Neil Upington
- Special Effects
After a number of years trying but failing to be a sheep farmer in
North Cornwall, in 1986 Neil ran away to London and got a job working
backstage at the Theatre Royal Dury Lane. Eight months after he started
at the theatre he took the chance to become a free lance special
effects technician at Any Effects. Here he concentrated on working with
breakaway glass and pyrotechnics and in 1990 was one of the first
technicians to take advantage of an 'exsplosives' course run by The
Institute of Explosives Engineers. In 1991 Neil set up Breakaway
Effects at Shepperton Studios, a business dedicated to the manufacture
of breakaway glass and ceramic props. In 1995 a manufacturing arm of
the business was set up in Devon because the scenery was very nice and
the growing business needed more space. Today Neil still has his own
hair and is the sole director of Breakaway Effects Ltd. with its
workshops in Shepperton Studios and Tiverton, Devon. His business has
over the past twenty years supplied breakaway glass and ceramic props
for numerous film, television and theatre productions both in the UK
and abroad, and he considers himself to be very lucky indeed!