Shane Mahan

Shane Patrick Mahan (born 1964) is an American makeup, special effects artist, and puppeteer known for his work in special effects and for creating the suits for the character Iron Man in the 2008 film of the same name.

Background

Mahan was born and raised in Greenville, Michigan. After graduating from Greenville High School in 1981 he left for Hollywood. His first job was with Stan Winston Studios as a crew member working on The Terminator in 1983. There he worked as a creature effects supervisor until becoming one of the co-owners in 2007.

Mahan and his design team made the special suits worn by Robert Downey, Jr. in the film Iron Man. They also designed the suit for Iron Monger which was ten feet tall, weighed 800lbs and required 5 operators to puppeteer. Besides several other nominations, Mahan and his team were nominated for the 2008 Academy Award for 'Best Achievement in Visual Effects' for Iron Man. The team was hired as concept artists by James Cameron for his film Avatar. This was special for Mahan as his first special effects credits were for the film The Terminator.