(SANTA MARIA, California-July 20, 2007) Feature film visual effects facility CafeFX, which last year created memorable characters for PAN'S LABYRINTH, has launched its character animation division.
The decision represents a serious commitment to animation and the intent to compete at a high level for these projects. Plans for the division were framed more than two years ago in anticipation of client demands, and began with an animation pipeline designed to optimize parallel production of the company's core visual effects business. In addition to adding more animators and specialized hardware and software, the long-term vision includes comprehensive in-house training. CafeFX's expanded capabilities will extend through to production at Sententia Entertainment, the company's feature film production division. Among Sententia's credits is the Academy Award®- winning PAN'S LABYRINTH.
The character animation division's first hire is the highly regarded animation supervisor James Straus. Straus was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for his contributions to DRAGONHEART. Then an animation supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), he also worked on JUMANJI, FORREST GUMP, THE FLINTSTONES, and JURASSIC PARK. Later as animation director and supervisor at Santa Barbara Studios, he worked on AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS, PAULIE, and STAR TREK: INSURRECTION, as well as the video game PARASITE EVE. Straus was then hired by PDI as directing animator for SHREK, winner of an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Following that time, Straus delved further into the world of computer gaming at Electronic Arts (EA) and also served as an animator for the feature film CONSTANTINE while at visual effects company Escape.
A graduate of the classical animation program at renowned Sheridan College in Ontario, Canada, Straus has also created a procedural Maya-based forest generating software tool and has produced an independent sci-fi short film.
Straus' first project at CafeFX will be character creation for THE MIST, an adaptation of the Stephen King science fiction novella in which numerous species of horrific creatures emerge in a small town in Maine after a massive thunderstorm. The film's director, Frank Darabont, brought the project to CafeFX after seeing the company's past animation work.
Of his new animation home Straus said "I'm very happy to be here. CafeFX has a dynamic combination of talent and advanced technical resources. There's an eager, exciting energy here because everyone knows that they are contributing to the work in a very personal way. CafeFX is on a meteoric arc and I feel privileged to be a part of that momentum."
Jeff Barnes, CEO of CafeFX, said "James brings a wealth of experience in CG animation, but importantly, he has built and managed large animation teams for very significant live action and animated films and developed the requisite pipelines and proprietary software. There are great things on the horizon for CafeFX and we intend to bring the utmost in creativity and technical sophistication to those projects."
The character animation pipeline will have Autodesk Maya at its core for animation and modeling, Softimage XSI for texturing and lighting, and Autodesk Mental Ray for rendering. The company's production pipeline is also configured with cebas Thinking Particles, Sitrisati Fume FX, eyeon Digital Fusion, Autodesk Combustion, Massive, cebas finalRender Stage-2, 2d3 Boujou, Adobe After Effects and Apple Shake.
CafeFX is currently in production on visual effects for THE KITE RUNNER, THE MIST, JOHN ADAMS and NIM'S ISLAND and recently completed EVAN ALMIGHTY, FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER, SPIDER-MAN 3, GHOST RIDER, and PAN'S LABYRINTH.
"A VFX JOURNEY THROUGH PAN'S LABYRINTH WITH CAFEFX" was chosen for the prestigious Electronic Theater at SIGGRAPH 2007. A record 905 submissions were made this year to the competition, an international showcase of computer-generated imagery, animation and compelling storytelling.
CafeFX will be recruiting for visual effects artists and animators at SIGGRAPH in San Diego, August 5-9, 2007.
About CafeFX
CafeFX is an award-winning feature film visual effects facility offering visual effects production and supervision, CG character creation, and 3D animation. Founded in 1993 by Jeff Barnes and David Ebner, CafeFX is located in a 36,000-square-foot studio on an eight-acre campus in the heart of Santa Barbara County. The company's credits include SPIDER-MAN™ 3, GHOST RIDER, PAN'S LABYRINTH, THE DEPARTED, SIN CITY, KING KONG, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA and THE AVIATOR.
Its commercial and music video division, Santa Monica-based The Syndicate, is a creative design, branding services and digital production studio, specializing in live action direction, visual effects, animation, motion graphics, and telecine.
CafeFX and The Syndicate are held by umbrella corporation the ComputerCafe Group, which has also established Sententia Entertainment, a long form production company. With a focus on both live action and animated projects, Sententia is poised to capitalize on years of experience in the feature film market while developing a catalog of properties utilizing the proven strengths of sister companies CafeFX and The Syndicate. Among Sententia's credits are the Academy Award®-winning PAN'S LABYRINTH and DANIKA.
For more information please call 805-922-9479 or visit http://www.cafefx.com
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