Bicoastal RSA USA has signed director Neill Blomkamp for exclusive U.S. representation. Known for his work in meshing live action and computer graphics, Blomkamp has scored with such spots as Nike’s “Evolution”for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore., and Citroen’s “Transformer,” via Euro RSCG, London.
The former, a CG spot, was produced by The Embassy VFX, a Vancouver, B.C.-based visual effects house owned in part by Blomkamp. Meanwhile, Spy Films, Toronto, produced “Transformer,” which aired throughout the major European markets, except for France. Spy continues to handle director Blomkamp in Canada and other parts of the world.
Both “Evolution” and “Transformer” have performed well on the awards show circuit. For example, earlier this year, “Transformer” won the top commercial category honor at the third annual Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards in Hollywood. The ad features the transformation of a Citroen C4 automobile into a dancing robot. Contributing to the success of the spot was the motion capture performance of Marty Kudelka, choreographer for the likes of Justin Timberlake.
Blomkamp said the recognition gained by his recent commercials made the time right for him to enter the U.S. ad marketplace. He was attracted to RSA on several fronts, including the company’s roster of talent, its high caliber work and longevity in the business, and the fact that he’s been a longtime, unabashed fan of director Ridley Scott.
As Blomkamp makes his first foray stateside, he’s diversified beyond his spotwork to take on some longer form fare. At press time he was in postproduction on a Spy-produced short, a 14 minute film for Wieden+Kennedy Entertainment. Titled Tempbot, the piece, which stars Lynda Carter of Wonder Woman fame, is a strange mix of a boring office that’s staffed with interesting, high-end, sci-fi robots.
Born in South Africa, Blomkamp currently makes his home in Vancouver, where he recently opened visual effects shop Ratal to handle effects, whenever possible, on his own projects, including commercials.
Blomkamp moved from South Africa to Canada at the age of 18, first getting into CG effects. Several years later, he first established himself as a director in the music video arena. He described videos as representing “a great training ground” which helped him move into commercials.
RSA USA president Jules Daly said she was drawn to Blomkamp’s “passion for CG and live action. We fully expect Neill to ‘put the soul’ back into CG work.”