A native of northern Minnesota, Jim first became interested in makeup effects at the age of 12. Heavily influenced by films like Star Wars, The Wizard of Oz, Planet of the Apes and just about any horror film he began pursuing makeup as a career.

He began his education at the University of Minnesota in Duluth, training in art, photography and stage makeup.  Then in 1993, he attended a makeup school in Orlando Florida, where he finished at the very top of his class earning a “Best Makeup” award from the school.  Early student films led to work on television shows such as Sea Quest and Mortal Kombat.

In 1995 Universal Studios Florida created a new makeup department. Jim was one of 4 artists hired to start it. Within a year he was chosen to lead the team which in just a few short years, grew to a crew of 15+ makeup artists and hair stylists. During large projects crews grew to over 40 artists.   At Universal Jim oversaw a 2000 sq. ft. makeup effects lab and was involved with each project from design, to budgeting, to hiring the crew, to supervising shop fabrication, to test applications, all the way though striking the job.

In 2004 Jim moved to Norway with his family where he was the head of makeup effects education at the Nordic Institute for Stage and Studio (NISS) for 6 years. 

From 2010, Jim has been focussing solely on his freelance career through his company iMAGiNARiUM FX.

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2017 sees the expansion of the iMAGiNARiUM brand to include an entertainment arts center, Studio iMAGiNARiUM, educational course with iMAGiNARiUM CLASSROOM, and online sales of art and supplies through the iMAGiNARiUM BOUTIQUE.

Owner / Maekup FX Supervisor

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