Mastersfx, Hollywood’s preeminent creators of practical character effects, has launched a digital division. André Bustanoby, formerly an FX artist with Stan Winston Studio and Digital Domain, has been named the Visual Effects Supervisor for the new division. Todd Masters, Founder, Mastersfx, made the announcements.
Mastersfx is currently contributing FX to a number of high profile television and feature film projects. These include: Twilight: New Moon, True Blood: Season Three, The Vampire Diaries, Fringe, Flash Forward, Eureka, Sanctuary, Big Love, Private Practice and Grey’s Anatomy, among others. The company just won a 2009 “Gemini” Award for its contributions to the cable TV series Stargate: Atlantis.
The new digital division of Mastersfx allows the company to skillfully integrate practical character effects with digital FX. This marriage of practical and digital allows for effects that are best for each shot design, project budget, project time constraints, and production preferences, all in the service of good storytelling, regardless of the medium.
Regarding the news, Masters said, “Our new digital group allows our company to integrate the best of both worlds within special and visual effects. There will always be room for practical, on-set effects that include makeups, prosthetics, puppets and other character gags. By enhancing these moments with our digital expertise, our company’s contributions to film, TV, commercials and multi-media projects lets us plan every FX design in advance, pre-visualization, so we can best determine the most dramatic—and efficient—element to deliver. We can ‘throw all the tools’ onto the table, and can then decide which to ultimately deliver to the director.”
ABOUT ANDRÉ BUSTANOBY
André Bustanoby is a 19-year veteran of Visual Effects. Prior to joining MastersFX, he worked at Brain Zoo Studios, where he supervised Visual Effects on such videogame projects as Lost Planet and Mercs2, and on TV commercials promoting the videogames Star Wars: Lego and Destroy All Humans 3. From 2001-05, he helped build a new digital division at Stan Winston Studio. There, he contributed digital FX work to such feature film projects as Terminator 3, The Cat in the Hat, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, The Fantastic Four, and Eight Below.
Between 1995 and 2001, Bustanoby was employed by Digital Domain, where he contributed “performance capture” work to the projects The Island of Dr. Moreau, Michael Jackson’s Ghosts, Nike’s CG Andre Agassi commercial, and the huge hit film, Titanic. After making his Visual Effects Supervisor feature debut on the feature film Lake Placid, he then moved over to Digital Domain’s commercial division. There, he worked on many projects, winning a 2001 Silver CLIO Award for client Iomega, in the category “Best Animation.”
Earlier in his career, Bustanoby worked for Boss Film Studios as a Design Engineer. As such, he was involved with several movie projects, including Alien 3, Batman Returns, Cliffhanger, Waterworld, Species and Multiplicity. His first job in the special effects industry was for MastersFX in l990, when he worked as an Animatronics Engineer. In that role, he was involved with the films The Howling: 6 and Tales from the Crypt. In each case, he also portrayed the character of a werewolf.
Bustanoby is a graduate of Washington State University, with a BS Degree in Mechanical Engineering.
ABOUT MASTERSFX
Founded in 1987 by Emmy Award winner Todd Masters, MastersFX is a full-service Character Effects company headquartered in Arleta, CA, with an additional studio in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The company has designed, created and produced prosthetics, animatronics, and character effects for many hundreds of motion pictures, television programs, and commercials.
During this past year, MastersFX provided prosthetic FX for the feature films Marley and Me, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Haunting in Connecticut, and for the television series Sanctuary, Dexter, Eureka, and Stargate Atlantis. Among the company’s previous credits are contributions to Star Trek: First Contact, Tales from the Crypt, Nightmare on Elm Street 5, The Horse Whisperer, Slither, Snakes on a Plane, Six Feet Under, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Look Who’s Talking, Mortal Kombat, Carnivale, and many more.
MastersFX won an Emmy Award in 2003 for its contributions to HBO’s Six Feet Under. The company is also the winner of a 2006 “Saturn” Award for its work on the feature film Slither, and a 2009 “Gemini” Award for its work on Stargate: Atlantis. MastersFX’s Arelta, CA office can be contacted by phone at 818/834-3000. The website is www.mastersfx.com
