Production stories
“The ReelMatters's Director had consulted us at the Animation Lab regarding our proposed pipeline plans. His mentoring and advice had been invaluable to us, and we are still benefiting from the lectures and practical information he gave us. I would not hesitate in collaborating with him again in the future :)”
Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, High Integrity
Matteo Shapira, CG Supervisor, Animation Lab“I had the great fortune of meeting the ReelMatters's Director, when he came to Animation Lab for 2 weeks to consult us on how to build and implement the pipeline for our CG feature. We benefited enormously from his expertise, which he readily shared with us through a number of seminars and through individual sessions with the CG Supervisor, the individual Heads of Department as well as the Production team, in order to fully understand our specific production needs and to advise us accordingly. I was extremely impressed by his very hands- on approach and his candid feedback and it was a great pleasure to have such a knowlegeable and affable person in our midst. I can heartily recommend him to any production seeking input or guidance on how to contruct their pipeline.”
Christine Strobel, Production Manager, Animation Lab“I had the pleasure of crossing paths with the ReelMatters's Director during a recent consulting engagement in Israel. I found him to be every bit as knowledgeable and insightful in person as I had heard of by reputation. Furthermore, he was an extremely well-reasoned and pleasant individual: a true gentleman and a professional. I would recommend him in a heartbeat, and hope to work with him in the future.”
Kevin Geiger, President & CEO, Animation Options LLC
"Dear ReelMatters's Director, I sincerely appreciated your very
enlightening presentation!
Usually I am not that kind of person who watches the same movie many
times, but I was so fascinated with the visual of Avatar, and actually
watched it three times at the theatre. So I was glad to have a chance
to hear your speech, the person who has been active in the front line
of this world, and worked for that movie.
Moreover, I was very impressed with your answers to all of our
questions. It was very easy-to-understand and convincing, and with a
great humor.
It was quite eye-opening that the structure, the system and the
environment of the work are very different
depending on the productions. And from your speech, I learned that it
is very important to keep myself flexible.
I love this work. But since I have been working in the same working
environment for a long time, I felt there was less excitement in my
work after my finishing after some productions. However, I could gain
great
stimulation from you.
This opportunity made me set a new goal"
Shinpei Naitou, Sub chief designer, Dynamo Pictures, Tokyo
"I am currently working in the movie industry because I want
to become a VFX supervisor and a director.
This is my goal.
When I am working, I always believe that what is important and
determines the quality of a project is the personality of the people
who manage the team members as well as the techniques used. You cannot
develop great work without strong motivation and passion.
I was very much impressed and agreed with the ReelMatters's Director's
presentation.
From your presentation, I realized that the person who
realizes
extraordinary project has a great personality and very strong
understandings..
I will do my best to become a strong leader to make extraordinary work.
Thank you very much!"
Takateru Kadota, Chief compositing, Dynamo Pictures, Tokyo
“I had the pleasure of working with the ReelMatters's Director on Prince Caspian at MPC and consider him one of, if not the best Lighting TD's I have worked with. His strong technical understanding is matched by an aesthetic sensibility that contributed to what I consider some of the the best character lighting to be produced on that project. In addition his personable nature makes his presence on the team a huge benefit to all involved. I couldn't recommend him highly enough.”
Steven McKendry, Production Manager, The Moving Picture Company“The ReelMatters's Director made a huge contribution to the lighting work on Prince Caspian during his time at MPC. Within a week of joining the company, he had learned our in-house toolset well enough to be producing final renders. He demonstrated a high level of technical and artistic skill, as well as a strong work ethic and high degree of professionalism. I strongly recommend him for any Senior TD position and hope to work with him again.”
Greg Butler, VFX Supervisor, The Moving Picture Company“To whom this may concern. I can conceitedly say that I had a fortune to work with the ReelMatters's Director in such complex project like The Tales of Despereaux at Framestore. He was involved in various pipeline developments but most important one’s was building the Lighting tool that should be easy to use to various levels of artists but is same time to be open to the most complex assignments from demanding production like Despereaux. His tool was instant hit in production, tool troubleshooting was done incredibly fast, it’s was done before schedule and most important Lighters simply have no complains about his tool. He demonstrated exceptional technical skills and immense vision for developing pipeline combined with superbly communication skills on various levels and great sense for deadline. He is one of those Artists in industry who are acting like magnets for others"
Nikola Milosevic, Lighting Supervisor, Framestore CFC“I have worked with the ReelMatters's Director in two capacities on the CG feature "The Wild". Once as the Hair and Feather sup (that's me) while he was setting up the pipeline for lighting. Then as a support TD for the lighters (mainly for hair and feather issues) when he was the Lighting Sup. He had the challenging task of setting up, implementing and then supervising a lighting team on a project which was a first of its' kind in Canada. He handled the task very well, so much so that the pipeline ran pretty smooth. His ability to resolve technical challenges and conflicts and suave management makes him a very valuable asset for any studio. I would love to work with him again...honestly. Plus he has a great sense of humour.”
Dipankar Goswamy, Supervising Lead, CORE Feature Animation“The ReelMatters's Director and I were both Department Supervisors on 'The Wild' at C.O.R.E. Feature Animation. I worked as Environmental Modeling and Texturing Supervisor before he stepped in as Lighting Supervisor so I can attest to the polar shift in workflow and throughput when he took over. He and I, together with our Leads, established channels of communication, feedback and cross discipline support that made an impossible task possible. I found that his advice was insightful, his solutions were clever and his mind open to suggestions that made both of our departments succeed. Great sense of humor and very laid back even under pressure.”
