Alec Gillis Talks Fatherhood, Monster Making, Film Industry, Working With Family & More

About this episode

Alec Gillis shares his fatherhood journey and insights from his career in the film industry.

Alec Gillis stops by to have a heartfelt conversation about his fatherhood journey. He and I have an honest conversation about the influence his dad had on him to make his own choice on how to be a dad. He shares the life lessons he learned from his four daughters. After that we blend family and his career by talking about working with his daughter, Camille. We go into his fantastic career in the film industry and how his craft has evolved over the years. Lastly, we finish the interview with the Fatherhood Quick Five. About Alec Gillis Alec Gillis grew up in Orange County, California within sight of the Disneyland fireworks show. As a kid he roamed the mean streets of Main Street Disneyland, sometimes summering on Tom Sawyer’s Island. It was here he gained a lifelong appreciation of animatronics, but it was in the local movie theaters that he fell in love with genre films. At age 20 Gillis began working for Roger Corman on a film called Battle Beyond The Stars. This was along with James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd. It wasn’t long before Alec dropped out of UCLA Film School in favor of the education Corman offered. Gillis was recommended by James Cameron to Stan Winston, where…

People in this episode

Host: Art Eddy

Guest: Alec Gillis

Topics covered

• fatherhood
• film industry
• monster making
• working with family
• life lessons
• career evolution

Keywords

• fatherhood
• Alec Gillis
• film industry
• monster making
• life lessons
• family
• animatronics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc., Roger Corman, UCLA Film School, Stan Winston

Books & works: Aliens, Predator, Tremors

Places: Orange County, California, Disneyland, Tom Sawyer’s Island

More episodes of The Art of Fatherhood Podcast

• Kenny Mayne Talks Fatherhood, New Greeting Card Collection, His Golf Podcast & More · June 8, 2026 · 33 min
• Noah Galuten Talks Fatherhood, New Cook Book, Grill Time, Cooking & More · June 1, 2026 · 49 min
• Mark Hertling Talks Fatherhood, New Book, If I Don’t Return: A Father’s Wartime Journal & More · May 25, 2026 · 42 min
• Michael Schur & Joe Posnanski Talk Fatherhood, New Book, BIG FAN, Fandom, Baseball Cards & More · May 18, 2026 · 52 min
• Jonathan Schor Talks Fatherhood, CodeMonkey, Teaching Kids To Code & More · May 13, 2026 · 26 min
• Connor Barwin Talks Fatherhood, Playing In The NFL, His MTWB Foundation & More · May 11, 2026 · 41 min