Magic Maker: From Backyard to Super Bowl Half-Time

From childhood magic and puppet shows, Dave Mendoza of Belmont Shore has built a career creating high-tech spectacles on the world's biggest stages.

From magician superstar David Copperfield to "King of Pop" Michael Jackson, singers Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Katie Perry and Britney Spears, Mendoza's ShowFX! has designed and built backdrops and props to set their stage. His clients and events have also included: halftime costumes for the Black-Eyed Peas, attraction features at Disney, Universal Studios Japan, Cirque de Soleil Las Vegas and Mrs. Brown M&M. (See our photo gallery of his work.)

Such construction is often in the backfield of entertainment, and helps fuel the Southern California economy, but increasingly, also that of Las Vegas, where permanent shows such as Cirque de Soleil have ever-more-elaborate spectacles. But Mendoza's creativity and artistry, not to mention construction, are worthy of star treatment.

Mendoza, a longtime resident of Long Beach's Belmont Shore neighborhood, and his wife, business owner Stephanie (herself a creator and part of a ed by Patch blogger ), have three sons (twins Chris and Alec, 11, and Matt, 15). They are known for their volunteerism and community involvement. But few know the magic that Mendoza crafts. So we sat down with the ultimate "maker" for an interview.

Q: Where were you born and raised?

A: Born in Montebello and raised in Whittier, Calif.

Q: Did you always want to be an artist/engineer and what were your early career ideas?

A: I always had a passion for music and drawing, although as a teen I figured architecture would make a good career.  My dad was a sign maker and both  parents always encouraged the arts and music in our home.  While my brother was playing Little League I was drawing or playing the piano.  My interest and skills matured as I got older, evolving from backyard puppet shows, making videos, to performing magic at the Magic Castle, which was actually the first major step into my professional career.

Q: What kind of schooling, internship or apprenticeship was required to reach your present position?

A: For high school, my parents sent me to Don Bosco Technical Institute, where I learned drafting and design, all the while continuing with music- and art-related activities. With my love for magic, designing and building things, at 17 I got a job working for the premiere builder of magicians props and effects at that time. However, after three days of sweeping and doing janitorial tasks, I decided it wasn't worth the minimum wage or 45-mile round-trip from Whittier, so I quit. I did, however, leave knowing that I would someday have my own such business, turning clients' wildest ideas into finished products -- maybe magic props, maybe displays and sets, but all custom and hand-crafted.

Q: What different jobs did you have as a high school or college student?

A: I worked for a furniture store in Whittier, a professional puppeteer in Venice, then later another in Burbank -- making and operating puppets for TV commercials, and the late great Doug Henning, the magician, as a drafter and designer of magic props. All these jobs before the age of 21.

Q: What was your first job out of college?

A: While attending LBSU [Cal State Long Beach], I set up a shop in a garage and started my own custom magic-building business, working mainly for up-and-coming magicians who needed special props for their Vegas acts. I soon developed a reputation for building props that had a unique, up-to-date design, and weren't the old red-and-black gloss-lacquered boxes that had been around for years.I called my business MagiCraft.

 Like most entrepreneurs, I left college before graduation because my
 business opportunities appeared too lucrative to turn down, and I really wanted to devote my full time to my craft. With my growing reputation as the new "premier" builder of magic, I was approached by a famous magician I had once seen perform as a teen, Andre Kole. He had heard about my business and wanted a few props built. This led to a contract to build a whole show for him.  Man was I thrilled!

Q: What was your big" break?

A: My big break was REALLY BIG.... My childhood friend, Jon, was David Copperfield's personal assistant and called me one day to say that his boss needed some new tricks built, was I interested? It wasn't long before I moved from the garage to a real business-building, with rent, a couple of employees and serious deadlines. My first employee is still with me, by the way. I focused on designing and building magic illusions and effects, growing this niche into my full time career. With Copperfield as a client, I had the best calling card one could ask for. I was soon building props for some of the most recognizable names in the business, including Siegfried and Roy, Criss Angel, and many international magicians as well. I was traveling to such places as Asia, Europe and the U.K., where my works were being used.

Q: What is ShowFX! and where is it based?

A: In 1993, the business was branching out into the concert touring business with effects and illusion as our competitive edge. Our first major pop artist was Michael Jackson for his "Dangerous Tour" and then came Gloria Estefan for her 1996 world tour. Other performers featuring our work included Reba McEntire, Superbowl halftime shows and theme parks. Over the next 10 years, the magic industry had peaked and slowed down considerably and we began a focus on more and more work in other areas of entertainment. The company was renamed as ShowFX!, to better represent our capabilities and diversity (not just magic), and business grew to include work for more touring artists, television shows, theme parks and large production shows in Vegas and other parts of the world. (ShowFX is located in Santa Fe Springs.)

Q: Is it a special effects and stage design engineering firm? Does that qualify it as the ultimate maker career?

A: Yes, exactly and I think it may have evolved into the ultimate maker career because everyday I get asked to make cool things.  Sometimes it is a light up video robot suit for Michael Jackson, and other days a Candy Land themed stage for Katie Perry.  We never know what strange requests will come our way.

Q: Take us through your process. Do you daydream while camping, always keep a sketch or notepad or recorder into which you can capture ideas before you forget them?

A: The process goes like this.... Meet with the client, sometime for days on end. Sketch their ideas, hash and rehash, sketch some more.  Sometimes we build a mock-up before getting too far into the design.  If a mock-up proves successful, we continue at a fast pace from there.   Sketches are turned into CAD drawings by my team of designers.  Some require serious engineering as part of the process as, nowadays, safety has come to the forefront and serious documentation that something is built safe for use by artists and around or above audiences is becoming the norm.

CAD drawings are turned into shop drawings or CNC files for our machines, parts are produced, assembled and welded. Clients come in and review during the process, accept as is or make changes; we continue to build. Once built, scenic finishes are applied by our painters and artists. Testing of mechanical elements are conducted throughout the process, and when done, more testing is conducted. Sometimes we cycle equipment the equivelant of one year's use before sending it out the door.

Q: Does your job involve a lot of travel?

A: I am lucky in that most my travel is for meetings with clients and occasionally for final integration of a project at its installation site.  I am fortunate to have built a reliable team that is more than willing to travel and oversee installations with clients and their technicians. I love to travel and see new places, but my time is often better spent working with my design team in my facility.

Certain artists and designers that I have longstanding relationships with, of course, get my attention whenever and wherever it is needed, so I am often flying off at a moment's notice.

Q: You seem to manage to be with your family a lot and I think we all want that kind of job.

A: The entertainment business is very labor intensive and demanding.  I try very hard to keep it in balance.  Life is short, and I now realize how very fast it goes.  I hope from my career pursuits, that at least I have role-modeled for my children that anything can be created if you can dream it, visualize it, and believe in your yourself, that the possibilities are truly limited by only your imagination.

Q: If you could dream up any art installation to put in Belmont Shore, and cost and approval were not obstacles, what would it be?

A: It would be so cool to build a water-park/fountain area with really modern high-tech water streams (similar to the water fountains we see in Vegas and at Disney's California Adventure's "Worlds Of Color."  This water park could be used for water play in hot months and as an aesthetically beautiful water sculpture show off-season.