Manuel Gonzalez

Work History

• Senior Compositor

  Company

  September 2024 - October 2024

  Brussels, Belgium
• 

  Consultant

  mojo FX

  April 2024 - July 2024

  Istanbul, Türkiye · On-site

  Consultant, checking their current VFX workflow and analyzing where it could be improved. Suggested a redesign of their current pipeline and to make the company more competitive in the global VFX market.
• 

  Senior Compositor

  LOOM

  October 2024 - October 2024

  Mechelen, Flemish Region, Belgium · On-site

  Senior Compositor for films and TV Series.
• 

  Digital Compositor

  Assembly

  June 2023 - August 2023

  Ripley
• 

  Digital Compositor

  Zoic Studios

  April 2023 - April 2023

  New York City Metropolitan Area · Hybrid

  War season 3
• 

  Lead - Digital Compositor

  Crafty Apes

  August 2021 - March 2023

  New York, New York, United States · Hybrid

  Worked on a lot of TV Series and films.

  
• 

  Digital Compositor

  The Molecule VFX

  January 2021 - January 2021

  Worked on a lot of TV Series

• Visual Effects Supervisor.

  XYZ Pixels.

  August 2018 - January 2019

  Istanbul, Turkey · Remote

  Visual Effects Supervisor - Senior Compositor.
  Documentary - The Siege of Kut al Amara. This project involved cleaning and assembling elements shot in photogrammetry, 3D, composition and effects elements. Opening title creation, all the motion graphics and titles package of the documentary.

• Director - Architectural Visualization Director - Visual Effects Super

  Infinite Productions

  January 2011 - June 2020

  Istanbul, Turkey · On-site

  Help select the best angles and to produce photorealistic renders to be used on sales catalog, advertising, Direct TV promos and sales films. Projects: PRUVA 34, Businst, Cengelköy Park, Tavros Holding, Hyatt Regency Istanbul Ataköy, Nu Terrace, Yenitepe Kadiköy, Metropol, Tarlabashi 360 Ofis.
  

• Director - Architectural Visualization Director - Visual Effects Super

  Infinite Productions

  2011 - June 2022

  Istanbul, Turkey

  Help select the best angles and to produce photorealistic renders to be used on sales catalog, advertising, Direct TV promos and sales films. Projects: PRUVA 34, Businst, Cengelköy Park, Tavros Holding, Hyatt Regency Istanbul Ataköy, Nu Terrace, Yenitepe Kadiköy, Metropol, Tarlabashi 360 Ofis.
  
• 

  Director.

  vietnam

  January 2013 - August 2013

  Istanbul, Turkey

  Director. Commercial for Molfix, a diaper for the middle east market. Real babies where shot and mixed with 3D parts in order to give a realistic sports action to the babies.
  Project: Commercial “Molfix” (Mix live action 3D Baby commercial)
• 

  Senior Digital Compositor.

  Atomo VFX

  January 2011 - April 2011

  São Paulo Area, Brazil

  Senior Digital Compositor. Project: Commercial Rede Insinuante.

• Visual Effects Supervisor.

  Boyut Films

  May 2010 - March 2011

  Istanbul, Turkey

  Visual Effects Supervisor for Five Minarets in New York. Director: Mahsun Kirmizigul.

• High Speed Commercial Director.

  XYZ Films

  May 2011 - August 2011

  Greater New York City Area

  Series of high-speed commercials for Coca-Cola, Heineken, Lipton, Dove. Shot in Istanbul, Turkey.
  High Speed Director.

• Director.

  Gap Inşaat

  August 2011 - January 2012

  Director . Project: “Metropol” Film for launch of the project.

• Director.

  Gap Inşaat

  July 2011 - November 2011

  Director. Project: Commercial “Tarlabashi 360 Ofis”
• 

  Senior Compositor - Post Production Supervisor.

  Niles Creative Group

  April 2007 - December 2010

  Greater New York City Area · On-site

  Visual Effects Supervisor - Technical Director.
  Project: Comcast LED Wall (10 Million pixels. The highest resolution LED wall in the world).
  Post Production Supervisor - Senior Compositor.
  Project: Comcast Christmas Show, 20min of original 5K material, for the Comcast LED wall.
  Post Production Supervisor - Senior 3D Compositor.
  Project: Comcast LED wall, “Seasons Show”, “Comcast Winter 3D Show” the first 10 million pixels’ full 3D Show. 18 minutes of 5K resolution original material.
  Post Production Supervisor - Senior Digital Compositor.
  Project: Comcast “Winter Show”, “Lights of Liberty” at Liberty Museum in Philadelphia, full 360 degrees’ 3D show

• Visual Effects Supervisor.

