Radium, a San Francisco-headquartered digital studio, has expanded its presence in Southern California, moving its satellite shop into new, larger Santa Monica digs, and hiring head of production Jonathan Whitehead and visual effects artist Christine Rivard. The company has also brought on board visual effects artist Mark Holmes, who is based in San Francisco but will be available to work through Radium, Santa Monica, as needed.
Whitehead comes over from Culver City, Calif-based Random/Order Information and Entertainment, where he served as an executive producer and head of postproduction and effects. Rivard was formerly with the Santa Monica facility of Hollywood-based Post Logic Studios. Holmes’ background includes having served as lead compositor at Sony Pictures Imageworks, Culver City, and Industrial Light+Magic (ILM), San Rafael, Calif.
Radium’s satellite studio in Santa Monica has been consistently busy since its opening in ’98. Recent projects include teaming with Industrial Light+ Magic Commercial Productions (ILMCP), San Rafael and Los Angeles, on a Lexus spot from Team One Advertising, El Segundo, Calif. Radium, Santa Monica, has also finished a campaign for Budweiser out of DDB Needham, Chicago, a spot for Buena Vista Home Entertainment that will debut during the Super Bowl, and visual effects for the upcoming Paramount Pictures release The Next Best Thing.
The addition of Whitehead and Rivard mark a new chapter for Radium in Southern California. Previously, the office had been staffed by artists and producers from the company’s San Francisco studio on a project basis. Of the new staffers and space, Radium executive producer Dana Townsend explained, "I felt it was necessary to take the plunge in Los Angeles, where all of the companies and directors based there can access Radium with ease."
Radium, Santa Monica, now features two Inferno bays as well as conference, client and administrative offices. It also has room to accommodate expected further expansion. At 5,500 square feet, it is more than three times the size of the company’s previous facility.
In his new role, Whitehead will oversee daily operations at Radium, Santa Monica, including client relations, bidding, marketing, personnel and line producing. He brings with him extensive experience as a visual effects producer on the production company side, and as a producer at ad agencies. At Random Order (and its predecessor company Open Films), he produced visual effects for commercials and music videos.
Whitehead served as executive producer of Saatchi & Saatchi LA, Torrance, Calif., for six years, beginning in ’91, primarily on Toyota. He also served as executive producer for a year at DMB&B, Los Angeles, where he produced national ads for General Motors and other accounts.
A graduate of the University of Miami’s Film School, Whitehead began his career in commercial production. His early endeavors included work as a camera assistant at Steve Horn Inc. (Now Steve and Linda Horn, Inc.), New York. He also freelanced for various New York commercial production companies, and worked as an agency producer for Doyle Dane Bernbach; Dancer, Fitzgerald, Sample; and Saatchi & Saatchi, all in New York.
Whitehead’s background also includes serving as executive producer at Hollywood spot editing house Rye Films. In addition, he has experience in producing theatrical motion picture trailers and movie advertising campaigns (i.e. Ghostbusters II, The Abyss, Steel Magnolias, Lethal Weapon II and Batman).
Whitehead said he was drawn to Radium by Townsend and by company founders/effects artists/directors Jonathan Keeton and Simon Mowbray.
Holmes has been on personal sabbatical since leaving Sony Pictures Imageworks last year. His credits there included the film Contact, for which he designed and supervised the production of several key visual effects scenes. His other credits included the films Ghost in the Darkness, Phenomenon, The Craft and City of Angels. He also shared responsibility for creating Imageworks’ Inferno department.
Earlier, Holmes spent two years at ILM where he was the first staff Inferno artist. He composited some 30 visual effects shots for the film Forrest Gump and also contributed to the films Star Trek: Generations, Mission Impossible, Jumanji and The American President.
Holmes began his career with Aurora Systems in Redwood City, Calif., where he became proficient in a variety of early digital paint and 3-D animation systems. He later worked as a designer at San Francisco television station KRON, and as a visual effects artist at Western Images, San Francisco. During his stint there, he earned an Emmy Award for his contributions to the television series Young Indiana Jones.
Holmes said he accepted the post at Radium in part because of the opportunity to reunite with former Western Images’ artists Keeton and Mowbray.
In addition to doing compositing work, Rivard will serve as a visual effects supervisor, assisting and advising Radium clients during the production phase of effects projects. Rivard, whose specialty is 2-D compositing via the Discreet Flame/Inferno platform, has been working at Post Logic Studios for two years, with credits ranging from commercials to feature films. Among the latter are the films Fight Club, Blade and Armageddon. Her commercial work includes spots for Sizzler, Mervyn’s, Taco Bell, Mattel, Sony and J.C. Penney. She has also created visual effects for music videos starring such artists as Hole, The Goo Goo Dolls, Ricky Martin and Limp Bizkit.
