Special effects and finishing boutique Arsenal FX has brought senior VFX artist Terry Silberman and CG lead Eli Guerron on board. They join a roster that also consists of owner/artist Mark Leiss, and Joseph Grosso, who’s been promoted to senior Flame artist.
A 20-year industry vet, Silberman was previously on staff at Solid. His credits span such clients as Honda (the “Eyes” spot for agency RPA), Monster.com (“Slots” directed by Frank Budgen of Gorgeous Enterprises and Anonymous Content for BBDO New York), Nike (“Spider” for Wieden+Kennedy, Tokyo), K-Swiss (for agency The Gale Group) and Mitsubishi (BBDO L.A.).
Silberman is adept on Autodesk platforms. His expertise spans Flint, Flame, Inferno, Smoke, Combustion, Nuke, PC, Mac, Photoshop and even Jaleo.
Guerron
While he briefly attended El Camino College in Torrance, Calif., Guerron found the VFX program lacking so he hoped for on-the-job experience. He went the internship route and apprenticed for established artists. This approach paid off as Guerron worked his way up the industry ladder, eventually becoming a CG lead and associate creative director at Blissium in Santa Monica, working on campaigns for SpikeTV and TV series such as CSI. Working alongside director Eric Bute and exec producer Jim Rutherford, Guerron oversaw the launch of SpikeTV Original TV’s series Blade and The Killpoint.
After two years with Blissium, Guerron gained broad experience freelancing for Transistor, Logan, Psyop, Imaginary Forces, and Yu+Co, among others. He had some of his most notable collaborations with directors (Frank Budgen, Lance Acord) while freelancing at a52.
Arsenal exec producer Ashley Hydrick said that Guerron’s hire allows the company to pursue more work in modeling, texture, lighting, titles and 3D.
At Arsenal, Guerron has wrapped Cadillac’s “Gallery,” a Yoplait spot directed by Ronnie Koff at Imaginary Forces, and a project for an undisclosed client entailing a collaboration with Richard Taylor, VFX supervisor on the original Tron film.
Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey Launch Production House 34North
Executive producers Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey have teamed to launch 34North. The shop opens with a roster which includes accomplished directors Jan Wentz, Ben Nakamura Whitehouse, David Edwards and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles. Nakamura Whitehouse, Edwards, Feil and Fowles come over from CoMPANY Films, the production company for which Cicero served as an EP for the past nearly five years. Director Wentz had most recently been with production house Skunk while Stewart now gains his first U.S. representation. EP Clancey was freelance producing prior to the formation of 34North. He and Cicero have known each other for some 25 years, recently reconnecting on a job directed by Fowles. Cicero said that he and Clancey “want to keep a highly focused roster where talent management can be one on one--where we all share in the directors’ success together.” Clancey also brings an agency pedigree to the new venture. “I started at Campbell Ewald in accounts, no less,” said Clancey. “I saw firsthand how much work agencies put in before we even see a script. You have to respect that investment. These agency experiences really shaped my approach to production--it’s about empathy, listening between the lines, and ultimately making the process seamless.” 34North represents a meeting point--both literally and creatively. Named after the latitude of Malibu, Calif., where the idea for the company was born, it also embraces the power of storytelling. “34North118West was the first GPS-enabled narrative,” Cicero explained. “That blend of art and technology, to captivate an audience, mirrors what we do here--create compelling work, with talented people, harnessing state-of-the-art... Read More