| September 15, 2026 |1 comments so far
The next documentary from 455 Films, who have been making Star Trek docs for the last decade, explores the fascinating life and career of Oscar-winner Michael Westmore, the man behind much more than the makeup for Star Trek aliens from the TNG era. Filming for the doc is done, and today 455 launched a crowdfunding campaign for post-production, with backers getting Blu-rays and much more.
Trek celebs make the case to back ‘Make-up Man’
Michael Westmore and his celebrated family are Hollywood royalty when it comes to the makeup game, with Star Trek just part of the story, which will be told in Make-Up Man: The Michael Westmore Documentary, based on the 2017 memoirMakeup Man: From Rocky to Star Trek The Amazing Creations of Hollywood’s Michael Westmore. Here is a brief synopsis of the doc:
The definite documentary on Academy Award winning make-up artist Michael Westmore as well as his legendary family, the Westmores. At one time, a Westmore headed virtually every studio make-up department in Hollywood. Michael won an Academy Award for Mask, as well as nine Emmys for his television work, most notably 17 years as head of the make-up department for Star Trek The Next Generation, Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Voyager, and Star Trek Enterprise as well as four Star Trek features. He was also responsible for the make-up on Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky and several of its sequels, First Blood and several of the Rambo sequels, Raging Bull, New York, New York and many others. Michael started his career in 1960s at Universal Studios, working on such iconic shows as The Munsters, McHale’s NavyandIt Takes a Thief.
Today 455 films launched a campaign on Indiegogo seeking $100,000 which 455 films says is “focused on helping us complete the post-production process — including original score, editing, finishing, and bringing Michael Westmore’s incredible story to the screen.” In the promo below Dax actress Terry Farrell and more Star Trek celebs talk about how they are close to the the finish line, imploring fans to help support the doc as a backer.
Support levels start at $10 to get your name in the credits, but if you back it with $40 you will get a DVD/Blu-ray. There are many more backer levels and rewards including challenge, coins, T-shirts or up to a private tour on the Paramount lot and more. There are also some stretch goals they are trying to achieve and you can help those out by signing up for Zoom meetings with a number of Trek celebs, including Armin Shimerman, Terry Farrel, Scott MacDonald, or J.G. Hertzler and Robert O’Reilly.
The Westmore documentary is being directed by Jonathan West, the Emmy-nominated cinematographer for TNG, DS9 and much more. In addition to featuring several Star Trek celebrities, the documentary also has new interviews with other stars Westmore worked with, like Robert De Niro (Raging Bull), Eric Stoltz (Mask), Sylvester Stallone (Rocky), Dolph Lundgren (Rocky), Butch Patrick (The Munsters), and Sid Krofft (Land of the Lost). The campaign is set to run for one month. The goal has been to release the doc by the end of 2026.
For more on the doc, check out a sneak peek released last year.
VOY doc discs now available
As they have been working on the Westmore doc, the 455 team put the finishing touches out their Star Trek: Voyager documentary To The Journey: Looking Back At Star Trek Voyager. The digital release of that doc was sent to backers last year and over the summer backers got physical discs as well. You can still back the doc to get physical or a digital release at backerkit.com. As of now, the documentary is not available for streaming.
Find more news on Star Trek documentaries.
