LOS ANGELES — MPC Los Angeles has added five accomplished artists to its advertising 3D division. Steward Burris joins as head of animation; Zach Tucker as VFX supervisor; George Saavedra as rigging lead; Brian Broussard as texture and look development supervisor; and Matthew Maude as head of lighting. In addition, the studio has promoted Charles Trippe to head of FX after two years on staff as FX TD.
“MPC has a long legacy of setting the bar high on VFX and innovation, and our new team will not only maintain that standard but help take it to the next level,” says head of 3D Jason Schugardt, a veteran VFX supervisor who joined the Los Angeles studio in March. “They have proven track records working on award-winning advertising for multi-national brands, with top agencies and directors around the world. They possess both feature film and advertising experience to create the best pipelines and workflow to meet our clients’ needs and deliver the best end results. And their leadership abilities will be invaluable to grooming our next gen talent.”
L-R: George Saavedra, Steward Burris, Zach Tucker, Jason Schugardt (standing), Charles Trippe and Brian Broussard
Steward Burris brings 20 years of experience at studios such as Digital Domain, Psyop, The Mill, Framestore and Rhythm and Hues to his new role as head of animation. Among his long list of credits are spots for Kia (Hamsters), Call of Duty and Acura; the TV series’
Breaking Bad and
The X Files; and films such as
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
VFX supervisor Zach Tucker has a wealth of experience, including time at Weta Digital in New Zealand, where he worked on The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and
The Two Towers. In the US, he has worked at Digital Domain, Asylum, Riot, Radium and Mirada. His film credits also include work on
Pacific Rim and
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, and his commercial work includes spots for Lexus, Porsche, Under Armour and Microsoft.
Rigging lead George Saavedra has deep films and commercial experience, having worked at studios such as Sony Pictures Imageworks, Method Studios, Psyop and Digital Domain. His credits include work on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, X-Men: First Class, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and
Star Trek. His commercial credits include spots for Kia, Intel and DirecTV.
Texture and look development supervisor Brian Broussard has helped craft such high profile projects as Robert Stromberg’s Cannes Lion-winning branded film What Lives Inside for Intel, and
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - Discover Your Power. He has freelanced with MPC LA, and has also worked with Digital Domain.
Head of lighting Matthew Maude has worked at studios all over the world, including Cinesite London, Double Negative Singapore, Asylum and Method Los Angeles, Wildfire Studios New Orleans and most recently, Atomic Fiction in Montreal. He has collaborated on feature films such as Fast & Furious 6, Twelve Years A Slave, X-Men: Days of Future Past and
Into the Woods, and on ads for Apple’s iPhone, GMC, Diet Dr. Pepper and Hershey’s.
Promoted from FX TD, a position he has held at MPC LA since 2013, to head of FX, Charles Trippe has been instrumental on some of the Los Angeles studio’s most highly praised commercials, including the Kia 2014 Super Bowl spot Applause and later that same year,
Evolved. He also contributed to Fiat’s
Godzilla, in which the mega monster craves Italian.