Creative and technology studio Preymaker has hired Rune Holst Månsson, Greg Cutler and Hassan Taimur, three artists who bring more than three decades of collective experience and are award-winning creative leaders in CGI and compositing. One of the first 100% cloud native creative studios, Preymaker utilizes an advanced custom cloud-based platform that creates content entirely in the cloud. The new hires were announced by Preymaker chief creative Angus Kneale.
Born in Denmark, Månsson launched his career as a web and graphics designer and quickly pivoted to CG generalist, eventually joining MPC London and later moving to the company’s offices in Los Angeles to become CG supervisor. He then moved to The Mill New York as 3D lead. Månsson has worked with directors such as Doug Liman, Janusz Kaminski and Michel Gondry, to name a few, and for brands such as Disney, Apple, Samsung, HP, Riot, Coca-Cola, Audi, Honda, Nissan, Toyota and Ford.
“The Preymaker cloud-based way of working is the way of the future,” said Månsson. “I want to be part of that revolution and help lead it. The exciting realtime work that Preymaker is doing is why I joined, as well as the company’s philosophy of creating a more sustainable future for artists, with a better work-life balance. My goal at Preymaker is to assemble and enable talented people from around the world to work on the projects of tomorrow.”
Cutler honed his compositing skills in New York, and has spent nearly two decades primarily as a freelance compositor and lead/VFX supervisor with studios including Framestore, Method, Psyop and MPC. He’s worked with a diverse list of brands, from Mercedes-Benz, Google and IBM to Calvin Klein, Stella Artois and Facebook, and was part of the VFX team who helped bring Björk’s “Lionsong” music video to life, which debuted as part of a 2015 retrospective exhibit at MoMA in New York. After freelancing with Preymaker for several months, Cutler joined the team full-time.
“It’s such a rare thing to see people with years of experience at the highest levels of the industry starting a company with a clean sheet design,” Cutler said. “Preymaker’s approach is not to replicate successes of the past but rather to push the technology, and the company, in fresh and very forward-thinking directions. The opportunity to join such an innovative company, with such a solid group of talented people, was simply too good to pass up.”
FX artist Taimur brings expertise with Houdini and Massive that stems from working in A.I. as an undergraduate, learning Massive at SCAD and later becoming lead Massive artist at The Mill where he spent nearly five years. For the past seven years, he has freelanced with focus on FX work using Houdini as his primary tool. His credits include VES-nominated PlayStation’s “Perfect Day” and Ciclope Gold winner “Hypervenom” for Nike. He’s helped craft commercials and branded content for Bud Light, Budweiser, ESPN NASCAR, adidas, Star Wars: Battlefront, Spotify, Coca-Cola, Jim Beam, Puma and DirectTV. Other credits span films The Bronze, Zoolander 2 and Let Him Go, and music videos for Steven Wilson and Casualties of Cool. Taimur has freelanced at Method, R/GA, Ntropic, Carbon and Zoic. And after several freelance assignments with Preymaker, he joined the team full-time.
“What attracted me to Preymaker was the people,” Taimur said. “I’ve worked with many on the team before. I understand how they operate and have had an amazing working relationship with them over the years. I was ready to join a young company where I can continue to grow myself and also help the company grow into a unique entity that can work across different platforms, implementing the latest technologies and promoting true collaboration across various time zones.”
This past year, Preymaker has had a strong start; they were part of the team that created Grey London’s Volvo “Ultimate Safety Test,” directed by Ivan Zacharias, honored with a Cannes Silver Lion. Since opening its doors last fall, Preymaker has worked on content for high-profile brands including Google, Progressive, Lincoln, Comcast Xfinity, Volvo, Macy’s, US Cellular and Army National Guard, and with agencies such as Arts & Letters, McCann, BBDO, 72andSunny, Johannes Leonardo and Arnold. The company also has collaborated with directors Peter Thwaites, Kathryn Bigelow, Guy Shelmerdine, Jess Coulter, Brian Beletic and Henry-Alex Rubin, among others.
