star destroyer is as big as it is, even though it's you know not. How does that influence your life as far as approaching problems in life, approaching, you know, life's hurdles? Has that had any influence on your day-to-day life?

Fon Davis 30:39

Absolutely. I feel like uh having worked at ILM and having worked with that particular team of creatives and technicians um really kind of cements the idea that anything is possible, you know, and you just have to find the solution. And so I think because I had worked with so many talented people who had this attitude of like, it wasn't like, oh, how like no one ever said like, oh, we can't do that. It was like, how are we gonna do that? How are we gonna make this happen? How are we gonna do it with the budget? How are we gonna do it with the schedule? Like, what we might have to make some compromises, but we're gonna make it

Watching Movies With Two Brains

Fon Davis 31:20

happen. And it's gonna happen to the best quality uh you know that we can. And there was always that, it was just a never quitting, never slowing down, um driven approach to everything, and a very solution-based approach to everything. And I think that that will always affect everything I look at in and inside my person inside work and then out in my personal life as well. I'm definitely more bold as to what projects and what kind of things I'll take on um based on being around so many people with that much confidence. And and you just I don't know, you you have enough successes and you do you do develop a confidence that is greater, I think, than if you hadn't tried at all, you know?

Greg Staffa 32:04

Interesting. I think more people could use some of that in their lives.

Fon Davis 32:08

Oh, I I firmly believe it. And I might be one of those Gen X like broken records, but I do feel like people, I would say just generally speaking, I see a lot of people talk themselves out of doing things. I see a lot of people really just kind of sink into this idea that they can't do stuff, and it makes me sad. I want I want

Originality vs Influence In Design

Fon Davis 32:30

people to go after the things they want and know that if they work hard, they can get it, you know. And I also would love to see people believe that there's a solution to everything. You don't really pursue the solutions to problems if you don't believe they exist, you know, and you see a lot of people talk themselves out of worthwhile things in their life or maybe compromise the quality of their life or the quality of their job uh because they don't believe there's a solution. And what I've learned is there are always there's always a solution.

Greg Staffa 33:02

You talked about the seven-year-old von Davis, uh, you know, getting that that Star Wars book. When you go to movies these days, even ones that you haven't worked on, is there a place for that seven-year-old still watching movies, or are you sitting there going, Wow, that's a miniature? Oh, that's a practical effect. Oh, that's the volume. Or we do have to enjoy it.

Fon Davis 33:25

Yeah, the the the older, the adult Fon Davis and the child Fawn Davis definitely have to share space in the same brain. But there's definitely, you know, I still I still collect uh toys of certain types, I still enjoy making robots, I still uh love a good movie. You know, I do there is always that side of me that will spot things in movies and and think about the technical aspects of how they make a movie, but only if there's something in the movie that takes me out of the story. You know, if it's a good solid movie with a good solid storytelling, I'll think about all that other stuff after I watch

Pride Moments And Career Milestones

Fon Davis 34:06

the movie, after I kind of like digest the story part of it. That's how I measure you know the quality of a good movie. If it if I don't think about how the movie was made for the entire 90 minutes or two hours that that I've watched that movie, then that's a really good movie, you know. So and and they still make them. You know, I really enjoyed the um the Mandalorian series. I really enjoyed uh Andor. Really looked forward to seeing those every week. Game of Thrones was just mind-blowing. Um, there's still a lot of shows that I get very, very excited about in the same way that I did when I was when I was a child, you know. Luckily, there's there's no shortage of really wonderful shows on these days.

Greg Staffa 34:49

How hard is it? Because your job is to create things, and I think there's a natural things that are bubbling up in our mind from things that we've seen. When you're creating something new, is it hard to wipe the brain slate clean and go, I'm not drawing this, isn't gonna be the next millennium fucking oh, you know, this isn't gonna be how do you start from a clean slate with the brain and not think of other things that are inspired by that, or is that a good thing that you're inspired by other things?

Fon Davis 35:20

Well, I think that I think that there's a uh you know, there's a fine line between um being inspired by and duplicating, right? So I do make a pretty concerted effort not to duplicate, but to keep the same storytelling that's needed. So, like if I were designing something for Star Wars, I know there's there's like a a set of boundaries that needs to be fulfilled, but I'm also going to still try to achieve something original. And the way I achieve something original is by focusing on whatever the new story that's being told. You know, one of the fortunate things is every time we work with a director or art director or production designer, um, these these people are always trying to do something new and different. So they're always pushing you to do something new and different. So you're thinking of those things, and they're trying to do things that are new and different.

Remembering Grant Imahara And Legacy

Fon Davis 36:10

So it's very rare that you're asked to design the same exact thing more than once. And and when you have that, you know, you really think about okay, within the boundaries of this world, you know, the world building of that particular uh project you're working on, how do I how does it tell the story? And usually if you focus on the storytelling, you draw from the reality of things that are derivative enough for the audience to tell what it is, but unique enough in its style to not feel like something they've ever seen before.

