A team of long-time collaborators from London and Los Angeles — Creative Director Nick Piper, Visual Effects Artist Tim Rudgard, Make VFX and Vendetta Post — have joined forces to become CAUSE AN EFFECT.
Creative Director Nick Piper combines years of directorial experience with a deep understanding of effects to lead the new VFX team. In addition to his role at CAUSE AN EFFECT, Piper is a director at L.A.’s Backyard Productions where he has directed spots for Nissan, Cadillac, AT&T, GMC, Coors and many other top brands. Piper developed his skills as a visual artist over nearly twenty years in creative roles at MPC (London), Novocom and a52, creating award-winning effects for Pepsi, Reebok and Budweiser, as well as music videos for Michael Jackson, Madonna, Lenny Kravitz and other artists.
To head CAUSE AN EFFECT‘s 2D department Piper crossed the pond to recruit award-winning Flame artist and visual effects supervisor Tim Rudgard, who has relocated to L.A. from London’s Golden Square Post. His 13-year career has focused primarily on commercials and promo work — creating BDA/Promax award winning on-air imagery for the BBC Worldwide Network, Deutsche Well Network and other media channels and as lead compositor for commercial campaigns including Mazda, Eristoff Vodka, a Cannes award-winning MasterCard spot, a CAD award-winning music video for Kylie Minogue and other projects. Rudgard also honed his feature film skills on “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” which garnered an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.
To handle executive producing responsibilities and give CAUSE AN EFFECT a solid infrastructure Piper looked to his collaborator of more than fifteen years, Sandy Beladino, co-founder of Vendetta Post. Formed in 2002 by Beladino and Andrea Bygrave the company contributes post-production management prowess, a talented team of compositors, and the high-end Santa Monica studio where CAUSE AN EFFECT has made its home.
“There’s a wealth of different experience and talent behind this company,” said Beladino. “Nick’s background both as a Flame Artist and as a commercial effects director makes him an extraordinarily knowledgeable creative director. If I were anywhere near the age of retirement I’d postpone it just to work with Nick again.”
3D and animation expertise comes to CAUSE AN EFFECT by way of an alliance with Los Angeles’ Make VFX, a boutique that contributes years of expertise in commercial and feature film visual effects with artists who cut their teeth at Digital Domain and Buf. Their commercial work includes Volkswagen, Dell, Toyota, Goodyear, AutoTrader, Duracell, Nintendo and NBA spots.
“The CAUSE AN EFFECT team fits together incredibly well,” says Piper. “We all like to work hard and we all like to have fun doing it. From concept thumbnails to final delivery, I’m excited to show our clients a fresh approach to visual effects.”
CAUSE AN EFFECT is currently creating visual effects for a :30 TV spot Nick Piper is directing for Japanese agency Hakuhodo to launch the new Nissan Elgrand luxury vehicle in Japan.
About CAUSE AN EFFECT
CAUSE AN EFFECT is a team of long-time collaborators who have worked together across oceans and decades, finally joining in Los Angeles to create visual effects for commercial productions. Their combined creative work spans SuperBowl ads and Cannes Lion awards; spots for brands including Pepsi, Toyota and Apple; music videos for Michael Jackson, Kylie Minogue and Lenny Kravitz; clients including GSD&M, TBWA/Chiat Day and J. Walter Thompson and more than we can list here. Visit them in Santa Monica or at www.causeaneffect.tv.
