Bonfire has added creative director Gene Nazarov, producer Tierney Farrell and 3D artist Hee Hye Moon. Nazarov’s resume includes time spent at Brand New School, UVPHACTORY, The Mill and Postal. Farrell comes over from Chimney while Moon had been in the freelance ranks.
Nazarov’s work, which exhibits a design-driven approach to such disciplines as motion graphics, animation, VFX and live action, ranges from commercials to broadcast promos to opening title sequences and experiential projects. His clients include Pepsi, Nike, Bulova, Coke and Spectrum.
Nazarov now reunites with Jason Mayo, who recently joined Bonfire as partner and managing director. The two worked together than Mayo was running design and VFX shop Postal. “Gene came up working at studios run by creative people who had impressive design backgrounds but were also on the box, which made their work highly visual and always very graphic,” Mayo said. “I’d tried to hire him earlier in my career, but the stars didn’t align for us until now.”
Nazarov grew up in an artistic environment and attended New York’s famed LaGuardia High School. He went on to the School of Visual Arts, where he focused his studies on graphic design and computer arts. His first job out of school was at Attik, the venerable, London-based design and creative agency that was highly regarded for its work on a roster of major brands, where he quickly found a niche bridging the worlds of more traditional design with 3D animation and motion graphics.
Mayo joined Bonfire this past October, bringing his broad experience in digital and postproduction to the studio’s management team, which includes founder and Flame artist Brendan O’Neil; partner and creative director Aron Baxter; partner and EP Dave Dimeola; and partner Peter Corbett.
Mayo said he and Nazarov share a shorthand style of communicating based on years of close collaboration. “And Gene has this uncanny ability to listen to clients and then conceptualize just what they’re asking for, and because of his 3D skills in the suite, he can show them exactly what he’s thinking of,” he continues. “He’s this right-brain, left-brain hybrid who’s detail-oriented yet highly creative, and works very easily with directors. When you put him together with Brendan and Aaron, it’s like having this three-headed monster we can let loose on projects.”
For his part, Nazarov said he’s eager to partner with the Bonfire team, and expects to find the same kind of single-minded simpatico that characterized his best working relationships in the past.
Meanwhile Farrell’s hire presents Bonfire with a producer who hails from the creative ranks; prior to getting into postproduction, she was an award-winning, New York-based photographer who worked for a range of clients.
Farrell’s transition from shooting stills to postproduction is a tale of intersecting lines: Booked to accompany a film crew shooting the documentary When Lions Become Lambs in Kenya, she was caught up in the excitement and energy of film production. After working alongside the film from its beginnings, she saw obvious parallels to what she did running her photography business and post producing a film project.
Rounding out the new hires is Moon, who joins Bonfire from the freelance ranks, where she worked with Mayo during his time at Postal.
