Our Future

For my sister, for my niece, for myself, for OUR future!

                 This is not just a fundraiser to simply expand my FX Studio and online business, but a fundraiser to hopefully secure a source of financial security for the future of the Mulkey family.  

                For those of you that don't already know me, I've been a special effects makeup artist who has been fortunate to work on some very high profile films and television series over the last 17 years.  My sister Amanda worked alongside me for over five years during that part of my career.  A time that until the day I die, I will remember as some of the best times in my adult life.


With my amazing sister Amanda, New York City

                I moved back to Pennsylvania at the beginning of  2011 as my sister, Amanda, was diagnosed with a polycystic astrosytoma in her brain stem after becoming pregnant with my niece. In spite of brain surgery, radiation and chemo, my sister has inoperable brain cancer that has no cure. 

                As a single mother with terminal cancer, Amanda knew that beyond a miracle, her days were numbered and she trusted me with raising her daughter, my niece and name sake, Michele, upon her passing.  Taking that awesome responsibility to heart, I wanted to be a part of my Niece's life from the very start so she would grow up knowing who I am.  That way when the inevitable happens, Little Michele would only have to deal with her Mother's passing and not have the additional stress and anxiety of also being sent off to an Aunt she barely knew after her mother's death. 

                Since moving back, I've continued my work in the Entertainment Industry as a Special Effects Makeup Artist traveling to work on movies, TV shows and commercials.  For 6 years now this has been my main source of income, with my FX Studio and online FX Store being a very small, secondary part of my income.

But even with the best laid plans...Life happens!

                Last month, Amanda was diagnosed with what now seems to be a secondary cancer.  It appears that the radiation and chemo she received for the brain cancer has cause her body to developed an additional  cancer.  In addition to this devastating news, Little Michele was then diagnosed with both ADHD as well as a form of high spectrum Autism.  Little Michele will now require a more specialized support, well beyond what most children her age need,  to help her learn to live with a medical diagnosis that is completely beyond her control  or understanding at such a young age.


Little Michele, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburg PA

                Due to these unforeseen circumstances and with my parents approaching their 70's and facing their own mounting health issues, I have decided to continue to put my family first and discontinue any and all travel away from our home.  My hope is to expand my online business, turning that into my main source of income which will allow me to be here  in Pennsylvania and available to my whole family on a permanent basis.

                For this endeavor, I am humbly asking for your help.  With my major source of income now gone in order to stay here for my family, my only hope is to take my online business to the next level as a means of financial support for my sister, my niece and myself. 
                Your donation will help to soften the cost of expansion for both myself personally and the entire Mulkey family.  Every dollar will go towards completing the following in order  to help me stay in Perry County, PA where I am needed most.

A little bit about myself:

                I have been a special effects makeup artist for film and television since 2000, working on productions throughout the United States as well as Canada and England.  After receiving an Associate's degree at Harrisburg Area Community College in the Performing Arts/Theatre, I moved to California to continue my professional education to become a professional makeup artist at Makeup Designory in Burbank California.  I then honed my skills working both in house and on set for many Special Effects companies in Los Angeles including Keith Vanderlaan's Captive Audience, Crisis FX, Film Illusions, Alterian, Inc., Global Effects and Unit 7. 


                Throughout my career, I have had the honor of creating custom props as well as applying makeup to many celebrities, including Thora Birch, Christine Lahti, Denzel Washington, Mel Gibson, Brittany Snow, David Rasche, Eddie Kay Thomas, Michael Urie, Vin Diesel, Karl Urban, Alan Cumming, Jennifer Tilly, Colm Feore, Jason Patrick, Jamie Kennedy, Ben Stein, Pat Morita, Hunter Tylo, Robin Riker, Christopher Atkins and Dennis Haskins.

 


                My movie and Television credits include The Last Samuri, Chronicles of Riddick, Charmed, Firefly, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, CSI: Miami, Petunia, Without A Trace, Son Of The Mask, Constantine, Sin City, The Alamo, Seed Of Chucky, Venom, The Passion Of The Christ, Black. White, and The Bold And The Beautiful and multiple shows for the ID Channel and College Humor, to name a few.

