Gravity, an international creative content, visual effects, and brand communications company, has named Emmy Award winner J. John Corbett as its new VFX Supervisor/Design Director. Corbett will be based at the company’s New York office. Zviah Eldar, Gravity’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Creative Officer, made the announcement.
Corbett just won a 2011 Creative Arts Emmy Award (Sept. 10) in the category of “Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series” for his work as Lead Compositor on the pilot episode of the hit HBO mini-series, “Boardwalk Empire.” In his new post, he will work closely with Gravity’s Karin Levinson, Vice President of Features & Television, and Yuval Levy, newly promoted to the position of VFX Supervisor, on all upcoming feature film and television projects.
Said Eldar, “John Corbett is a true innovator and industry leader in the areas of main title design, graphic design and visual effects. His newly awarded Emmy is a clear indication that he currently stands at the pinnacle of the visual effects industry today. John’s broad professional background in photography, video and film, design, animation, compositing and editing allows him to bring a multi-faceted skill set that will surely be an invaluable asset to Gravity and our numerous upcoming film, TV and commercial projects.”
Adds Corbett, “I’m excited to be joining Gravity, an industry leader in the concept, design and execution of unique visual imagery across all media platforms. Gravity regularly contributes visual effects and graphic design to high profile feature films and broadcast media, and their talented team of artists and executives located in New York, Los Angeles and Israel are on the forefront of both technological and creative advances in our field. I’m truly looking forward to a long and productive relationship!”
About J. JOHN CORBETT
Multi-talented designer and visual effects artist J. John Corbett is the winner of a 2011 Creative Arts Emmy Award for his work as Lead Compositor on the HBO series, “Boardwalk Empire,” a winner of a 2011 VES (Visual Effects Society) Award for that same project, and a recent nominee for a Hollywood Post Alliance Award, also for that show. He joins Gravity from Brainstorm Digital’s New York studio, where his work included serving as the Animation and Design Supervisor for the hit film, “The Adjustment Bureau,” and as the Visual Effects Supervisor on Drew Barrymore’s film, "Going the Distance”, and most recently on the film, “Violet and Daisy,” from Oscar winner Geoffrey Fletcher and James Gandolfini. Additionally, he served as Visual Effects Supervisor on Season Two of HBO’s series, "Boardwalk Empire," which debuts September 25th.
Prior to his work with Brainstorm Digital, Corbett was a Designer/Director with Big Film Design, where he created title designs and visual effects for feature films as well as for broadcast, cable and all forms of digital media. In 2004, he was a member of the creative team nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in the category of “Outstanding Main Title Design” for the Mike Nichols-directed, "Angels in America" (2003).
Corbett’s many credits include work on such high profile television and film projects such as “30 Rock” (main title design), “Burn After Reading” (VFX and titles), “The Stepford Wives” (concept, editing and design for the title sequence,) Martin Scorsese’s, “The Blues” (creating hand drawn lettering for the branding and the design and texture of the title sequence), and “Revolutionary Road” (VFX). In addition to Scorsese and Nichols, he has also worked with such notable directors as Spike Lee, Jim Jarmusch, Robert Altman, and Joel and Ethan Coen. Corbett created the title sequence for the Coen brothers film, “Intolerable Cruelty,” for which Corbett won an Art Directors Guild “Silver Medal.”
Corbett contributed to the main title designs for the films, “Chicago”, and “No Country for Old Men”, each of which won an Oscar for “Best Picture.” When creating visual effects for films such as “The Devil Wears Prada” and “Sex And The City,” Corbett brought to those projects his technical expertise in visual effects, something often needed to help filmmakers better realize their shots. In regards to the film “Doubt,” he covered the world in snow for the final emotional scene, which helped create a stark beauty established by Roger Deakins’ photography.
Corbett’s work in the advertising industry includes visual contributions to the Canon Digital Rebel’s "Impossible" campaign (visual effects) and to Kmart’s television campaign graphics (2004), among others. A multi-media industry veteran, Corbett received a BFA from The Cleveland Institute of Art, and an MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
About GRAVITY
Gravity is an international creative, visual effects, content and brand communications company with proven expertise in three integrated divisions: Features & Television, Commercials and Digital. With 250 talented professionals across offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Tel Aviv, the company is a widely renowned generator of high-end visual effects, creative content, motion graphics, animation, branding, and digital strategy.
Gravity’s powerful combination of innovation and design are consistently aligned to help brands drive meaningful, dynamic connections with consumers – whether they experience them via television, cinema, websites, social media or mobile applications.
The company’s clients include DreamWorks, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, The Weinstein Company, Coca-Cola, GM, Mercedes Benz, Verizon, Pantene, MGA Entertainment, Carlsberg, Kmart, and Braun. Gravity’s recent feature film credits include “Crazy Stupid Love,” “The Adjustment Bureau”, “Arthur”, “The Other Guys”, “Salt”, “The Reader” and “Ghost Town”. Gravity is currently wrapping its work on the soon to be released film “Tower Heist,” for Universal Pictures. The company’s television credits include HBO’s “Bored to Death,” “The Sopranos,” and “Sex and The City.”
Gravity’s New York office is located at 315 Madison Avenue, 3rd Floor, New York, NY, 10017. The phone is 212/986-1584. The company’s West Coast office is located in the Lantana Building, 3000 West Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica, CA, 90404. The phone is 310/264-3909. For more information, please visit www.gravityworld.com.
