Santa
Monica, Calif. - Brickyard Filmworks has
completed 320 VFX shots on Disney's comedy The Proposal, starring
Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, which opened worldwide on June 19.
The year-old company, founded by Brian Drewes, Geoff McAuliffe, and Dave
Waller (of commercial shop Brickyard VFX) has added a new partner:
film industry veteran Marc Sadeghi (formerly executive vice president
at The Orphanage).
Sadeghi explains: "Brickyard VFX possesses a wealth of creative and technical horsepower, a stellar reputation in the commercial effects realm, and a history of client confidence. With global shifts in feature production as well as the economic challenges faced by facilities today, Brickyard aims to leverage its geographic advantage to net some of the work that seems to float offshore. With offices in both Boston and LA, Brickyard is in the unique position to offer generous Massachusetts State film tax incentives while maintaining a close level of interaction with our clients."
Marc Sadeghi joins Brickyard from visual effects company The Orphanage where he served as a principal architect of the feature film effects division as its executive VP for eight years. In that role, Sadeghi forged vendor relationships with major studios, including Paramount, Warner Bros., Universal, Revolution, Sony, Miramax, and New Line. He also maintained an executive post at Orphanage Animation Studios, which is headed by Genndy Tartakovsky. Prior to joining The Orphanage, Sadeghi worked in the CG animation division at Wild Brain. He got his start in visual effects and production at Industrial Light & Magic, and prior to that, at Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope.
As part of this expansion, Brickyard Filmworks has also hired VFX supervisor Sean Devereaux (formerly of Motion Theory and Digital Domain). Devereaux has more than 10 years of visual effects experience on many notable film and commercial projects. He has served as senior VFX artist on feature films. He has also worked as a Visual Effects Supervisor on spots with directors Matthew Ralston, Kinka Usher, Paul Hunter, Joe Pytka, and others at facilities that include Motion Theory, Asylum, Sway, and RhinoFX. In addition to his professional experience, Devereaux has been a VFX instructor and consultant for fxphd.com, The Foundry, and Studio Arts.
In addition to The Proposal, Brickyard Filmworks is completing multiple shots on a major studio action film expected to release in September 2009.
"In an age when facilities are shuttering or reducing staff, its great to be in a position to expand our bicoastal facilities and tap veteran talent," Drewes adds. "Since our Atlantic Division can complete work that allows our clients generous Tax Credits, and our Pacific shop has easier access to top talent and proximity to the Studios, the response has been tremendous and has encouraged us to build our base, and diversify a little."