U.K.-based commercial director Harry Dorrington will relocate to New York to take up a position at Rhinoceros Visual Effects & Design (RVED), New York, as creative director.
Dorrington—to arrive in the states by the end of October—is currently represented for commercials in the U.K. and Europe by Rogue Films, London. At press time, Dorrington said he would likely end that representation relationship once he formally comes on board RVED. From 1997 to ’99 Dorrington was repped stateside by R/Greenberg Associates (R/Greenberg), New York, which closed its spot division in January of this year.
Since then, executive producers/partners and former mainstays at R/Greenberg—Rick Wagonheim and Michael Miller—have been attempting to re-create the core R/Greenberg team at RVED. In July, RVED announced that five former R/Greenberg artisans had joined as senior digital artists (SHOOT, 7/21, p.1). These are visual effects supervisor Arman Matin, CG artist Natasha Saenko, animators Jeff Guerrero and Patrick Porter, and graphic designer Marc Steinberg.
According to Wagonheim, securing Dorrington was always one of the key components in evolving RVED into a creative-driven visual effects studio. "Dorrington is definitely a significant key to what Michael [Miller] and I wanted to do all along," reported Wagonheim. "And the artists are just as excited, because they are used to working with Harry from his days at R/Greenberg."
Wagonheim first approached Dorrington in ’97 about representing him for commercials in the states through R/Greenberg. At the time, Dorrington was working at Lambie-Nairn, London, which he had joined in ’93 as a designer/commercials director. He gained representation at R/Greenberg for U.S. work, initially keeping his job at Lambie-Nairn, and flying between the two markets, depending on demand. But by late ’99, he was picking up more and more work through R/Greenberg, so he left Lambie-Nairn. He later signed with Rogue Films for commercial representation in the U.K. and Europe.
R/Greenberg had begun repping Dorrington as a live action director specializing in CG effects. However, after a couple of jobs, it was decided to take advantage of his background as a broadcast designer and market him as a designer/creative director/commercials director. Projects out of R/Greenberg included a spot for CVS Pharmacy called "Magic" via Bates Worldwide, New York, for which Dorrington directed the live action, created the 3-D graphics and did the compositing; a corporate General Motors project for the launch of the concept car Triax, called "Hybrid Car," via DMB&B (since renamed D’Arcy), Detroit, which required the combination of graphic design, CG and effects; and Pontiac’s "Future," also via DMB&B, Detroit, which involved the combination of graphic design and digital post.
Dorrington graduated in ’83 from Leicester Polytechnic, U.K., with a Bachelor of Arts in graphic design. The course was forward thinking for its time, according to Dorrington, who specialized in film and television graphics, completing projects using film, hand animation, model animation and computer animation. The course also required students to spend time working at various television stations throughout the U.K. Upon graduation, he started work at the BBC Open University Production Center as a design assistant producing information graphic sequences. In ’85, he joined the BBC Television Centre, designing and producing promotional sequences and captions for BBC1 and BBC2. In ’88, when a group of ex-BBC designers saw a gap in the market and set up London-based design firm English, Markell & Pockett, Dorrington joined them as a designer. It was there that he started branching out from broadcast design into commercials, working for clients such as British Telecom, Procter & Gamble, SmithKline Beecham and Legal & General. He also designed and directed the show opener and contents for MTV’s Downtown Julie Brown, for which he received an Emmy nomination.
In ’93, he shifted to Lambie-Nairn, where he continued to work for the next six years. Once R/Greenberg shuttered its spot operation, Dorrington concentrated on the U.K. and European markets, opening H&S Productions in London, so he could develop his skills in print and Web design He kept in contact with Wagonheim and Miller, opting to join them at RVED.
Dorrington noted that his new position allows him to combine all elements of his experience. "With my background, I’ve had the opportunity to learn in many fields—with design and live action as the common ground. I like the diversity of it, the ability to go from the extreme of a visual effects commercial to a brand identity or demonstration sequence," he explained. "It’s great that Rick and Michael have managed to keep the core of R/GA alive—I certainly wouldn’t have been able to make that leap from London to New York and feel confident about it, without my previous experience with them."
RVED represents a $2 million investment by Rhinoceros parent company Multi-Video Group, New York, and Gravity, its Tel Aviv, Israel-based investment partner. The Multi-Video Group family of companies also includes Rhinoceros Editorial and Post, Cool Beans Digital Audio, Wax Music & Sound and Wall to Wall Productions, all in New York.
Based in the New York office of RVED and Rhinoceros Editorial, Annie Cotton, Jack Hubler, Barbara Lamon and Joan Miller handle national representation for RVED.
