We’re thrilled to welcome VE NEILL to her first WonderFest!

One of the most renowned Makeup Artists in the motion picture business, Ve Neill has set many standards of excellence in the makeup field. Over the course of her career Neill has won three Academy Awards (8 nominations), a BAFTA, two Emmys, five Saturn Awards,  Local 706 Best Character Makeup Award and the first Artist to be awarded Hollywood Foreign Press “Makeup Artist of the Year”  as well as the first Makeup Artist to be honored as Makeup Artist of the Year by MAC Cosmetics. That is a total of 23 international nominations and wins for her creative and innovative makeups.

From her early career as a rock ‘n’ roll stylist, Neill began to develop her skills as a Designer and Makeup Artist.  Specializing in concept, design and execution, Neill entered the film industry and discovered a talent for Extreme Fantasy Makeup. Neill created space travelers for “Star Trek the Motion Picture” and for the hit comedy “Galaxy Quest”, rock ‘n’ roll vampires for Joel Schumacher’s “The Lost Boys” and visions of The Afterlife for Tim Burton’s wacky comedy “Beetlejuice.”  She turned Johnny Depp into anti-hero for scissors wielding “Edward Scissorhands”, Robin Williams into a Scottish Nanny for “Mrs. Doubtfire,” Martin Landau into horror king Bela Lugosi for “Ed Wood” and brought to life an onslaught of villains, beauties and super-heroes for Warner Brothers’ early “Batman” series. She gave Patricia Arquette the “Stigmata”, transformed Christine Baranski into the “Grinch’s” sexy girlfriend, aged Johnny Depp 60 years for the film “Blow” and turned Jude Law into the perfect Love-Robot for Steven Spielberg’s “AI”.

Neill continued her illustrious career with an assortment of new characters ranging from possessed beings in “Constantine” and a slew of dirty, drunken, barnacle encrusted Pirates for the “Pirates if the Caribbean” series. She turned Johnny Depp into the infamous Butcher Barber of Fleet Street for the film musical “Sweeney Todd” and transformed Mike Myers into the “The Love Guru”.  She worked with Robert Downey Jr., Jamie Foxx, and Catherine Keener on “The Soloist”, Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor in “I Love You Phillips Morris.” More Vampires for “Priest” starring Paul Bettany, Maggie Qu, Carl Urban and Lilly Collins.  In 2010 she headed up the Special Makeup FX Dept. for the film “Thor”.  She swung in to action as the Dept. Head for “The Amazing Spiderman”. She has had huge hits with “The Hunger Games Trilogy” starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci and Donald Sutherland.  She recently brought Pee wee Herman back to the screen for Pee Wee’s Big Holiday. In 2016 she transformed Woody Harrelson in to President Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ). In 2017 she completed “A Star is Born” starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. Also in 2017 she worked with Robert Zemeckis’ on his latest film starring Steve Carrel and Leslie Mann. Welcome to Marwen. In 2018 she teamed up again with Woody Harrelson and Kevin Costner in The Highwaymen.

She also added the title, “Judge” to her resume for the hit reality TV Show “Face Off” on the Syfy channel for 13 seasons.  The show highlights Special Makeup FX.  Not to mention she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by her guild, Local 706 in 2016.

In 2019 she was nominated for Best Contemporary Makeup for A Star is Born and Welcome to Marwen by the Local 706 Guild Awards. In 2018 she was awarded The Metropolitan Fashion Excellence Award for Makeup Artistry.

Throughout her career Neill has worked with many of Hollywood’s brightest stars.  Jack Nicholson, Keira Knightly, Julia Roberts, Danny DeVito, Jennifer Lawrence, Sarah Jessica Parker, Johnny Depp, Uma Thurman, Orlando Bloom, Sigourney Weaver, Jude Law, Ethan Hawke, Catherine Keener, Jim Carey, Andy Garcia, Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Lawrence and Woody Harrelson, Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger and William Hurt have all called upon Neill for her expertise with Beauty, the Bizarre and a bevy of Wild Characters. This is a small part of the all-star list of clientele who enjoy the touch of Neill’s magical brush.

Ve also has a just revamped her line of professional makeup brushes, Ve’s Favorite Brushes and her latest endeavor is Legends Makeup Academy. Ve is teaching her craft along with other legendary Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists friends from the Motion Picture business.

In March of 2025, Ve put on VE’S VAMPIRE WEEKEND which hosted 27 Horror Icons and hundreds of Craft persons, A huge Face-Off Reunion and a stunning Vampire Ball in Burbank California. Ve also produced and did all the Makeup FX for the film “The Wolf and the Lamb” which will be coming out in 2026. Ve has wanted to do a Western film for a while and this has it all. A Vampire driven film that takes place in the Old West. Don’t miss it. Truly frightening!

She is now prepping her next Producing film with a Horror Comedy, Haunted Hookers which shoots in July 2026.