Haymaker, the award-winning Swedish visual effects studio, has expanded its U.S. operations and opened a new facility in Los Angeles. Haymaker CEO and lead VFX supervisor Alex Hansson has named Leslie Sorrentino as executive producer and director of new business for the Los Angeles office.
Haymaker has developed major campaigns for such premium brands as Puma, Girard-Perregaux, Burger King, and Hyundai, as well as such feature films as Borg vs. McEnroe, Chappaquiddick, and the Cannes Film Festival opening selection The Dead Don’t Die.
Sorrentino is a multiple Clio and an Emmy Award-winning advertising and VFX veteran. His resume includes work with director Martin Scorsese, as well as Bethesda Game Studios (publisher of the FALLOUT video game series), the National Football League, global agencies, movie studios, and TV networks.
With a high profile and stature as a VFX studio in Scandinavia, Haymaker maintains a top drawer creative team thanks to the artist-driven nature of the company. Hansson founded Haymaker in 2008 with the goal of creating a studio that placed artistic passion and the use of the latest technology first while reducing the number of executives and administrative positions to the bare minimum, significantly lowering costs for clients while delivering work of the highest quality.
“We started with nothing and built Haymaker into one of the most accomplished high-end independent VFX studios in Europe,” Hansson said. “That experience taught us new ways of pulling off the impossible for our clients. And I knew instantly that Leslie’s experience, personality, and drive made him a perfect fit for our entry into the U.S. market.”
Sorrentino related, “After seeing the level of work Haymaker was delivering, I was convinced they were going to succeed in the U.S. Alex pushes to get that extra bit of perfection, which is a real difference maker.”
Haymaker’s studio is already in full swing; the Swedish team is collaborating with the Los Angeles office to deliver multiple advertising campaigns. In addition, Haymaker is in pre-production for the highly anticipated remake of the classic feature The Emigrants to be released in December 2021.
