VIU spawns creative genius

Terence Fitzgerald is living proof that a small town kid can take the entertainment world by storm.

The Vancouver Island University (VIU) graduate and recipient of this year’s VIU Distinguished Alumni Award is half of the creative duo behind the legendary comic company Spawn. With stories of hanging with rock stars and working with some of the biggest names in Hollywood (apparently Spielberg’s son is a Spawn fan), Fitzgerald’s career has been one most people only dream about.

“Todd McFarlane and I started as two kids working above a garage and built Spawn into a billion dollar brand,” said Fitzgerald. “Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do what you want to do because you’re from a small town.”

Fitzgerald, who was born in Vancouver, moved to Duncan at the age of 13. A naturally artistic kid, he hooked up with McFarlane, a Marvel Comics artist, while still in high school, when McFarlane approached the school looking for young artists as assistants.

“I was always scribbling where I shouldn’t – thank god they didn’t have Sharpies when I was a kid,” said Fitzgerald.

After high school, Fitzgerald worked on the Amazing Spiderman comics with McFarlane for two years before he got the bug to go back to school, and VIU’s Visual Arts program seemed like a natural fit. He spent five years at VIU working in fine arts and graphics.

“The art department was so tiny, we all knew each other – it was a great group of people,” Fitzgerald said. “We all mingled and hung out – it was sweet.”

He graduated in 1992 and went back to work with McFarlane.

“Todd said ‘I’m moving to Portland, starting a new comic book company, and I want you to come with me,’” said Fitzgerald, who oversaw the creation, art direction and production of the new company. It would be the beginning of the Spawn empire, selling 100 million comics in over 100 countries around the world.

Next came McFarlane Toys, which produces action figures of Shrek, Wallace and Gromit, The Simpsons, the NHL, Nascar, Kiss and Metallica, among many others. 

“We were dumb enough to take on the comic industry, so we thought, why not be stupid enough to start a toy company and take on a billion dollar industry?” Fitzgerald explains. The move was successful – McFarlane Toys became the fourth largest toy company in North America.

The next project was an entertainment company, with Fitzgerald producing Spawn the movie, the animated Spawn series, and a number of music videos for artists including Korn, Swollen Members and Pearl Jam.

“Working on the Pearl Jam video was a career high for me, because I was a huge fan of the band and they hadn’t done a video in seven years” said Fitzgerald.  In fact, the video was top secret - Fitzgerald received a call from the president of Sony Music who asked him to sign on to the project without really knowing who the artist would be. “No kidding – it was called ‘Project X’. Only three people at Sony even knew about it.”

Recently he’s been working with Dussault Apparel, and is involved with a film called “Torso”, starring Matt Damon with director David Fincher ("Se7en," "Fight Club"), set to start shooting later this year. “It’s based on the true story of Elliot Ness and America’s first serial killer,” said Fitzgerald. “I’m really proud of it.”

In the meantime, Fitzgerald is busy with consulting work on a children’s series and a DVD line while working on a number of creative projects including a pilot for HBO and a game for Nintendo Wii.

“Clearly Terence Fitzgerald has had a tremendously successful career,” said Dr. Ralph Nilson, President and Vice-Chancellor of VIU. “He is an outstanding example to our students of what is possible and just how far they can go in life. We’re proud to be able to call Terence an alumnus and are pleased to recognize his hard work with the Distinguished Alumni Award.”

Fitzgerald is no stranger to awards – he won a 1999 Grammy for Outstanding Music Video, two MTV Video Music Awards, and two Emmys for Best Animated Television Series, among others – still, he says, it’s nice to be recognized by his peers.

“I spent five years of my life at VIU,” said Fitzgerald, who will be accepting the award at VIU’s June convocation ceremony. “I’m very excited to come back.”

Fitzgerald’s advice to students? Follow your dreams. “Life’s short – you’ll wake up one day and 20 years have gone by,” he said. “Don’t be scared – go do something, try something new.”