DeStefan started as artist for XFX Inc. and worked in the special effects department for films such as the action comedy Suburban Commando (1991, along Brian Sipe, Joel Harlow, and Mike Smithson), the comic adaptation Batman Returns (1992, alongside Greg Cannom, Ve Neill, Greg Nelson, and Yolanda Toussieng), the horror film Pet Semetary II (1992), and the science fiction sequel RoboCop 3 (1993).