VFX Legion Founder James David Hattin has announced the signing of CG Supervisor Blake Anderson to the pioneering remote company’s studio in British Columbia. The newest addition to the recently launched B.C. division’s leadership team, the industry veteran brings a range of skills and experience managing and collaborating with large work-from-home teams of artists on feature films and episodic series.
Anderson’s 15-years of experience in the industry includes six-year as a VFX supervisor for ABC’s hit fantasy TV series, ‘Once Upon a Time,’ out of Zoic Studios. ‘Wonderland,’ ‘666,’ ‘District 9,’ ‘Stargate Universe,’ ‘Stargate Atlantis,’ ‘The 440,’ and ‘Muppets in Oz,’ are also among his credits.
A graduate of The Art Institute of Vancouver (formerly CDIS), the B.C. native began his career as a hands-on creative. Anderson is an experienced 3D artist, CG generalist, 2D animator, matte painter, compositor, and pre-vis artists. The multi-disciplined talent’s in-depth knowledge of the process of creating visual effects brings invaluable insight to his role as CG Supervisor.
Helmed by Head of Production Dylan Yastremski, the new studio mirrors its LA flagship facility's structure while further expanding the company's capabilities. The opening of the division's responds to the increasing demand for VFX Legion's unprecedented years of experience working exclusively with home-based teams of talent - creating cost-effective, high-quality visual effects for dozens of films and hundreds of television episodes.
Anderson will be joined by the B.C. operation's full core team of managers, support staff, and lead artists over the coming weeks. Upgraded capabilities, in addition to the increased scale of the leadership team and the company's network of home-based talent, enable the new division to accommodate a greater volume of projects simultaneously and meet the needs of larger scale projects and more complex productions.
"Establishing a local management team with the scope and experience needed to guide work-from-home artists as seamless collaborative teams enables VFX Legion to utilize the B.C. studio's expanded resources effectively," says Yastremski, a partner in the new venture. "Blake brings the skillsets needed to optimize the advantages of our road-tested remote capabilities and the scope and caliber of Legion’s growing network of talent residing throughout the province, North America, and the world."
"Last year we brought Blake on board to lend his talents to the feature film, 'Black Christmas,” says Hattin. "He impressed me with his depth of experience and mastery of our custom workflow. His strong managerial skills and experience make him a great fit with VFX Legion, and we are excited to have him on board."
"The role of CG Supervision at VFX Legion presents me with a unique opportunity to work with a company that launched as a fully remote resource for visual effects,” says Anderson. “Their well-establish collaborative pipeline, scope of talent, efficiency, and quality comes with years of experience working with home-based talent. While physical isolation and a certain disconnect are inherent when talent is homebound, approaches to working remotely vary. I’ve worked with VFX Legion’s team on projects in the past - and the way they interacted with home-based artists, the level of accessibility, and smooth workflow made it a great collaborative experience."
“There’s no way of knowing how long social distancing a necessary precaution will be,” adds Anderson. “But even looking beyond the current pandemic, VFX Legion provides artists and productions with unique advantages as the industry moves forward. It’s a great company that’s way ahead of the curve, and I’m thrilled to join its team.”