Alex Frisch–who spent the past year focused on building a global network of digital artists after having left his managing director’s post at Method Studios in 2009–has joined creative studio/digital agency Imaginary Forces (IF) as a creative director and VFX supervisor.
Frisch brings a much needed special brand of expertise to IF, said Peter Frankfurt, managing director of the studio. “IF has seen an explosion of VFX in our projects and its importance in our storytelling. We are re-thinking the way to use VFX, and having Alex here gives us an opportunity to increase our capability for doing that,” related Frankfurt.
Fellow IF managing director Chip Houghton added, “It’s important to note that the idea is not to become a VFX studio but to harness what’s going on online and across every platform right now.”
Frisch is known for his VFX work on high-end commercials, feature films and music videos. In 1998, he co-founded Method Studios where he specialized in creating VFX for commercials. He became the shop’s managing director in 2002 and departed the company in ’09 to channel his efforts into the alluded to global network of talent. The idea behind the network was to set up a pipeline to create high-end productions with lower overhead costs and to utilize hand picked top artists on a per project basis. Frisch produced three projects with that network and then began collaborating in a low-profile fashion with IF on commercials.
Frisch said he was drawn to the IF team’s storytelling prowess and penchant for developing highly creative projects. Furthermore, IF will give greater impetus to the global pipeline he has been shaping. Frisch and IF have decided to partner, said Frisch, “on creating an international network of artists that will support us in creating our own content and projects; I have been cultivating this group over the course of this year and we are going to roll it out in 2011.”
DGA Feature Nominees: Audiard, Baker, Berger, Corbet and Mangold
The field of feature nominees for the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards spanning two categories is set. Nominated for the DGA honor for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2024 are: Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez, Sean Baker for Anora, Edward Berger for Conclave, Brady Corbet for The Brutalist, and James Mangold for A Complete Unknown.
The DGA also revealed the nominees for the Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film. The first-time narrative feature directors are: Payal Kapadia for All We Imagine as Light, Megan Park for My Old Ass, RaMell Ross for Nickel Boys, Halfdan Ullman Tondel for Armand, and Sean Wang for Diddy.
“2024 has been a truly extraordinary year for storytelling--and today’s nominees have created audacious and unique films that expand the possibilities of cinematic excellence,” said DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter. “I am thrilled to congratulate all our nominated directors for their brilliant work, which is visionary, inspirational and speaks to the depth of the human experience. To be chosen by one’s peers is the true marker of outstanding directorial achievement and what makes these nominations so very special.”
The winners will be announced at the 77th Annual DGA Awards on Saturday, February 8.
Here’s a fuller rundown of the nominees in both DGA Award categories:
THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2024 (in alphabetical order):
JACQUES AUDIARD
Emilia Pérez
(Netflix)
SEAN... Read More