Sweeney was born in April 1948. He has been working with special effects since the 1980s. He supervised them, among others, in “Blue Thunder”, “Goonies” and “Lost Boys”.
Sweeney won three technical Oscars. In 1987, he was awarded for developing a method of simulating the impact of bullets fired from firearms. In 1998, he received an award for inventing Liquid Synthetic Air, used to create a fog effect. In turn, in 2002, the Mic Rig was awarded, which he developed together with stuntman Mike Rodgers, used to mount cameras on vehicles. He created the technology for the needs of implementation “Fast and Furious”).
He was also nominated for an Oscar for the film’s special effects “Apollo 13” with Robert Legato, Michael Kanifer and Leslie Ekker. He lost to the team responsible for “Babe: A classy pig”.
Sweeney’s filmography ends “Fast and Furious 7” from 2015. He left behind his wife, Lucinda Foy, whom he married in 2020.