Was one of nine nationwide winners in the 1982 DC Comics/Post Cereals
"Create a Villain" Contest. Won an all-expense paid trip to Hollywood
and his villain was supposed to appear in a DC Comic. His winning
villain was a three-eyed, horned demon. Todd came in first in just
about every art contest he ever entered as a kid and originally
intended to become a comic book illustrator before switching to a
career as a filmmaker in the early 1990s. His primary artistic
influences were Berni Wrightson, Richard Corben and other horror alumni
who graced the pages of Warren's CREEPY magazine in the 1970s.
