Veteran creative director/VFX supervisor/Flame artist Simon Mowbray has joined Zoic Studios, a visual effects house which maintains studios in Culver City and Vancouver, B.C. Mowbray comes over to Zoic from Pixomondo where he served as a creative director.
Bringing 25 years of VFX experience to his new roost, Mowbray has to his credit spots for such brands as BMW, Target, Nike, Microsoft and Volkswagen as well as music videos for Kanye West, DMX, Missy Elliot and Rihanna, among other artists. His work has garnered assorted awards over the years, including a 2008 PromaxBDA Award in Digital Effects for his work on the spot “GMC Yukon–Dot Matrix” as well as several International Monitor Awards.
Mowbray began his visual effects career in 1987, working at a number of top visual effects shops in Sydney amid the emerging years of CG and compositing. In 1991, he moved to Montreal where he worked as a product specialist for Softimage. From there, he helped found Discreet Logic in 1992, where he served as a creative director. Two years later, he began as an effects artist at Western Images/Good Pictures, remaining there until opening Radium in 1996 with Jonathan Keeton. The duo sold the boutique design and visual effects company to Reel FX in 2007.
While at Radium, Mowbray contributed as creative director to hundreds of film, music video and commercial projects including several MTV Award-nominated music videos. In 2007, he moved over to Ntropic where he worked as creative director/VFX supervisor before heading to Pixomondo in 2011 as creative director where he developed and executed concepts for commercial projects.
New 2025 Laws Hit Hot Topics–From AI In Movies To Social Media
Name a hot topic, and chances are good there’s a new law about it taking effect in 2025 in one state or another.
Many of the laws launching in January are a result of legislation passed this year. Others stem from ballot measures approved by voters. Some face legal challenges.
On the entertainment and social media fronts there are several notable state laws taking effect, including:
Hollywood stars and child influencers
California, home to Hollywood and some of the largest technology companies, is seeking to rein in the artificial intelligence industry and put some parameters around social media stars. New laws seek to prevent the use of digital replicas of Hollywood actors and performers without permission and allow the estates of dead performers to sue over unauthorized AI use.
Parents who profit from social media posts featuring their children will be required to set aside some earnings for their young influencers. A new law also allows children to sue their parents for failing to do so.
Social media limits
New social media restrictions in several states face court challenges.
A Florida law bans children under 14 from having social media accounts and requires parental consent for ages 14 and 15. But enforcement is being delayed because of a lawsuit filed by two associations for online companies, with a hearing scheduled for late February.
A new Tennessee law also requires parental consent for minors to open accounts on social media. NetChoice, an industry group for online businesses, is challenging the law. Another new state law requires porn websites to verify that visitors are at least 18 years old. But the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for the adult... Read More