Florian Gellinger is a co-founder of RISE Visual Effects Studios, founded in 2007. With a team of 140 artists and offices in Berlin, Stuttgart, Munich, Cologne and London, it is one of the largest visual effects companies in Central Europe. Florian talked to us about getting his start in visual effects by working on Roman Polanski’s OLIVER TWIST. Later in the discussion he focused in-depth about some of the technical challenges on the following films and television shows his company has worked on HARRY POTTER: DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1, THE BOOK THIEF, THE FRENCH DISPATCH, IRON MAN 3, MAN FROM U.N.C.LE, FAST AND FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW, FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDENWALD, WANDAVISION and LISEY’S STORY. He also shared some thoughts on using practical camera angles when possible and how the company manages render times when a project involves a large number of complex shots. 

Adam Pere is a VFX Producer in the LA office of Crafty Apes. In a wide-ranging conversation with us he explored multiple facets of the visual effects profession. He discussed how he joined the company and the differences between a Visual Effects Coordinator and Visual Effects Manager role. He talked about his work for feature films including LA LA LAND (2016), SPIDERMAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019), FAST & FURIOUS: HOBBS AND SHAW (2019), PALM SPRINGS (2020) and DEADPOOL 2 (2016). In television his credits include THE ORVILLE and WESTWORLD. In 2017 he transitioned into the role of VFX Producer. He explains how this role involves bidding, budgeting shots for clients and managing successful relationships that can lead to future collaborations. He also walks us through building teams for each project, how the experience of producing visual effects work differs on a television show versus a feature and how often he interacts with the director.

Andy Williams is Managing Director of the newly opened LA Office at Outpost VFX. He joined Zef Cota to discuss his beginnings in the visual effects profession, starting at DIVE Post Production, supervising digital intermediate workflows of features. As part of his responsibilities now at Outpost he describes how work is divided among the company’s offices in the UK, US, Canada and India. He also describes how production tax rebates largely determine which Outpost location becomes the lead site on each project. The conversation concludes with some general thoughts on the kinds of future technologies and talents the company is investing in.

Yannick Karcher is a Strasbourg based filmmaker. He joined Dara Naficy for a discussion about his directing and assistant directing career to date, including working on recent television productions such as Une Affaire Française (2021), for TF1 and War on Beasts (2018) for France 3 Television and Europacorp TV. In 2020 he directed a short, ‘Charon’, starring Tcheky Karyo. He also shared with listeners the inspiration behind this production, how he worked with his production designer and other heads of department during ‘Charon’, and what he is developing next, as a Director. 

Marie-Castille Mention Schaar is a Paris based Director and Producer. She joined Zef Cota for a discussion about her directing career and making films such as A Good Man (2021), Heaven Will Wait ( 2016), Once in a Lifetime (2014), and Bowling (2012). She also discussed her role as a Producer on features such as Wah-Wah (2005) directed by Richard E. Grant and Monsieur N. (2003), directed by Antoine de Caunes, including how key cast members were assembled, for each of these productions. GlobeScreen Podcasts would like to thank Pyramide Distribution for making this episode possible. 

Paul Hepker and Mark Kilian are a composing duo based in Los Angeles (Mark) and South Africa (Paul). Among many composing credits for films over the years, they have composed the scores for many of Gavin Hood’s feature films, namely Official Secrets (2019), Eye in the Sky (2016), Rendition (2007) and Tsotsi (2005), their first collaboration with Gavin. They spoke recently with GlobeScreen Podcasts about these collaborations about the art of composing for films in general, emphasizing original sounds and instruments in their work together and other filmmakers they aspire to work with, on future projects. Listen to the full episode to learn more.

Robert Mackenzie is an Academy Award Winning Sound Mixer & Supervising Sound Editor, based in Australia. His recent credits include Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog (2021), Mortal Kombat (2021) and David Michod’s The King (2019). He has also worked on other notable features including Mary Magdalene (2018), Hacksaw Ridge (2016) and Animal Kingdom (2010), another collaboration with David Michod. He spoke recently to Zef Cota in-depth about some of these projects and the art of sound design and editing in general, sharing some stories from the projects he has worked on. 

Mitchell Tanner is a London based composer for both film and commercials. He recently composed the musical score for the film, ’Twisted’ for Director, Vibeke Musaya. In commercials his musical scores have been used in the UK, for brands including Cadbury, British Heart Foundation, and Morrisons. In 2018 he participated in an American Society of Composers Authors & Publishers (ASCAP), workshop in LA, with Richard Bellis. Listen in to his recent conversation with Zef Cota, our Director of Podcasts to learn more about his career. Some of his recent scores are also available on his website, www.mitchelltanner.com.