Greg Staffa 36:48

So a little bit of a self-promotion. I was an extra on a movie uh a couple years ago here in Minnesota, and I I told myself, you know, I just want to be seen on screen for you know two seconds and I'll be happy. And sure enough, I was I'm on scene very often the distance, but I gotta be on screen for two seconds and I was happy. Is there is there uh a creature? Is there a model? Is there a is there a Fon Davis project where doesn't it doesn't have to be a big budget movie like Star Wars? Is there something out there that you just wanted to see on screen, and that's your little little moment that you say that's something I'm extremely proud of?

Fon Davis 37:35

Yeah, I I have to say, in answer to that, I am a very, very fortunate soul because there are a lot of things that I'm quite proud of. You know, pretty much anything you build and put on screen, and you know you put it there, you feel there is a certain amount of pride and and joy you get from seeing it on screen every single time. I love that wherever I go, someone around me is going to be wearing um some shirt or

Closing Thanks And Matrix Bonus Tip

Fon Davis 38:10

swag or hat or socks or something from a movie that I worked on. And to just see the the number of fans and the number of people out there like really enjoying the work that we do is is it's a feeling like no other, you know, and it's everywhere, you know, it feels really good. The one that I I see the most is Nightmare Before Christmas, but I've also like there there are moments in your career like I used to get really excited. I'm still very proud of the images in CinefX magazine. That was a really big deal because I used to read that magazine growing up. Oh, yeah, that was very popular. To have my my photo in in that magazine was incredible. Uh, there was a real milestone in my career after I left Lucasfilm. Actually, I was interviewed for Star Wars Insider magazine. That was a really big deal because um, again, I grew up with Bantha Tracks, which was the original Star Wars Fan Club newsletter. Yep, and then it became later Star Wars Insider, and then that became a magazine, and and I think the fan club dissolved after that. And that that sadly, that I think this is their last year. Star Wars Insider is gonna be done. But having that interview in Star Wars Insider was was a real good moment. The second season of Light and Magic was I was my mind was completely blown as to how how many times I appeared in that. They did an interview with me, and and the stuff that Lauren Peterson said was like the biggest compliment someone can have in their career. But he spoke specifically of about working with me. I think he was just referring to model makers in general, but he's he singled me out as his example. So that was great. You know, uh, I did get to play Doik Natz in a bunch of the Printed material for the Star Wars uh series. Um, I got to play some characters that are background in the Star Wars special editions and the Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. You can't see me, but I know where I am in there. Or I know I'm in there. But yeah, there's been lots of opportunities. I had a lot of fun on a show. I got to host um some portions of Super Fan Builds as one of the builders on the show. Those episodes are up on YouTube. I got to guest with Duff on um Cake Masters. So all of those things. Yeah, I've been very, very lucky. And one of the names of tested, tested is great because um I I didn't know how many fans there were of tested until I was on um a bunch of his episodes. And now if I'm recognized in public, which I'm not typically, you know, I'm still very much behind the scenes. Almost every time I get recognized, it's because people recognize me from tested.

Greg Staffa 41:02

And like I said, that's how I reached out to you. I mean, I I had known of your name, I had known of your work, but it was really with Adam Savage that like this guy's pretty interesting. Let's have him on. Uh, one of the names I do want to bring up, and just because I want to keep his name out there, is you were really close to Grant Imahara, who was known on Mythbusters with Adam Savage, but also he worked at ILM with you, and then you also did uh uh the the robot um battle bots. Battle bots.

Fon Davis 41:34

Yes.

Greg Staffa 41:35

Uh tell us just a little brief memory that you might have with of him.

Fon Davis 41:40

Grant and I met. I'll tell you where we met. We met on uh our first week at industrial light and magic. We both started on the same week, just a couple days apart, on the same project working for Warren Peterson on a miniature. We were doing electronics for a miniature replica of the um global Olympic village for an Olympics commercial, an ATT Olympics commercial, um, in 1996 or seven. But anyway, so we both started on that same project, and we were just laying underneath this set on our backs. It was only about maybe two and a half, three feet of space, and we were wiring hundreds of little lights under this miniature, and that's how we met. And we got to know each other really well because we were just underneath this set wiring these lights for hours a day. Yeah, we just became friends and we started building uh robots after work for BattleBots, and uh we used to hang out outside of work, and we both moved to Los Angeles at the same time after um Mythbusters and for me it was after Kerner Studios and the Bay Area kind of just dried up in terms of the amount of practical work we were doing. And now I'm in um I'm on the board of directors for the Grand Imahara Steam Foundation. So a number of friends and family got together and created this foundation that helps uh underserved youth in steam education.

Greg Staffa 43:11

Oh wow, I'll put a link to that on the on the blurbs of this episode. Uh Fountain Davis, I sincerely appreciate you coming on. It's been a true pleasure. I've I've loved watching your work, especially, like I said, with Adam Savage. I think what you do is a lost art. Uh, you like I said, you are the DVD commentary of a lot of our childhood growing up, and so it's been a pure pleasure. Uh thank you and uh wish you the best of luck.

Fon Davis 43:41

Sure, thank you so much. Thanks for having us. Oh, and just on the quick a quick note on the the Blu-ray, if you go back to the Matrix uh DVD or Blu ray set, there's a behind the scenes of a very young Adam Savage and I in uh a segment called Dig This. Oh my god, I would I would recommend if that's something you enjoy. I'll check it out. Thank you so much. All right, thank you.