WEST LOS ANGELES - Special effects artists Mark Larranaga has opened X-1 fx, a full-service visual effects company located within the Chris Bell and Company/Mike Recording Services facility. Larranaga has partnered in the facility with Edy Enriquez, Chris Bell and Howard Dubin. Bell and Dubin head up Chris Bell and Company and Mike Recording Services respectively.
Larranaga has worked on staff at facilities such as Digital Domain, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Cinesite and Hollywood Digital. He has extensive experience in both commercial (Nike, Chevy and Lexus) and feature films ("Peter Pan" and "Star Trek: Nemesis").
The new shop (310-979-4643) is based around two Discreet Flame systems running Version 8.5 and 7.5 software, two Apple Final Cut Pro suites, six Discreet Combustion stations, Alias Maya and an Avid.
Since opening, X-1 fx has completed shots for "Spider-Man 2," "Hell Boy" and "Van Helsing," as well as music videos for Damageplan, 8 Ball and P Diddy. Production, sales and scheduling are being handled by executive producer Theresa Storm.