Visual effects producer Alix Eglis and effects artist Claus Hansen have joined Riot, the Santa Monica digital/post studio that’s part of the Four Media Corp. (4MC) family of companies. The new hires expand Riot’s visual effects department. Hansen comes over from another 4MC shop, Encore Hollywood, where he created visual effects for features, episodic TV, commercials and music videos. At Riot, he will provide visual effects design and production services via Quantel Henry and Discreet Flame/Inferno platforms.
Meanwhile Eglis, who’s been freelancing for the past six months, brings extensive experience in producing and postproducing visual effects for spots and music clips. For Riot, she will oversee visual effects projects in-house, serve as liaison between the company and its clients, and assist clients in the pre-pro and production phases of effects jobs.
The hiring of Eglis and Hansen "adds depth to our visual effects department," assessed Riot managing director Richard Cormier, who noted that Hansen will enable the shop to become more involved in designing visuals.
Eglis’ freelance stint saw her postproduce commercials for the Santa Monica offices of Crew Cuts (Buick) and Lost Planet (Nike and Mindspring). For bicoastal Mars Media, she produced a pair of music videos: TLC’s "Unpretty" and Will Smith’s "Wild Wild West."
Previously, Eglis served as staff producer at 525 Studios, Santa Monica. A New York native, she began her career with Manhattan Transfer as a graphics assistant and assistant editor. She later worked as a graphics producer and operation manager at now defunct EDEFX Group. Upon moving to L.A. in ’94, she joined Pacific Ocean Post. As visual effects producer, she was responsible for bidding and supervising commercial and music video projects; among them was the Beatles video "Free as a Bird," directed by Joe Pytka of Venice, Calif.-based PYTKA. She also worked on a United Airlines campaign out of Young & Rubicam, New York, directed by Pytka, and an Amnesty International PSA directed by Peter Horton via bicoastal Bedford Falls.
Hansen spent the past three years at Encore Hollywood, where he worked on a wide range of media. He designed main titles for Comedy Central’s Frank Leaves for the Orient and CNBC’s In Profile, as well as promos for the FX network. He also contributed to main titles for two feature films, the Columbia/TriStar release Disturbing Behavior and Imperial Entertainment Group’s The White River Kid. His visual effects credits include the Puff Daddy video "Been Around the World," the TV series Ally McBeal, Charmed and The X-Files, and a TV spot for Internet search engine AltaVista.
A native of Denmark, Hansen began his career in print design after graduating from the Copenhagen design school Kunsthandvarkerskolen. He later worked for the Danish TV station DRTV, where he created visual effects and animation for children’s shows, youth series, science programs and talk shows.
