Hidden Gems: Meet Katelyn Rodgers of Max Effort FX

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katelyn Rodgers.

Hi Katelyn, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in a household in which my father owned a construction company. I always knew I would be a builder and at the age of 8, I was determined to live and breath costume construction. My sewing machine went with me everywhere, from high school to college to studying overseas in England. My education provided me a degree in costume construction, fashion design, and studio art. After graduation, I got my artistic toes wet in Chicago (close to home), redesigning heirloom vintage wedding gowns or making custom vintage gowns. Over a couple of years of interning for fashion designers, working for nothing to break into the fashion industry, and making gowns while my college education debt loomed overhead, I took my chances and followed my dreams. I had no money, no car, my sewing machine, and a passion to want to build. I took a one way ticket to Los Angeles from Chicago with no safety net. I got very lucky in reaching out to people that might accept a coffee and found myself as an intern at Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. , where sci fi and fantasy come alive. I had the privilege to see other aspects of the costume world including mold making, foam mixing, painting and sculpting. From there, I found a small network of other specialty costume shops. I interviewed for a fabricating and stitching position at Ironhead Studios. I had the honor of working on my first film…Amazing Spiderman 2, where our team constructed the spiderman suits (over 42!). This would be my big break to be able to get hired by other shops such as Legacy, Le Chef, and Film Illusions Inc. In 2013, I became a permanent fixture at Film Illusions Inc. where I had the opportunity to become Costume Fabrication Supervisor. I was beyond grateful to be in the room with such amazing talented painters, sculptors, 3d modelers, mold makers, stitchers, and fabricators. Not only was it my dream job, I got to make my favorite memories building hero suits for over 32 films and tv shows such as Deadpool, Black Panther, Peacemaker, Shazam, Interstellar, and Black Adam. I was also pushed to learn new skills and dabble in the world of animatronics and props. Like every great story, there’s been ups and downs. The highs were a whirlwind of building with your favorite people on every film you’ve ever wished to be apart of. The absolute gratitude I had to find constant growth and discovery every day at work. The challenges and satisfaction with having teammates create something wonderful together. My lows included taking a break in the middle of production of Deadpool vs Wolverine to survive breast cancer at the young age of 36. With great pride, my team stepped up and did not disappoint me. I wouldn’t be able to have any success without them. I came back with some battle wounds but was able to watch them succeed as we cried tears of joy for both of our survivals. We were hit with another devastating blow in 2025, our leader and owner Russell Shinkle passed away. He was our captain, who created a dream team that could build anything. He pushed us everyday to dream big, grow, create, collaborate, and give the best damn quality we are capable of. Through him, we were given the space and respect to make visions come to life. With his legacy in mind, I want to keep the dream team together. I started a company this year called Max Effort FX in honor of our work on all the Deadpool movies which was Russell Shinkle’s favorite project and to spoil my nephew and godson, Max. I hope to continue our costume work for film, tv, commercials, and theme parks. Our team will continue to live and breath costume construction.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Ironically, my favorite build was a malibu pink Deadpool costume in 2018 for Omaze. It was auctioned off to raise money for breast cancer. It felt great to make a costume that would have a positive impact on fighting for a cause. Little did I know, this costume would have even more meaning to me when I had to battle breast cancer in 2022. Losing my health was a humbling experience and I’ve gained a lot of empathy for silent battles. Most recent, the loss of my boss, collaborator, and supporter, Russell Shinkle will always be heavy in my heart. I wouldn’t be half the person I am today without his guidance and ‘walk the plank’ encouragement. He believed in me more than I could. He will always be with me.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Max Effort FX?
Max Effort FX is a specialty costuming company. We are capable of all things costume ranging from highly technical sewing, to patterning, to sculpting, to moldmaking, to painting, to bodyshopping, to foam building, and prop making. Our team has over 15 years of working together at Film Illusions Inc. on films such as Deadpool (1/2/3), Black Panther (1/2), Shazam, Interstellar, Star Trek Beyond, etc and theme park installations and walkarounds. I will be one of the very few female shop owners. My expertise is technical patterning, fabricating, and sewing with an emphasis on team management and integration of the different departments to make sure we bring you the highest quality costume in the allotted time schedule. If you are in need of a shop that can handle all things costume, soft goods, or props, whether its film, tv, commercials, or theme parks. We can build it from concept to delivery

What makes you happy?
I am beyond joyful when I see a team work together and build an amazing costume that they are proud of. When all the hardwork and support pays off to celebrating each other. This form of art is never a solo activity, its the celebration of the talented collaboration. We also get a kick out of all the versions of our costumes created by cosplayers at comic con.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.maxeffortfx.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maxeffort_fx/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katelyn-rodgers-bab572a
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6939697/?ref_=fn_t_1

Image Credits
Katelyn Rodgers, Josh Cameron, Ngoc Tang, Erika Nakayama, Marielena Mondragon, Samantha Burpee, Vincent Salazar, Scott Ramirez, Andrew Thompson, Soyoung Shin, Nasira Elias, Theresa Phung, Saori Mitome, Christina Huh, Gladys Cepeda, Jared Shinkle, Tristan Shinkle, Stacy Fisher, Jim Kundig, Val Crawford, Fede Cervantes, Art Pimental, George Gaspar, Diane Camarillo, Pete Kelley, Bill Fish, Tamaki Oumi, Eric Schuh, Maybelle Pineda, Johnnie Saiko, Max Rodgers