Digital studio Reel FX, with studios in Dallas and Santa Monica, has signed VFX veteran Keith McCabe as general manager of its commercial division. In this role, McCabe’s primary focus will be to oversee all aspects of commercial production from motion design to CG and VFX work.
McCabe comes to Reel FX from Charlex where he supervised CG work on campaigns for top brands including Verizon Wireless, Cover Girl, Clairol, AIG and Hershey’s. In his 16 years of experience in the advertising and feature film industries, he has garnered numerous accolades for his work including a 2006 AICP Award for Excellence in Animation for his contributions on M&M’s “Kaleidoscope.”
McCabe said drawing him to his new roost were its deep talent pool and reputation spanning jobs ranging from stereoscopic 3D, to CG animation, to turn-key live-action/visual effects and cutting edge design.
New York native McCabe graduated valedictorian with a degree in Digital Media from Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. He immediately dove into the industry working as a technical director at VIFX in Los Angeles, crafting particle-based dynamics and visual effects animation for films including Titanic, Blade and Volcano. He continued to work as a technical director for top companies including Sony Pictures Imageworks, Rhythm & Hues Studios and Industrial Light +Magic.
In 2004, McCabe returned to New York as a technical director at Blue Sky Studios (a division of 20th Century Fox) on its animated feature Robots. He moved on to Charlex when offered a position as head of computer graphics. While there, he managed up to 40 CG artists, editors, programmers and designers. Additionally, he served as the primary creative contact collaborating with such agencies as BBDO, McCann Erickson, Grey, Y&R and Mullen.
Director Cassandra Brooksbank Joins Monument Content For Spots and Branded Content
Monument Content has signed director Cassandra “Cassie” Brooksbank for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She brings to her directing and storytelling the experience and skills of a writer, conceptual artist, editor and visual effects artist.
Her body of work as a director includes Pepsi’s “Selfie” featuring Lionel Messi amid a flurry of fans, Barclays madcap women’s Soccer League spot where she collaborated closely with the agency to develop the creative, ultimately winning the Grand Jury Prize at the Sports Industry Awards, and a grass-roots campaign for Fellow Coffee. The latter just didn’t brew buzz; it helped raise $1.2 million on Kickstarter.
Prior to joining Monument Content, Brooksbank had been repped in the U.S. for commercials by production house Hey Wonderful.
On the long-form front, she is repped by CAA for film and television. And on the horizon is her debut feature, My Masterpiece, produced by Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions and backed by Amazon.
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