Smith Rejoins Animal Logic
Greg Smith has been tapped by Animal Logic (THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE MATRIX RELOADED and MOULIN ROUGE) to be director of communications & public affairs and a member of the Sydney, Australia-based vfx studio's executive management team. His appointment follows the arrival of Hael Kobayashi from Industrial Light & Magic, who joined the company last October to oversee a local and international recruitment drive for key artists and other production related positions.
Smith, who was instrumental in Animal Logic's move to Fox Studios in 1998, rejoins the company to fulfill a newly created role responsible for the company's industry visibility. Acting as Animal Logic's senior liaison person with government and industry bodies, Smith will work to further develop key relationships, bringing visible benefits for the Australian digital production industry.
According to managing director Zareh Nalbandian, the decision to bring Smith on board was in response to the dynamic and continued growth of the company and the Australian digital production industry over the past decade. "With over 16 years of film and television strategy experience, in the local and international industry, Greg brings with him extensive industry knowledge and insight that will be valuable for the future development of Animal Logic."
Smith has held several high profile industry positions over the past decade including, ceo of Film Victoria and ceo of the NSW FTO. He was one of the founders of AusFilm and a director of content Capital, a film financing company. Most recently Smith completed a study for a collaboration of Australian State governments, looking at opportunities for growth in the industry.
Smith's appointment is the next phase of a multi-stage strategy by Animal Logic to influence positive industry growth. Smith comments, "It is clear to me that, as an industry, we need to be energetically identifying trends and looking for ways to be successful - outside of our assumptions and comfort zones. This is the culture at Animal Logic. The Animal Logic story is a good story - one that exemplifies the potential and capabilities of the Australian talent pool. I think it is well placed to identify its future opportunities and to take them. Ours is a volatile industry, but one which has a bright future. I am excited to have another opportunity to contribute to its growth and success."
Founded by Nalbandian and Chris Godfey Animal Logic (www.animallogic.com) is a digital production company comprised of four business units: Animal Logic Commercials, Animal Logic Film, Animal Logic Play and Animal Logic Research. Established in 1991, Animal Logic's core business has traditionally been the design and production of high-end visual effects for commercials and television series. The experience gained in these media was transferred to film and in 1997 Animal Logic Film was invited to join the establishment of Fox Studios Australia. In 2000, a design and interactive division was created, translating the skills amassed across these image industries to new media forms. At the base of each of these production units sits Animal Logic Research, an R&D division that provides a wealth of intellectual property and proprietary development to the entire Animal Logic Group.