Meet Brittany Fontaine – Mold and Silicon Technician on Deadpool

Douglas Education Center Student Matters

Brittany Fontaine
Tom Savini Special Make-Up Effects Program Graduate – September 2011
Dorian’s Fantasy Art Program Graduate – May 2012

Brittany Fontaine

Have you seen Suicide Squad?  How about Deadpool? Surely you’ve seen the American epic fantasy war film 300: Rise of an Empire. If you have seen any or all of these movies then you’ve seen the work of Brittany Fontaine.

Brittany attended Douglas Education Center (“DEC”) back in the summer of 2010, where she studied in the Tom Savini’s Special Make-Up Effects Program.  Unlike many of the DEC students, Brittany traveled over 1,000 miles to attend the Tom Savini Program.  She chose to do so because she was a long-time fan of Tom Savini, and she was interested in attending a program that was developed and led by him.

While in attendance at DEC, Brittany was always one of those students who you could count on to get involved in nearly every opportunity DEC had to offer.   Whether helping out with DEC commercials or mentoring high school students, Brittany did her best to be fully immersed in all facets of learning and to seek out experiences that would allow her to mature in the industry that she loves.

Today, Brittany continues with that same bravado by embracing every opportunity crossing her path and enjoying the journey!  During the day, you can find her working in a prop shop in North Hollywood.  During the evening, she’s making masks and during any of the free time in-between she’s doing freelance gigs with Universal Studios, Unusual Suspects (Discovery Channel), and make up effects/body painting for PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals).  She is a girl on the move!

There’s no doubt that Brittany’s drive comes from being raised by a strong, independent and self-employed mother.  She describes her mom as “self-made” and when asked what motivates her to excel in all that she’s doing she responds by saying, “When I was three, my mom started her own business as a photographer and still has that business today.  She raised me and my sister on her own, and seeing what she has done motivates me to be my own boss and to be 100% self-made.”

It’s clear that Brittany means what she says with respect to being self-made. Her role as mold and silicon technician for the prosthetics worn on Deadpool came as a direct result of making things happen.  She was cold calling a variety of places which led to an interview with Andy Clement.  That interview was the first step, in many, which has put her on the path she is on today. Not only did she work with Andy Clement she also had the honor of working for critically acclaimed artist, with multiple Oscar awards and nominations, Bill Corso.

When asked what she’d tell herself back in the summer of 2010 when first attending DEC, she said that she would have told herself to make the most of the sleepless nights, learn from the failures and to have more fun.  “Though there was value in being as focused as I was, looking back I would have built more relationships and just had more fun.  I’m getting a chance to do all of that now, but I can see how I could have done more while at Douglas.”  Focus and motivation are certainly traits of those that are able to reach their goals, and it looks as if Brittany Fontaine knows a bit about both.

Look for more of her work in the near and distant future, including the next Star Trek 3 being released this summer.

Read Nora Hewitt’s Story
Read Jason Baker’s Story
Learn more about The Tom Savini’s Special Make-Up Effects Program