  Imaj

  April 2010 - September 2010

  Istanbul, Turkey

  (Turkey largest post production facility)
  Visual Effects Supervisor for the entire facility. In charge of meeting clients, help evaluate their projects and assist to manage be on set supervisor for the facility, assemble budgets, delegate and supervise the artists to make sure the client project was delivered on time and within their budget. Projects: “Turkish Airlines – Barcelona FC”, “Turkish Airlines – Manchester United FC”, “Turk Telekom”, “Coca-Cola”, “GM-Cruze”, and many others. Introduced 3D conversion and workflow through the facility, in charge of bidding, budgeting and to supervise the work done in the facility.
  
• 

  Senior Digital Compositor.

  Brainstorm Digital

  December 2006 - May 2007

  Greater New York City Area

  Senior Digital Compositor.
  Films: “The Brave One” Director: Neil Jordan.
  “Hot Rod” Director: Akiva Schaffer

• Visual and Special Effects Supervisor.

  The Evil Eye Production.

  July 2007 - November 2007

  Greater New York City Area

  Visual and Special Effects Supervisor. Film: “Last Looks”. Director: Barry Alexander Brown.

• On Set Visual Effects Supervisor.

  Bang Filmes e Produções.

  September 2005 - November 2005

  Rio de Janeiro Area, Brazil

  On Set Visual Effects Supervisor. Film: “Embarque Imediato”. Director: Allan Fiterman.

• Content Developer-Technical Director-Post Production Supervisor.

  Project 26 LLC.

  November 2007 - June 2008

  Greater New York City Area

  Content Developer/Technical Director/Post Production Supervisor. Project: Comcast “10 Million Pixels Experience”. The largest and LED screen in the world at the time.
• 

  Digital Compositor.

  Big Film Design

  December 2004 - August 2005

  Greater New York City Area

  Digital Compositor. Film: “Little Children”. Director: Todd Field

• Visual Effects Supervisor - Post Production Coordinator - Producer.

  Markefxs Inc

  October 2003 - October 2007

  Greater New York City Area

  Digital Compositor/3D/Editor. Projects: ABC, “Extreme Makeover Special Edition”, ESPN, NBA, graphics package and teaser Dallas Maverick vs. Orlando Magic. Digital Compositor. Projects: ABC-ESPN NBA Playoff Western Conference, NBA Finals, TV graphics package.
  Producer/Partner. Project: Turkey Minister of Culture and Tourism. Producer and in charge of post-production for 5 Commercials to promote tourism to Turkey.

• Visual Effects Supervisor.

  Gcp,Tv Globo, Rede Globo, Globo.Com, Som Livre

  April 2005 - May 2006

  Rio de Janeiro Area, Brazil · On-site

  Visual Effects Supervisor.
  Project: “JK”
  TV Mini-Series. (50 episodes). I was one of the lead supervisors both on set and off. It was the first time that they used a mixed of miniatures, 3D and crowd simulation technology. The company had a very strict budget system per episode, we could not ever go over budget. Tricky since this was a period mini-series about a president that changed the capital of Brazil from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia.

• Lead and Digital Compositor.

  Digital Convenience Store.

  2003 - 2007

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  Working as freelance Lead and Digital Compositor, for a variety of films.
• 

  Lead Visual Effects Artist

  Guava VFX

  August 2002 - September 2003

  Greater New York City Area

  Lead Visual Effects Artist. Project: “Sinatra: His Voice, His World, His Way” Radio City Music Hall. This was the first time a dead celebrity had a sold-out show at a major venue.

• Senior Digital Compositor - Technical Director.

  MX-Art in Motion

  September 2001 - November 2002

  Greater New York City Area

  Senior Digital Compositor/ Technical Director. Projects: ESPN Sunday Night Football. ABC Monday Night Football. New York Rangers, TV graphics package. MLB Subway Series, International Opening. NY Islanders, TV graphics package. ESPY Awards with Samuel L. Jackson TV graphics package opening.

• Senior Digital Compositor.

  Colossalvision.

  November 2001 - December 2001

  Greater New York City Area

  Senior Digital Compositor. Projects: Sharp Aquos new product line high definition television line and Liberty Trust, Comcast Building in Philadelphia.
• 

  Senior Digital Compositor.

  Big Film Design

  February 2001 - August 2002

  Greater New York City Area

  Senior Digital Compositor. Films: “Chicago”, “Analyze That”, “It Runs in the Family”, “The 25th Hour”. Randy Balsmeyer, Visual Effects Supervisor

• Visual Effect Supervisor.

  Cannery Filmworks.

  December 2000 - November 2001

  Greater New York City Area

  Visual Effect Supervisor. Film: “Winning Girls Through Psychic Mind Control”. Director: Barry Alexander Brown. The second high definition film in the USA.

