(written from a Production point of view)
James Robert MacKinnon (born 12 June 1970; age 53) is an Emmy Award-winning makeup artist who was a prosthetic makeup and special makeup effects artist on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (both uncredited and ranking amongst his earliest known professional work as industry novice), Star Trek: First Contact, and the video game Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (credited this time), under the auspices of department head and mentor Michael Westmore. [1]
He was also a special effects makeup artist on Star Trek, albeit again uncredited. He is currently working as make-up effects department head on Star Trek: Discovery alongside fellow department head Glenn Hetrick, the pair therefore following in the footsteps of their illustrious predecessor Westmore.
MacKinnon shared a 1997 Emmy Award nomination for his work on the Deep Space Nine episode "Apocalypse Rising", along with the other members of DS9's makeup staff, which was followed by additional ones in 2018 and 2019 for Discovery episodes, the latter won. MacKinnon secured his second Emmy Award in 2020 for his work on the first season of Star Trek: Picard.
Career
Following his Deep Space Nine Emmy Award nominations, MacKinnon did win an Emmy Award as makeup department head of the FX series Nip/Tuck and was nominated again as key makeup artist on the CBS series CSI: NY.
In addition to his Emmy Awards and nominations, MacKinnon has won two awards from the Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Award for his work on NBC's Providence and another Guild Award for his work on Nip/Tuck. He received two additional nominations from the Guild for Providence as well as a nomination for his makeup effects work in the 1998 film Goodbye Lover.
MacKinnon has worked on two projects for J.J. Abrams, the producer and director of 2009's Star Trek. He was a makeup artist on Abrams' spy series Alias during its third season and more recently was the head of the makeup department on the HBO pilot, Anatomy of Hope, which Abrams executive produced and directed.
Other television series on which MacKinnon has worked include Space: Above and Beyond (for which he was the head of the makeup department), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (as a prosthetic makeup artist during the first season), Sliders (also as a prosthetic makeup artist), Beverly Hills, 90210 (as a key makeup artist for doubles during the fifth season), and Sabrina the Teenage Which (as key special makeup effects artist for six out of the show's seven seasons). In addition, he was a key makeup effects artist on the pilot episode of the UPN series Roswell, executive produced by Jonathan Frakes and starring William Sadler. More recently he was a make-up artist on the first season of Joss Whedon's fantasy series Dollhouse (2009).
His feature film makeup credits include Breast Men (1997, featuring Louise Fletcher, Matt Frewer, Frank Novak, Terry O'Quinn, Raphael Sbarge, and Heidi Swedberg), Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998, featuring Matt Winston and working with Thomas E. Surprenant), and Bicentennial Man (1999, featuring Stephen Root and working with Greg Cannom, Joel Harlow, Mike Smithson, Keith VanderLaan, and Brad Wilder). He also worked with Star Trek: The Motion Picture makeup artist Ve Neill on 1997's Batman & Robin (featuring John Glover) before being supervised by Neill on 1999's Stigmata (1999, featuring Ann Cusack, Thomas Kopache, and cinematography by Jeffrey L. Kimball). More recently, MacKinnon worked as a mekeup artist on the thriller Eagle Eye, executive produced by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.
Star Trek appearances
Emmy Awards
James MacKinnon received the following Emmy Award nominations and win in the various make up categories,
- 1997 nomination for DS9: "Apocalypse Rising", shared with Allan Apone, Belinda Bryant, Ellis Burman, Mark Bussan, Camille Calvet, Lisa Collins, Karen Iverson, Dean Jones, Brad Look, Michael Westmore, John Maldonado, Mary Kay Morse, David Quaschnick, Perri Sorel, Steve Weber, and Karen J. Westerfield.
- 2018 nomination for DIS: "Will You Take My Hand?", shared with Neville Page, Hugo Villasenor, Rocky Faulkner, Chris Bridges, Shane Zander, Glenn Hetrick and Michael O'Brien.
- 2019 win for DIS: "If Memory Serves", shared with Neville Page, Hugo Villasenor, Rocky Faulkner, Chris Bridges, Nicola Bendrey, Glenn Hetrick and Michael O'Brien.
- 2020 win for PIC: "Absolute Candor", shared with Vincent Van Dyke, Richard Redlefsen, Alexei Dmitriew, Neville Page and Michael Ornelaz