Frantic Films VFX, recently acquired by Prime Focus Group, has hired Kenneth Nakada to spearhead the company's new digital mattes & concepts division.
Nakada joins Frantic Films VFX following a two-and-a-half-year stint with Momentum/LookFX, where he served as visual effects supervisor and designer, and oversaw the company's digital environment team. He is currently painting environments for CITY OF EMBER and has recently designed on Frank Miller's THE SPIRIT. He has also just completed paintings for CIS Hollywood on THE EXPRESS, LEATHERHEADS and STARSHIP DAVE. While at Momentum/Look FX, he supervised GET SMART and LAS VEGAS, designed for FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER and supervised the matte paintings on PUSHING DAISIES.
"He is the ideal candidate to take charge of this new division," said Chris Bond, co-founder, Frantic Films VFX. "He is an incredibly talented and accomplished artist, and his list of credits include some of the best films and television projects in the last decade. I am very excited to add him to our arsenal of talent!"
"I was approached by several different companies, but Frantic Films VFX proved to be the perfect place for me to launch a new digital mattes & concepts division. The vision that I have for this highly specialized matte painting/virtual environment department is totally in line with thephilosophies, priorities and work methodologies already employed at Frantic VFX," explained Nakada. "When you specialize in building virtual environments, you need complementary teams to help bring those environments to life. Frantic Films VFX has highly talented CG water, character and animation teams in place to provide a very synergistic fit."
As part of a company-wide expansion and the effort to build a digital mattes & concepts division, Frantic Films VFX is actively seeking to hire talented animators, lighting and rendering artists, particle specialists and technical directors for their Hollywood, Vancouver and Winnipeg offices.Interested parties may submit reels and resumes electronically via www.franticfilms.com/vfx/.
Prior to LookFX, Nakada spent five years at RIOT, first as a senior matte painter, later as a vfx supervisor and eventually becoming the company's director of Visual Effects. His stand out projects at RIOT include TERMINATOR 3, THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN, SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW and THE SCORPION KING.
Additionally, Nakada has creating matte paintings for studios such as Industrial Light & Magic, Stan Winston Digital, ESC Ent., Cinesite and Captive Audience on APOCALYPTO, VAN HELSING, PETER PAN, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST and THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS. He got his start in matte painting and visual effects at Illusion Arts in Van Nuys, California, where he spent six years cutting his teeth on films such as STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT, MASK OF ZORRO, STUART LITTLE and X-MEN.
Headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada, with offices in Vancouver and Los Angeles, Frantic Films VFX (www.franticfilms.com) has been operating divisions that provide visual effects for film and television, and vfx software development since 1997. In November of 2007, Frantic Films VFX became a division of Prime Focus Group.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
