Creative and technology studio Preymaker, based in New York, is expanding its West Coast operation with four hires: Adam Lambert, Roxy Zuckerman and Michael Reed come aboard the creative team, while Mattias Andersson joins the studio’s dedicated technology crew.
Angus Kneale, Preymaker’s chief creative, commented, “Many of our clients are based on the West Coast, so having a strong presence in Los Angeles is very important to us. Preymaker is committed to building an exceptional team of creatives, producers and technical professionals that work seamlessly across the globe. In order to stay on the cutting edge you need to invest in exceptional talent. On the creative side, Adam, Roxy and Michael bring a wealth of knowledge and they have excellent reputations in the industry. I have also worked closely with Mattias in the past and am thrilled he has joined us.”
Andersson brings extensive career experience as previous head of technology at The Mill and JAMM Visual. Andersson will manage the entire Preymaker technology stack in the cloud, developing innovative platforms, driving creative tools and ensuring optimum security for client data.
“My goals are to work closely with the company’s world-class talent to help Preymaker be at the very forefront of whatever we decide to do,” said Andersson. “Efficiency is important to me. I don’t want artists to waste time on technology issues. We want them to be able to focus on what they do best–create amazing content.”
Creative hire Lambert is a leading VFX supervisor, a Flame Artist and experienced digital artist. He built his career over nearly two decades at The Mill, first in London, then Los Angeles, working on many high-profile creative hits including the NFL’s “The Next 100,” featuring the NextGen of NFL greats in an action-packed journey to Super Bowl LIV. Lambert also worked on The Guardian’s Cannes Lion-winning “Three Little Pigs” advert, which digs into a gritty drama behind the classic fairytale to depict the paper’s “open journalism” approach.
“After 19 years at The Mill, it was time for a new challenge,” Lambert said. “When I spoke with Angus, Mel [EP Melanie Wickham] and Verity [EP Grantham], I fell in love with Preymaker’s family vibe that I longed for again, and the juggernaut of talented artists at their disposal. The studio is built for being creative and doing the best work possible where technology is at the forefront of making artful and engaging visuals.”
Zuckerman joins Preymaker’s creative team with experience in both commercials and film as VFX lead, compositing supervisor and digital artist. She has worked previously at The Mill, Digital Domain, Eight VFX and Blur Studio, and brings to bear an array of skills to solve a creative challenge. Highlights of Zuckerman’s credits include contributing to films such as Tron: Legacy, Iron Man 3, Real Steel, Fast 7 and Furious 8, and leading VFX for commercial campaigns such as Liberty Mutual’s popular Limu Emu.
“I’ve worked for big, publicly owned studios and feature houses, and for boutique visual effects studios,” Zuckerman said. “Preymaker stood out as a unique, Goldilocks sort of studio: not a huge machine but not so small that you struggle to staff a project. Angus, Melanie and Verity are industry veterans with excellent reputations and I trust their judgment with the type of work we’re doing.”
Reed further fortifies Preymaker’s creative team with the ability to work across multiple disciplines, having honed his skills over the past eight years as CG lead and 3D generalist. He most recently worked at The Mill as generalist department supervisor and previously at studios including MPC LA, Zoic and The Mission. His work highlights include the GMC Hummer EV “Revolutionary World Premiere” and the cinematic trailer for The Last of Us. In addition to VFX for commercials and promos, he has worked on many AR/VR projects including Justin Timberlake’s “Montana: An Immersive Music Experience” and Samsung Winter Ride VR for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
“I decided to join Preymaker because both the people and the company’s offering were very aligned with my own,” said Reed. “There is an emphasis on making beautiful images and visual effects, but it’s accompanied by a huge curiosity to explore and develop new methods and technology.”
Preymaker is the company behind some of the past year’s most innovative work including FanDuel’s new “Think Like a Player” campaign via W+K Portland, which features Charles Barkley and a young Charles Barkley who Preymaker brought to life using the latest in A.I. technology; the multiple award-winning original short film BLUE created entirely in the cloud using Unreal Engine’s real-time technology; and the “Liquidity Maze” VR Experience for State Street Global Advisors and McCann New York. Preymaker works in linear content, along with interactive immersive media and Metaverse. Other recent work from Preymaker includes The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings of Power promo for Kathryn Bigelow, and the Sanofi-Aventis spot “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” which features an entirely CGI photoreal wolf.