 




                In addition to traveling on set or working in house for productions, I have also taught SFX makeup classes for  Makeup Designory, NYC., Q.C. Makeup Academy, Canada and Harrisburg Area Community College. In addition to teaching classes, I have done live makeup demonstrations at IMATS in both California and Canada, as well as multiple Otakon's in Baltimore MD. I have worked on military bases across the United States providing realistic injury makeups during triage drills to help train our brave soldiers in simulated real life combat situations.  I also had the incredible honor of being asked by academy award winning makeup artist, and friend,  Mindy Hall to help contribute a chapter for The Makeup Artists Handbook, which she co-authored with celebrity makeup artist Gretchen Davis.

                Examples of my work can be found on my current website www.michelemulkeyfx.com, as well as IMDb, Facebook and Twitter.

What your much needed donation will help to achieve:

Part 1 of Expansion

                My existing website, www.michelemulkeyfx.com , was originally launched in 2010, but it is limited at best.  This portion of the funds will help to update the entire look of my website, acquire a new hosting platform with an unshared  IP address, updated usability that will be more mobile responsive and much easier navigation for the users.  It will also allow my current  eCommerce to switch to WooCommerce which will enable me to accept all forms of payments online, as well as a much higher security network and better SEO positioning on search engines like Google.

Part 2 of Expansion

                Your donation will help to expand The FX Store's available inventory to prospective customers.  A minimum of 45 additional prosthetics and props are already completed and just waiting to be molded.  This will ultimately put my inventory up to a minimum of 80+ products at "Click and Buy" availability. The materials to create the molds are very costly, so this portion of funds is a much needed expense in order  to expand my online inventory. 

 Some Of The New Props Ready To Be Molded And Added To The FX Store:



Some Of The New Prosthetics Ready To Be Added To The FX Store:

SFX prosthetic application and Makeup by Michele Mulkey


Part 3 of Expansion

                This portion will be covering the cost of promotion by allowing online digital marketing campaigns as well as "How To" videos for The FX Store's products.  In addition to the online promotion, this will also help to cover a physical marketing campaign to include mailers and catalogs for The FX Store.

 


Part 4 of Expansion

                Expanding the FX Studio's physical location into a much needed larger and additional space in order to help accommodate a larger business is a major component of this expansion.  If The FX Store's inventory is increased, I simply will not be able to fit the new inventory of molds into the space I have now, much less have extra room to do additional work.  The second building is already here and waiting!  This portion will help to take that existing space and make it a work friendly environment.  Some insulation, electric, work tables, a few pieces of additional equipment and lots of storage...That's all  that's needed to turn this building into an additional studio space, and your generous donation can make that happen.




New Expanded FX Studio 





MY PERSONAL PROMISE TO YOU!

                A major complaint about crowd sourced fundraisers is that the perks offered for donations are never sent to the amazing people donating to support the project.

                Even though the perks are just a bonus to the people who donate, it is still a promise to those who are generous enough to help with each project.  I myself know this unfortunate pitfall to online crowd sourcing, as I myself have donated to multiple online fundraisers to which I have NEVER received the perks associated with the donation.  I sent my money, they got my money and I never got any of the perks promised with my donation. 

                This will NOT be the case with my own personal fundraiser.  If you donate...You WILL receive the perk associated with that amount.  

Perks Photos!


                Please consider the donation options.  I have what I hope are some great perks offered for your donation.    It would be wonderful if you can find a donation amount that fits within your budget to pledge.

Any amount will be appreciated with a huge THANK YOU from the bottom of ALL our hearts!


     If, by the powers that be, this GoFundMe meets it's goal....Any and ALL money beyond the goal will be used to start a college fund for my Niece, Little Michele!


Michele Mulkey

Sister, Mother, SFX MUA

MIchele Mulkey FX Studio, LLC.