Bo Mosley, Mod/Tex Supervisor for Environments, C.O.R.E. Feature Animation“The ReelMatters's Director worked to develop and implement a new, efficient, and very stable, lighting pipeline for CORE on the CG feature, The Wild (using Houdini). This workflow continued to be used at CORE. Other studios have since adopted a very similar method of working. I would gladly endorse him.”
Janet Fraser, Sr. Account Executive, Side Effects Software“I worked with the ReelMatters's Director on The Tale of Despereaux. He was developing the lighting rig. Not only the tools developed by him were powerful and flexible, they were also well documented. It was obvious that he understood very well the work of the artists, and always welcomed the artists comments and suggestions. He was one of he most valuable assets of the production. I am looking forward to work again with him.”
Bertrand Bry-Marfaing, Lighting Technical Director, Framestore-CFC"Thank you very much for your presentation at our company the
other day.
Your
positive and active attitude greatly encouraged me. I have little
experience in the CG field yet and for that reason it may not be useful
for you, but I send feedback in all honesty.
Practical
advices which I can introduce quickly, like good file naming, were very
interesting for me. And your human-centered management way was also
very impressive.
It's not directly related to your
presentation, but just like the number of rendering machines, the
environment surrounding artists seems very different. Most of artists
in Japan are generalists and there are few specialists in a specific
field. So I want to listen more about not only a specific field but
also better operations in wide-ranged areas."
“The ReelMatters's Director possesses technical and functional knowledge and skills needed to perform the job successfully. He translates creative and technical direction into solid work. In particular, he has a great ability to troubleshoot problems independently or as a member of a team and provide innovative solutions in timely manner. Especially, his strengths are in ability to quickly comprehend and analyze pipeline and then to streamline and enhance it. Artistically sensible with flair for design and colors. He posses great communications skills that provide team members with clear and appropriate direction. I would strongly recommend him as I believe that his talents, knowledge and personality would be excellent addition to any company that he wishes to apply to.”
Belma Abdicevic, Lighting/Compositing, DKP“The ReelMatters's Director showed excellent technical and creative initiative and skills working on "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" at MPC. His work included some of the most challenging character and performance driven shots and he delivered every time. Would be a pleasure to work with him again! P.”
Patric Roos, Lighting Supervisor, The Moving Picture Company“I worked with the ReelMatters's Director for years on numerous projects-- he is one of the best in the industry at combining technical knowledge with artistic flair. He is also a dedicated professional with a great eye for detail, as well as one of the nicest guys you could hope to meet.”
Chris Fram, Animator, Freelance Animation“I've worked with the ReelMatters's Director for several years at DKP during some extremely logistically and artiscally challenging projects. He has an intuitive understanding of the realtities of CG production, which complement his strong technical know-how and keen artistic ability. He was an absolute pleasure to work with, particularly on highly challenging projects where his positive attitude, coolness under pressure and strong work ethic set him miles apart from his peers.”
Adrian Tsang, Lead Character Technical Director, IDT Entertainment“the ReelMatters's Director was great to work with. He always had an eye on what needed to be completed and how to make the production fit inside the box. He has a great knowledge of production, technology and art and has the experience to make them all work together. I would recommend him highly.”
Terry Dale, VP Technical Production, DKP“I worked closely with the ReelMatters's Director on Avatar and found him to be a hardworking and dedicated individual. He has an amazing eye for detail and a technical knowledge to match. We worked on several sequences together which although challenging were made very enjoyable due to his high quality skill set. Communication on these sequences was key to achieving the desired look in the allocated time and he was able to turn work around very quickly and most importantly , correctly. I look forward to working with him again in the future.” February 3, 2010
Dave Phillips, VFX Lead Compositor, Weta Digital“I had the pleasure of working with the ReelMatters's Director at Framestore. When building the team for 'A Tale of Despereaux' he topped our wish list of key senior talent. Immediately after coming aboard, he began making an impact. He has the rare combination of skills to lead a team: as a manager he understands his role is to facilitate the best solution and not simply advocate his own ideas. If you look at his resume you will see he has experience with a variety complex VFX and feature animation projects. Beyond his technical skills, his greatest strength is how he manages people. Despite the stressful and overwhelming challenges that arise on a project, he always conducts himself in a calm professional manner, treating both the client and his peers with the utmost respect. I look forward to the opportunity to work with him again.”
Cam Langs, Head of Lighting, Framestore AnimationDetails
The owner of ReelMatters is a Technical Director with over 25 years of production experience in various fields of the entertainment business.
During this period he has contributed to Productions for some of the most distinguished and internationally recognized studios and facilities including Walt Disney Pictures, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Universal Pictures, Weta Digital, C.O.R.E Feature Animation, Framestore CFC, Moving Picture Company, UPN, Atari, Seneca Colleges, Hasbro, DKP Studios, Artech Studios and FOX.
In 2001 he was awarded as one of the fifty most recognized Maya developers by French magazine: Pixelcreation. He has been named in various technical contributions published online for organizations such as VFX World, Autodesk Alias and Highend3D.
Covering various Production roles, such as Art Director, Lighting Supervisor, and lead Technical Director, he has led and supervised teams up to 40 people to succesful deadlines in various production types; from video games, to broadcast television and theatrically released feature films.
His expertise range from modeling and look development, to lighting, rendering, VFX and to pipeline implementation.
Career Highlights
Lighting Department Supervisor; CG Supervisor; Lead Lighting TD; Lead Lookdev TD; Maya Instructor
Reel
