Tory Fink is an Educator, Art Director and Fabricator for museums, theater, television and film. He started his professional art career as Studio Manager, Welding Instructor and ultimately Department Head at The Crucible, a premiere Fine and Industrial Art Center in Oakland, California. He was Lead Builder on “The Raygun Gothic Rocketship,” a 40-foot-tall and 13,000-pound retro-futurist art sculpture, which is now permanently installed in front of Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum in Denver. He was Lead Artist for work commissioned by California Academy of Sciences and was part of an art collective featured at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
In 2010 Tory was hired and ultimately promoted to Lead Builder and Art Director for Discovery channel’s “MythBusters” spanning seasons 10 through 19. He is mentioned in Adam Savage’s book, “Every Tool’s a Hammer: Life Is What You Make It.” Tory continued with the “MythBusters” franchise as Art Director, Builder and Build Manager for “The White Rabbit Project,” “MythBusters: The Search” and “Mythbusters Jr.” His television set construction work was also featured on Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why.”
Tory was highlighted in Cinefex magazine’s 40th anniversary issue for his work on “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” as part of the special effects team. He also worked in the Art Department for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and “The Matrix Resurrections.”
In 2021 Tory worked at Denver Center for the Performing Arts in the Props Department as Properties Artisan for a season, working on “The Other Josh Cohen,” “A Christmas Carol,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf,” “In the Upper Room,” “Rattlesnake Kate,” “Choir Boy,” “Quixote Nuevo” and David Byrne’s “Theater of the Mind,” before becoming FiTV’s Production Design Lead at CU Denver.
Areas of Expertise
Metal Art
Fine Arts
Art Direction
Production Design
Prop Fabrication
Set Design & Fabrication
Practical Effects
Education, Licensure & Certifications
San Francisco State University
BA; Criminal Justice
Completed 2004, Renewed 2006
Welding Certification, GMAW 3G AWS D1.1
Completed 2007
Forklift / Grade-All / Scissor-Lift Operation Certification
Completed 2007
Awards
2010 Emmy nomination “Outstanding Reality Program”, MythBusters
2011 Emmy nomination “Outstanding Reality Program”, MythBusters
2012 Emmy nomination “Outstanding Reality Program”, MythBusters
2013 Emmy nomination “Outstanding Reality Program”, MythBusters
2014 Emmy nomination “Outstanding Structured Reality Program” for MythBusters
2015 Emmy nomination “Outstanding Structured Reality Program” for MythBusters
2016 Emmy nomination “Outstanding Structured Reality Program” for MythBusters
2017 Academy Award nomination “Best Visual Effects” for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
2017 BAFTA nomination “Best Special Visual Effects” for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
2017 Saturn Award winner “Best Special Effects” for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
2017 Visual Effects Society nomination “Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature” for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
2020 Academy Award nomination “Best Visual Effects” for “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”
2020 BAFTA nomination “Best Visual Effects” for “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”
2020 Visual Effects Society winner “Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature” for “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”
2020 Art Directors Guild nomination “Excellence in Production Design for a Fantasy Film”
2021 Saturn Award winner “Best Special Effects” for “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”
2022 Visual Effects Society nomination “Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature” for “The Matrix Resurrections”
2022 Visual Effects Society nomination “Outstanding Special (Practical) Effects in a Photoreal or Animated Project” for “The Matrix Resurrections”
2022 Critics Choice Movie Awards nomination “Best Visual Effects” for “The Matrix Resurrections”
2022 Set Decorators Society of America nomination “Best Achievement in Decor/Design of a Science Fiction or Fantasy Feature Film” for “The Matrix Resurrections”
2022 Colorado Theater Guild Henry Award nomination “Outstanding Scenic Design” for DCPA Theater Company’s “Choir Boy”
2022 Colorado Theater Guild Henry Award winner “Outstanding Scenic Design” for DCPA Theater Company’s “In the Upper Room”
2022 Colorado Theater Guild Henry Award nomination “Outstanding Scenic Design” for DCPA Theater Company’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
2022 Colorado Theater Guild Henry Award nomination “Outstanding Scenic Design” for DCPA Theater Company’s “Rattlesnake Kate”
Affiliations
IATSE