Gregory Nicotero

Gregory "Greg" Nicotero is an American special effects creator and actor.

Biography
In 1988, along with Robert Kurtzman and Howard Berger, he formed KNB Efx Group, a special effects studio which has gone on to work on over 400 film and television projects. KNB has won numerous awards, including an Emmy Award in 2001 for their work on the Sci Fi Channel miniseries Dune. In 2006, they were given an Academy Award for Achievement in Makeup for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Nicotero claims he began taking an interest in special effects after viewing the film Jaws, explaining that he kept thinking "how did they do that?". He also enjoyed The Exorcist, Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Dead, and other Universal Studios horror movies. He began his career in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, learning the trade of special effects from Tom Savini, an award-winning special effects and makeup artist who worked with film director George A. Romero.

While working on the 1985 Romero film, Day of the Dead, he met Howard Berger, who would later become one of his partners at KNB EFX Group. Nicotero relovated to Hollywood, California, and moved in with Berger and Robert Kurtzman. He worked as an FX artist on the 2010 film Predators, and created a classic Predator figure for the film. He worked on the special effects for The Walking Dead, as well as directing/producing some episodes. He also worked on Oz: The Great and Powerful. He has been a cameo on the show (as a walker) more than 5 times, and has been killed by Laurie Holden (Andrea) three times.