For the second season of "True Blood," MastersFX will continue to create the original characters and special makeup effects featured in the show

Creature & prosthetics makeup FX artist Dan Rebert and the team at Todd Masters' MastersFX -- considered by many film and TV producers to be Hollywood's leading "Creature and Monster Makers" -- have been signed to continue their work on HBO's "True Blood" for that hit TV series' second season.

In the afterlife of MastersFX's Emmy Award winning work during the entire run of an earlier HBO original series, "Six Feet Under," the company rejoined that show's creator / executive producer, Alan Ball, by producing creature and prosthetic FX for the first season of Ball's popular new series "True Blood." For the second season of "True Blood," MastersFX will continue to create the original characters and special makeup effects featured in the show.

Regarding MastersFX's work on the series, Rebert says," 'True Blood' is by far my favorite television project. I love the fact that the show's mythology goes much deeper than just the relationships between humans and vampires. In the world of 'True Blood,' many races of magical creatures exist right under our noses. It is dark fantasy mixed with drama and humor … what's not to love?"

"We are very fortunate to have the same core crew of artists for the show's second season," Rebert adds about his MastersFX team. "These guys have been with us for years and are the finest craftsmen I've ever worked with. We all look forward to the challenges ahead of us on a darker and scarier 'True Blood' season two."

The first season of "True Blood" premiered on HBO in September 2008. The series is based on the Southern Vampire Mysteries books by Charlaine Harris and has been adapted for television by Alan Ball. The series is produced by HBO in association with Ball's own production company, Your Face Goes Here Entertainment. The show details the fictional co-existence of vampires and humans in a small Louisiana town after Japanese-made synthetic blood – "Tru Blood" – becomes available for purchase. Anna Paquin stars as Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress at a diner who falls in love with one of the vampires, Bill Compton, portrayed by Stephen Moyer.

In other MastersFX company news:

-- MastersFX provided prosthetic FX for the feature film "Marley and Me" which has currently earned over $125-million at the box office.

-- MastersFX recently provided creature FX and makeup FX to Twentieth Century Fox's hit film "The Day the Earth Stood Still," the contemporary reinvention of Fox' 1951 classic, starring Keanu Reeves as "Klaatu." The film earned $ 31-million during its opening weekend.

-- For the original SCI FI series "Sanctuary," MastersFX continues to be responsible for creating each episode's "monster du jour."

-- The third season of the Emmy Award nominated series "Dexter" once again features the body parts and gruesome makeup effects that are designed, created and produced by MastersFX.

-- For the SCI FI Channel's series "Eureka," MastersFX continues to contribute various makeup FX, including the creation of the character "Snakeman Bob."

-- For the Summer 2009 feature film "Haunting in Connecticut," for Gold Circle Films and Lionsgate, MastersFX is contributing all of the character and make-up effects—along with a variety of "ghostly images."

-- And, MastersFX also continues to provide make-up special effects to the "Stargate Atlantis" television series airing on the SCI FI Channel, and produced by MGM Studios.

ABOUT MASTERSFX:
Founded in 1987 by Emmy Award winner Todd Masters, MastersFX is a full-service Character Effects company headquartered in Arleta, CA, with an additional studio in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The company has designed, created and produced prosthetics, animatronics, and character effects for hundreds of motion pictures, television programs, and commercials.

Among the company's credits are contributions to "Star Trek: First Contact," "Tales from the Crypt," "Nightmare on Elm Street 5," "The Horse Whisperer," "Slither," "Snakes on a Plane," "Six Feet Under," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Look Who's Talking," "Mortal Kombat," "Carnivale," and many more.

MastersFX won an Emmy Award in 2003 for its contributions to HBO's "Six Feet Under," and is also the winner of a 2006 "Saturn Award" for its work on the feature film "Slither." MastersFX's Arelta, CA office can be contacted by phone at 818/834-3000. The web address is www.mastersfx.com