A group of artists and technologists that helped bring “Davy Jones” to life in “Pirates of the Caribbean,” and made everyone’s favorite childhood robots leap into action in “Transformers,” have launched a new studio based in Marin County, CA. The men, formerly Creature and Character Designers from ILM, Digital Domain, and Imagemovers Digital, have launched "Creature Art and Mechanics Digital” (CAM Digital or CAMd). The announcement was made today by the new company’s founding partners Scott C. Smith, Timothy Naylor, Andrea Maiolo and Chad Vernon.
CAMd is headquartered at 32TEN Studios in San Rafael, CA, the historic facility originally occupied by George Lucas’ ILM.
In a joint statement, the founding partners said, “Our mission is to facilitate Producers, Directors, and Visual Effect Supervisors into bringing their digital characters and creatures to life, using radically new methods and technologies. We believe that the time has come to rethink and modernize the creation of CG Digital Characters, while dramatically reducing costs and increasing efficiency. This means a lower budget for the creation of digital characters in feature films, animation, and even videogames, while giving Directors, Producers, Heads Of Studios, etc., direct access to the design and creation process.”
CAMd is a High-end, Character and Creature design and development studio creating production-ready assets for feature film and animation with applications for games, television and other transmedia outlets
According to its partners, CAMd has “proprietary technologies” that allow them to do some previously unattainable production pipeline tricks. The studio is leveraging its technology and creative capacity to serve a full spectrum of clients, from the Director/ Producer who wants over-the-shoulder control to the Visual Effects Supervisor that needs a highly experienced creative team to build his/her vision into a reality.
CAMd will offer a “Creature Shop” that will hand-off characters and creatures to a studio or its vendors, and support the production of that asset through to final compositing, if necessary.
About The Principals
Collectively, the founding partners of Camd have worked on many of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters, including “Star Wars Episodes 2 and 3,” “Transformers,” “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” and 20 other major films. They also contributed to Academy Award winning work in VFX for “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” and helped bring to the screen the award-winning lizard in “Rango.”
About CREATURE ART & MECHANICS
Launched in 2012 in Marin County, CA, Creature Art & Mechanics (CAMd) is a new studio that is developing next generation digital creature technology for the entertainment industry. The company was founded by Scott C. Smith, Timothy Naylor, Andrea Maiolo and Chad Vernon. CAMd is headquartered at 32TEN Studios, the historic facility originally occupied by George Lucas’ ILM. For more information, please visit: www.creatureartandmechanics.com.
