I would think that the best way to use this blog space constructively, would be to outline the several different ... well I just call them "irons in the fire". Of those other business ventures, none is older or more important to me than RAD F/X CO., It's now a big umbrella that covers all my other wild ideas. Have you heard of, or if you have, have you had a chance to check out my Rad F/X Co., lately? The "official name" now is "Rj Haddy's, Rad F/X Co.," (I still use just plain ol' Rad F/X myself sometimes). For those of you that do not know, Rad F/X Co., is the title I have used for the last 20 years when working as an Effects Artist or Production Designer.
When us "random F/X" kids first get their feet in wet, in the water of this industry, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, makes up a goofy little name for their little garage workshop business (basement, in my case). Making halloween prosthetics, random puppets, personal cosplays and make ups, and small productions that can be managed alone or with one other person, is usually how we all start out. So, when it came to be my turn in coming up with a goofy little name for my business ... Rad F/X rolled off the tongue nicely. Hey, I'm an 80's kid so the usage of the word RAD has been part of my vernacular since I started talking. I thought, "What better word to describe what I do for a living! It's definitely a Radical Effect!" So it stuck, and from the basement, to L.A., and back again (a few times) now, twenty years later, I am in my Uncle's warehouse, on Washington street in Charleston, WV, still creating and teaching. The same warehouse, I might add, where he and my father had their business, Haddy's Prime Beef, 40 years ago.
As of 2020, it's been re-christened, renovated, and reborn as The Rad F/X Atelier. (Google that word ATELIER). Gone, are the freezers and sides of beef hanging in them, now replaced with 15 foot-tall man eating puppets, props and costumes galore. Gallons of latex, silicone, and 50-100 lbs. bags of plaster, adorn what was once the "freezer floor" from wall-to-wall. Visages of actors, muses, models, and friends, past and present, sit, frozen in, said plaster; perched on bookshelves waiting to be chosen for my next "CREATION". It is really a full circle to be working in the building I used to play in as a child. Quite often, it looks like the Tasmanian Devil is the shop foreman, but that's all me, and my frenetic fast-paced working style. That's not to say the place doesn't get spit-shined every so often, either. On the contrary, pre-covid, I was hosting several classes a year in the large shop space and even a Dark Art gallery night the weekend of Halloween, for the last three years. These past three years have been focused mainly on finishing up and opening my "Outta Time eXcape Rooms" (also located in the same building) which my Rad F/X Co., is the sole creator of all properties, set design, and construction. Do you, want to open your own escape room and don't know where to begin? I'm the guy to talk to. I do a lot of different stuff, and RAD F/X Co., is the name of ALLLL that business. The RAD F/X umbrella opens wide enough to cover Outta Time, FXU, and my newest iron in the fire, my personal production company, Rad F/X PiXures.
Many of my original hand made, prosthetic make up appliances, masks, makeup supplies, original escape games and properties, and signature airbrushes by Paasche' airbrushes, can all be found online for purchase by simply visiting Rad F/X Co., online at www.radfxco.com. Please check that out and add Rad F/X to your favorite Etsy stores!
Now of course, this was all, PRE COVID-19. Now, as of August 2020, I am not so sure what the future holds for Rad F/X Co., the film industry at large, the escape game industry, or me. Covid-19 distancing and precautions enacted and much needed to flatten the curve of the disease, also keep businesses like mine closed, but we must keep people safe. How do you apply make up from 6 feet away? How does one go through an escape room now? Well, I have been spending the last several months coming up with some ideas and ways to answer those questions so we can move forward. It is imperative that we as a race and society learn new ways to achieve the same goals or end products, without large group interaction at this point. We must evolve or we face extinction. I'll talk all about Outta Time, and the ideas I am working on for making it a safe experience for everyone, in my next post. Please join me here in a day or so and you'll see what im talking about. Don't forget to subscribe and follow the story as it evolves. For now, go and visit www.radfxco.com and check out what I've been making during quarantine, and buy something! (Times are tough!)
Thanks for reading!
Rj