Deluxe Entertainment’s global visual effects brand Method Studios announced a raft of key new hires that will expand its artistic leadership and animation cred. Joining Method’s teams in Los Angeles and New York will be Supervising Art Director and Head of Art Department Olivier Pron, Commercials VFX Supervisor and Creative Director Jesse Bradstreet, Commercials VFX Supervisor James Rogers, Animation Supervisors Daryl Sawchuk and Tim Ranck, and VFX Supervisor Gong Myung Lee.
The influx of talent underscores Method’s commitment to raising the bar in its VFX and animation efforts across feature film, advertising, and all other media. Notable upcoming movie VFX projects include Terrence Malick’s Voyage of Time, Marvel’s Doctor Strange and WB’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The studio also recently completed the viral 2016 AICP Sponsor Reel, GE’s “Raining Octopuses” and the 2016 E3 Trailer for Bethesda Softworks’ Quake Champions.
World-class concept artist Olivier Pron joins Method Los Angeles from the studio’s London office, where he led the teams crafting pre-production visuals for VFX-heavy films including Iron Man 3, Cloud Atlas and Guardians of the Galaxy, which earned him a 2015 Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design. Prior to Method, he held senior level creative and design posts at MPC and BUF.
With an extensive background in commercial VFX, Jesse Bradstreet comes to Method from Sydney, where he worked with a roster of high-profile brands including Pepsi, Samsung and Vodafone. His work has earned a Silver Clio in the Animation category (Honda Jazz Imagination), among other accolades. Bradstreet began his VFX career as an animator on X-Men and later as a VFX supervisor and director at Prodigy Films and Animal Logic.
James Rogers has been a guiding force at Method in Sydney since 2010, serving as VFX supervisor for Gods of Egypt and The Wolverine as well as overseeing VFX for last year’s Target Holiday Odyssey campaign for 72andSunny. At Method Los Angeles, Rogers will extend the studio’s capacity for commercial VFX, enabling a higher volume of CG-intensive projects to run simultaneously. Rogers received an Emmy nomination for his work on the series Moby Dick.
Daryl Sawchuk was most recently Head of Animation for MPC, helping to establish and grow its Vancouver facility. His credits include the Academy Award-winning Life of Pi, Edge of Tomorrow and Man of Steel, and he served as Animation Director for an upcoming Paramount feature releasing in 2017. His CG animated feature credits include Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Everyone’s Hero, and The Wild.
Skilled character animator Tim Ranck is one the CG masterminds behind VFX blockbusters including Iron Man 3, I, Robot and Real Steel. A technical and artistic problem-solver, he has extensive experience in motion capture direction and developing animation pipelines. Prior to Method, Ranck worked on film, video game and commercial projects at Digital Domain, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Zoic Studios, Psyop, and Blur Studio.
Gong Myung Lee joins Method New York having previously worked as VFX supervisor/Head of CG at Mr. X Gotham. She has held various supervisory roles at The Mill and Charlex. Her recent credits include Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Zoolander 2 and The Finest Hours, and TV series The Strain, Vikings, Narcos and Marco Polo. Lee holds degrees in Political Science, Economics and Computer Science; she also has taught lighting and compositing as an Adjunct Professor at the School of Visual Arts.
