Name: Salvatore Belleci
Nickname: Tory
Date of Birth: 30 October 1970
Born in: Monterey, California, USA


Biography:
Tory first walked into Jamie Hyneman's workshop in 1994 as a fresh-faced young film student from San Francisco State University looking to start a career in movie special effects. Jamie quickly put him to work buying lunch, sweeping the shop floor and running errands.

But a determined Tory quickly learned all he could and moved up the ranks. Three years later he landed a job with George Lucas' special-effects division, Industrial Light and Magic; one of his biggest projects there was building models for the most recent "Star Wars" trilogy. The Federation battleships and podracers you see in "The Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones" are some of Tory's finest pieces of work.

Tory's other special-effects work can be seen in the "Matrix" trilogy, "Van Helsing", "Peter Pan", "Starship Troopers", "Galaxy Quest" and "Bicentennial Man".

When he's not busting myths, Tory's busy dreaming up his own ideas for films and TV shows. One of his short films has already appeared in the Slamdance film festival and on the Sci-Fi Channel.

Tory was born and bred in Monterey, California, right near the famous Pebble Beach golf course. He once shot a blistering 15 over par round of 87 there ... then decided special effects was more his game. (Source)

Behind the scenes of each hour-long episode, Belleci and his crew put in about 100 hours of planning and construction. "It's all-consuming," he says cheerfully at the end of a 12-hour workday. "It's great -- I get paid to do what I love." (Source)

Born and raised in Monterey, California, Tory moved north to San Francisco where he earned a Bachelors degree from San Francisco State University’s film school.


Trivia:
In the Mega Movie Myth Special on "MythBusters", Tory got to fall through three awnings to try and disprove a myth.
He appeared in the Star Wars mockumentary "R2-D2: Beneath the Dome" with colleague Grant Imahara.
Tory began working on "MythBusters" in 2003 doing behind the scenes work. In the second season he was featured as part of the show's build team and got on-screen credit in the show's third season.
Tory Belleci first met co-host Jamie Hyneman while working at Colossal Pictures in 1994, building sets and models for TV commercials.
Started working for Jamie Hyneman's company, M5 Industries Inc. in 1994.
Tory worked at Industrial Light & Magic for 8 years as a model builder, sculptor, and painter. One of his biggest projects was building models for the prequel Star Wars trilogy.
Tory was reunited with former colleague Jamie Hyneman when he joined the "MythBusters" as a member of the Build Team in 2004.
In 2005, Tory convinced former colleague Grant Imahara to join "MythBusters".
Tory said his probably worst job was when he worked for a hotdog stand in Golden Gate Park...for one day.
He always loved building models as a kid.
His short film "Sandtrooper" has already appeared in the Slamdance film festival in 2000 and on the Sci-Fi Channel.