Patrick Tatopoulos | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1957-09-25)September 25, 1957 (age 67) Paris, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Production designer |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
Patrick Tatopoulos (born September 25, 1957) is aGreek-Frenchproduction designer anddirector who lives and works in the United States. His designs have appeared in numerous motion pictures, includingPitch Black;Underworld;I, Robot;The Chronicles of Riddick;Independence Day;Bram Stoker's Dracula;Stargate;Spawn;Godzilla;Stuart Little;300;I Am Legend;Man of Steel;Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice;Justice League;10,000 BC andLive Free or Die Hard.
Tatopoulos was born and raised in Paris, France, to a French mother and an immigrant father fromGreece.[1] His parents had a clothing store in Paris. Tatopoulos raced motorcycles, worked in 2-D advertising and drew comic book covers. He lived inGreece for ten years before coming to the United States in 1989. He is a fluent speaker of English,Greek and French.
On October 11, 2015, Tatopoulos marriedFace Off hostMcKenzie 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 inMalibu, California.[2] Tatopoulos is currently based in Los Angeles.
In Greece, while working as a designer artist in the production of commercials, he was continually fascinated by creatures and special effects.[3] He studied at theÉcole d'Art Décoratif de Paris, the École des Arts Appliqués de Paris, and theÉcole des Beaux-Arts.[1] From Paris he moved toRome andGreece 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 directorsRoland Emmerich,Alex Proyas, andLen Wiseman.
The main character inGodzilla, Nick Tatopoulos, is named after Patrick, who worked on that movie and several others made by the same creative team.[4]
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.[5] He owns Tatopoulos Studios, Inc. and Patrick Tatopoulos Designs, Inc.
The character of Niko Tatopoulos inGodzilla was named after his youngest daughter. He made his directorial debut with the 2009 filmUnderworld: Rise of the Lycans. He worked on the live action film adaptation of theDarkstorm Studios graphic novelI, Frankenstein,[6] which was produced byLakeshore Entertainment.[7] The story follows the original monster ofVictor 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 upcomingStan Winston produced Speed Demon.[8] He will direct the action horror film Suspension, which based on a screenbook by Scott Millam.[9]
Tatopoulos served as a judge for the first 2 seasons, appearing only several times on the third, on theSyfy original seriesFace Off which features makeup artists competing for $100,000.[10]
Tatopoulos has worked with the following directors on more than one film:
