Crime Scene Cleanup Reality
I'm
Valek X. Sykes the owner of
Exit Biohazard and Crime Scene Cleanup and
Tech Works FX Studios, and this is my story:
How do you go from making animatronic creatures, monsters, props and fake crime scenes for films and TV shows to cleaning up after real crime scenes? It’s simple, you feel the need to do something more important. As much as I love working on films and television shows, there wasn’t anything that made me feel like I was actually helping anyone.
The entertainment industry is an amazing part of my life, I have spent over 20 years in it.
A Quick History on how I went from Movie Special FX to Cleaning up Real Crime Scenes
I started out being very creative when I was young but growing up in Philadelphia wasn’t the easiest place to show it off. I did well in school, had my long black trench coat, chains on my boots and 7 inch mohawk as I went through high school but I had no idea how I could do something artistic and make a living. It was very frustrating so as I went to the first year of college, I hated it all except a drawing class I took. It let me know that I could find a focus in art, but what to do?
As things in the united states turned towards an inevitable war coming with Iraq, I decided to join the marines to see what a more worldly view would do for me. As much as I enjoyed some of the craziness in the Marines I realized it wasn’t something I was in love with. Not to mention my worldly view consisted of staying in the states for the 35 minutes that war lasted. I spent more time in Oklahoma on an Army base than anywhere else, I think.
So as I ended my active duty part of the Marines (was in the reserves after) I met my Wife to be and fell madly in love. She pushed me to go back to get a degree in art so I did, BFA from
Temple university Tyler School of Art. I raped that school for information and skills. I changed curriculums to be more manly and pushed my will on anyone and everyone to learn what I could and utilize every minute there. I was paying for it so I wanted my monies worth.
I worked in Philadelphia for a couple years sculpting and designing toy prototypes to hone my skills for the film industry in Los Angeles which is where i saw myself. I married my love and bought a house and worked hard to impress the people around me. I knew I was ready to go when I purposely went to my boss and asked for the largest raise he ever agreed to. As he said yes after a few minutes of pointing out my level of skills, I smiled and told him that I had to quit. His mouth dropped but he smiled and was happy to see me move to what he knew I wanted to do. I just wanted to know if I was worth it and I was. So that was the sign to move on.
It took a lot for us to move across country and get push to get my first job in the special effects industry but we did it. I started as a sculptor, model maker and quickly found that I could easily jump into
animatronics which was something I had great interest and aptitude so as I moved form a no name to someone the major companies called in just a short time. We bought a house there, not an easy task with the prices 3 to 4 times the cost of my first house but we managed. As I worked for people like Stan Winston, Greg Cannom and Rick Baker the masters of the special effects industry and working on films everyone knows I wanted to start my own company so I did and didn’t look back.
I’ve been lucky and have worked for people like Spielberg, partied with stars like Will Smith, got into it on set with Tom Cruise, had my kids carried around by people like Peter Faulk ( Columbo), sang and danced on set with Jamie Foxx, been in movies and tv shows myself as well as had my own show on the Discovery channel called
Doing Da Vinci. I've worked for the
F.B.I. / Department of Justice making disguises to help agents infiltrate terrorist suspects combating terrorism and even became a adjunct professor at the film dept for
Tulane University in New Orleans.
That all being said, it has been a roller coaster but I felt something lacking. After Almost 20 years in the business and working on many films and tv shows which you can see on our
Tech Works Studios site I wanted a change so we moved to what I call a normal place, the Northshore of the New Orleans area in Louisiana. A nice family place for the kids, and a much-needed laid back atmosphere. We have happy here in Mandeville / Covington for the last 7 years.
As we had quite the location change, I also started thinking that the entertainment industry wasn’t filling something for me. I started thinking the way I did when I joined the Marines. Even though I loved the film industry, I needed to find a way to do something more important with my life. Something that I could do that would help people in a way that the film industry couldn’t. That came to me on a possible project where the production wanted some insight to crime scene cleanup companies.
I jumped at the idea to see what I could find for them since that already seemed interesting and I was sure we would be doing some crazy effects for it. Making dead bodies and blood gags is always a favorite so I looked into it all. I found a
Biohazard company not too far away and asked them some questions and got a great response. Everyone loves to be part of a film project it seems. I was even invited to come see a couple cleanups which was very interesting. The project fell through as they often do but it got me thinking a lot about the services that help people in their time of need. Victims’ families and the people surrounding a crime or trauma need help when they are at their weakest point. And since I am one of the rare people who can handle the visuals and other things needed to walk into a scene filled with real blood and bodily fluids from something that happened that can only be described as very sad. I realized I could do this. I already have an eye for detail and perfection so
trauma or biohazard cleanup is a natural way to help people. I was hooked with this idea although my wife was very weirded out at the idea of this great change.
I needed to know more and see if this was something I could learn properly and build into a business I could be proud of. I take everything I do seriously and want nothing but the best and to be the best at whatever I do. Must be the combination of being a Marine and the boss of a highly competitive artistic business for 20 years. I looked int this new idea for weeks until I came across a training facility that seemed to be as focused on proper training and procedures as I am. The company is called Amdecon and I cant say enough good things about them.
They pulled from their vast experience but it was also their professionalism that was what I really liked. After seeing what they teach at
Amdecon,
I could see the lacking in the other companies I looked into originally. So no matter how long they have been around, experience isn’t everything. We often hear things in the FX biz like “this isn’t our first rodeo”, my reply is usually "ok, that might be true but could you have done better on those rodeos?" I usually just get a “not so happy” look back. My point is that experience can be a great example of some things but long experience with bad habits and sloppy work especially in this industry can be hazardous to the clients and technicians alike and I just won’t have that. So, some of these longstanding companies were disappointing examples of the industry, whereas Amdecon was a perfect fit for the best example in the industry and that’s who I want training me and my people. So I trained with them for some time and learned properly. We trained and are completely compliant with
OSHA Standards for the industry and yearly tested.
Once I received all the proper training, we started
Exit Biohazard and Crime Scene Cleanup which was not an easy of cheap task. We spent tens of thousands to start the business but have found that it does what was intended. It lets us help others in a time of great need. We focus on making sure the client’s are met with compassion and professionalism. We are safe and thorough and we may be a newer company in the
crime scene cleanup industry compared to others out there but we have years of running another service based company dealing with the most critical clients on the planet form the movie industry.
Professionalism and care are our key ideology and we are here to help and that’s what is important.
Do we still have the special effects business? Yes, I still own it. I have some great people running it and I offer advice and guidance here and there and of course I still dabble in it when its something I really love but I run and focus on my passion which is Exit Cleanup. Sounds crazy I know, going from something that most think is a dream job working with movie stars making awesome things that you get to see on TV but I’m over that. I’ve had my name in credits for decades, made some of the coolest things, been in films and tv shows, worked with the biggest directors and movie stars but once the shine of the industry wears off and you’ve done all of that, you really do want something real for people. For me that’s helping people in their time of great need by cleaning up blood, death, suicide and murder scenes so that the people that are afflicted by these terrible situations don’t have to.
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From NOLA TO BATON ROUGE and all surrounding areas, Trusted and Professional Biohazard Services
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Phone: (504) 722-1504 • Email: info@exitcleanup.com • License # 94037645
Call anytime 24hrs -7 days a week, 365 days a year, Free Estimates. Address 314 Penns Chapel Rd Mandeville LA 70471
Exit Biohazard & Crime Scene Cleanup Services