VFX supervisor Laurent Taillefer, who was behind the projects Ad Astra, Deadpool, Stranger Things, The Walk, and Ghost in The Shell, has joined Rodeo FX.
At a time when VFX training was scarce in his native France, Taillefer learned the ropes from artists and industry veterans, developing his expertise as a generalist on advertising projects in Paris. After arriving in Montreal in 2006, he helped build departments and teams at several studios, including Scanline, Atomic Fiction, Mokko Studios, Mikros Image and Raynault VFX.
“I’ve always been attracted to technology and how it can be leveraged by teams and integrated into processes. It led me to constantly rethink the structures in place to optimize production,” said Taillefer. “But after a while, I really wanted to get back into the creative side of things, I missed the magic.”
Taillefer collaborated with director Robert Emmerich on his blockbuster Moonfall. There Taillefer has a chance to go directly on set with the filmmaker. Taillefer’s most recent productions have all been box office successes such as Thor: Love and Thunder, Free Guy as well as the HBO series His Dark Materials.
Rodeo FX, which for the second year in a row received three Emmy nominations for Outstanding VFX, has just finished working on the new Netflix series The Witcher: Blood Origin, the Disney+ movie The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, and is currently preparing for the theatrical release of the fourth installment in the John Wick franchise.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More