Reto Mueller - Production Designer

Reto Mueller moved to Vancouver, British Columbia from his native Switzerland with his girlfriend, FFTG costume designer Karin Hons.  Mueller graduated from Vancouver Film School on October 19, 2007, after having changed careers from optometry the year before.  He and Karin also previously lived in Paris, France, and they speak more than three languages.  While at VFS, Mueller wrote and directed the highly praised cerebral drama Milos, about a young European woman who comes to Canada to find solace after the tragic death of her brother.  The film co-stars Tara Pratt as Sarah, who also co-stars as Dr. Denise Hanson in Food for the Gods.  Mueller also served as Director of Photography on the supernatural thriller Crazy Old Woman, which was written by FFTG director H. Scott Hughes and directed by FFTG producer Joe Fang.  Mueller came aboard Food for the Gods midway during its pre-production and worked though the summer break to bring about a production value that is award-worthy.  Mueller worked with art director Ken MacLeod and costumer designer Karin Hons to create a unique and authentic cultural look for the Kyontawa tribe.  Mueller searched the forests surrounding Vancouver to find enough natural (and free) materials to build a small life-sized village in much the same manner an actual aboriginal tribe might build it.  Mueller is currently directing a postgraduate film, Recurrence, which he also wrote.  Principal photography is complete, the film scheduled for release by early 2008.



Nikhol Xu - Makeup Artist

Nikhol Xu was born and grew up in Beijing, China.  She moved to Vancouver, British Columbia to study makeup artistry for film at Vancouver Film School, from which she recently graduated.  While in Vancouver, Xu worked on numerous student and professional productions.  She is skilled in numerous techniques, including prosthetics--appropriate considering that her favorite movie genre is horror--the gorier the better.  During Food for the Gods, Xu designed the makeup style utilized by the fictional Kyontawa tribe, including warrior makeup and the more subtle, feminine looks worn by the Kyontawa women, namely film heroine Sheenyana, the more vain and sultry Princess Xionko, and the softer Queen Shogami.  Xu truly showcased her skills when she crafted an original prosthetic "phaser" wound, which she applied seamlessly to the chest of actress Beverly Wu (Xionko)--providing the extremely realistic illusion of a severe second degree burn.  In addition to her artistic talents, Nikhol Xu is extremely gifted in language.  Although living in Canada a short time, she speaks English without any discernable accent--to the effect that many people assume that she is Chinese-Canadian until she tells them otherwise.  During post-production, Nikhol Xu acted as a Mandarin translator for erhu player Xu Qian, volunteering to remain at the recording studio until the artist had completed the soundtrack.  A fun-loving, witty personality, Nikhol keeps the mood of any set light and enjoyable for actors and crew alike.  She has recently returned to China, where she is currently working on a feature, and plans to move to Hong Kong where she will pursue a career in the Hong Kong film industry.