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.
Avid completes acquisition of Wolftech
Avid®, known for software solutions for professional media production, has completed the acquisition of Wolftech Broadcast Solutions, a leader in cloud-based multiplatform news planning, production and publishing solutions.
The acquisition enables Avid to combine its digital-first, end-to-end media solution with Wolftech’s expertise in story-centric workflow management. News organizations will be able to increase efficiency and accelerate story delivery through enhanced remote collaboration and multiplatform amplification.
Avid CEO Wellford Dillard stated, “Wolftech is unquestionably on the leading edge of where the industry is going, and this acquisition demonstrates Avid’s commitment to transform news, sports, and live production workflows. We are delighted to welcome Wolftech into the Avid family.”
Wolftech CEO Arne Berven added, “We were focused on finding a partner that could accelerate the adoption of our platform globally. We explored a number of possibilities, but when we talked to Avid, we knew it was the right match.”
The closing of the acquisition follows Avid’s announcement on October 7 that the company had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Wolftech.
With this acquisition, Avid deepens the integration between the two toolsets while continuing to embrace an open approach in partnering with a wide range of media production tools and newsroom systems. Existing Wolftech customers will benefit from Avid’s global scale for customer support and professional services.
Ian Axton, head of production operations for ITV News, said, “As a customer of both Avid and Wolftech we’re excited about the benefits this acquisition will bring to our users and our business. Wolftech has transformed... Read More