Visual effects and design boutique Ring of Fire has brought four artisans on board: lead motion graphics/special effects designer Todd DuFour, Inferno artist Danny Yoon, and Henry artists Paul Geiger and John Ciampa.
They join the West Hollywood shop’s veteran staff, which includes VFX supervisor/ Inferno artist Kevin Prendiville, senior producer Casey Conroy, producers Jill Heinrich and Kim Evans, CGI artists Robin Scher, John Jenkins and Jason Lee, and Rotoscope artists Steve Edwards and Gary Mortensen. Company principals are executive producer John Myers and creative director/visual effects supervisor/senior artist Jerry Spivack.
DuFour comes to Ring of Fire from his own Southern California-based broadcast and Web design company, Burrn. Prior to Burrn, DuFour spent three years freelancing as a motion graphics designer at Venice Beach Editorial, the in-house edit/post arm of TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles. While there, he contributed to spot campaigns for such clients as Nissan, Apple, Taco Bell and HouseofBlues.com.
Henry artist Geiger hails from Cincinnati, where he began his career at studio Post Production Services (PPS). Geiger moved to Los Angeles in 1995 and joined Pittard Sullivan, Culver City, Calif., as a staff Henry artist. In July of ’97, Geiger went freelance and began work on an independent film, which he wrote and is directing. Before formally joining Ring of Fire, he freelanced there and earned credits that included commercial campaigns for Infiniti and Sony Walkman.
Henry artist Ciampa had also been at Pittard Sullivan, garnering two Emmy nominations for his work on main titles for The West Wing and PBS Nature. He won an Emmy for his main title work on The Wonderful World of Disney. Prior to that, he worked at View Studios, Hollywood, and at PPS.
Yoon has more than six years of experience as an Inferno artist, creating visual effects and design for both motion pictures and commercial projects. Before joining Ring of Fire, he worked extensively with the Hollywood design firm Imaginary Forces, contributing to the creation of main titles and trailers for films such as Unbreakable, Bedazzled, Hollowman, Scream 3 and The Negotiator. Additionally, Yoon helped create design for broadcast packages (e.g., Comedy Central) and show titles (on programs for Lifetime Television). Recognition of his work includes an International Monitor Award this year for best theatrical release graphic design, bestowed upon the Scream 3 teaser. Yoon’s spot credits have been for such advertisers as Kelloggs, Nike, Lexus and MCI.
Ring of Fire was launched in 1996 to specialize in visual effects supervision, 2-D compositing, CGI and motion graphic design for commercial, TV and feature film projects. The studio’s spot endeavors this year have included: three ads from AT&T’s broadband service launch campaign for Young & Rubicam, New York, which debuted during the Summer Olympics; and a Timex campaign helmed by feature filmmaker Tim Burton via A Band Apart.35mm, Los Angeles, for Fallon, Minneapolis.