• Digital Compositor.

  GTV.

  September 2000 - November 2000

  Greater New York City Area

  Digital Compositor. Client: Pfizer. Project: Video Wall creation

• Digital Compositor.

  2GFX.

  January 2000 - September 2000

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  Digital Compositor. Film: “Impostor”.
• 

  Lead Digital Compositor.

  Yale University

  June 2006 - November 2006

  New Haven, USA.

  Revision of the graphics package. Documentary: “Sidewalk”. Director: Barry Alexander Brown and K.A. Chrisholm.

• Visual Effects Supervisor - Lead Digital Compositor.

  Natural Nylon.

  January 1999 - November 1999

  Greater New York City Area

  Visual Effects Supervisor, Lead Digital Compositor. Clients: Reuters, Mattel and Toy’R’Us.

• Lead Compositor - Rotoscope Lead - Technical Director.

  Walkabout Pictures.

  February 1995 - December 1999

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  Partner, the first VFX Boutique in Los Angeles. The company worked major Hollywood films like: "The Long Kiss Goodnight", "From Dusk ‘Till Dawn", "Commandments", " Dragonword II".
  Create photorealistic QuickTime vr’s for Discovery Multimedia game "Byzantine". The first game to use photorealistic quicktime VR in their environment’s. Technical Director for “live” QuickTime VR for the first live streaming web site “L.A.Live.com” this was prior to real media and QuickTime streaming capability. We broadcast live shows all over Los Angles for bands like Porno for Pyros, Korn, The Bay City Rollers, Alanis Morrissette among many others. Introduce digital restoration techniques to UCLA Film and Television Archive, help restore the opening titles for the first 2 color film in the archive.
  
  

• East Coast Demo Artist - Consultant.

  Puffin Designs

  February 1999 - February 2003

  San Francisco Bay Area

  East Coast Demo Artist / Consultant. Software: Commotion. In charge of training new clients on the software. Demo artist around the east coast of the USA.

• Visual Effect Supervisor.

  Luna Ray Films

  April 2000 - May 2001

  Greater New York City Area

  Visual Effect Supervisor. Film:” A Huey P. Newton Story”. Director: Spike Lee
• 

  Lead Compositor

  Wieden + Kennedy

  January 1998 - May 1998

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  Digital Compositing. Client: Nike Soccer. Commercials for 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, teams Brazil and Chile.
• 

  Lead Rotoscope - Digital Compositor.

  Curious Pictures

  June 1998 - January 1999

  Greater New York City Area

  Digital Compositor, Lead Rotoscope Artist. Commercial Client: Wendy’s

• Digital Compositor - On Set Visual Effects Consultant.

  2GFX - Digital Magic

  April 1996 - October 1997

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  Digital Compositor - 3D Artist. Film: “Wishmaster”
  On Set Visual Effects Consultant. Film: “Alien Resurrection”.

• Technical - Artistic Consultant.

  Arete Image Software.

  May 1995 - June 1997

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  Technical- Artistic Consultant. Software: Digital Nature Tools, digital water and atmospheric elements creation, also worked as Digital Compositor for the company on several projects. Films: “Titanic”, “Air Force One”, “The Island of Dr. Moreau”, “The Fifth Element”.

• Lead Rotoscope - Digital Compositor

  CINESITE VFX LIMITED

  August 1994 - August 1995

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  Lead Rotoscope artist and Digital Compositor for a variety of films: “Waterworld", "StarTrek: First Contact", " Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home" and many others.


• Rotoscope and junior Digital Compositor

  Kleiser Walczak Construction

  November 1993 - August 1994

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  Rotoscope and junior Digital Compositor. Film: "Stargate".


• Lead Rotoscope - Junior Compositor

  DreamQuest

  December 1992 - November 1993

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  Lead Rotoscope Artist and junior Compositor. Film "The Crow".
• 

  Lecturer

  Yeditepe University

  January 2015 - June 2022

  Istanbul, Turkey · On-site

  Teacher for the Visual Communication Department and Radio and TV department.
  Teaching classes in UXI, Web Design, Basic Digital Design, Interactive Design, Basic and Advance, prototype and interactive design, Broadcast Design, Visual Storytelling. In charge of the department first animated movie, entirely done by the students. Build and speck out the fully interactive laboratory and classroom, the first of its kind in the country.
  
• 

  Adjunct Professor.

  School of Visual Arts

  2003 - 2010

  Greater New York City Area

  Adjunct Professor for the undergraduate program in computer arts: Helped develop the Digital Compositing curriculum, introduced a class in digital cinematography where students could understand the real difference between a real and a virtual camera and all the constrains of a real camera in production.
  Helped develop what we called in school the mini pipeline where the 2D and 3D curriculum behave like a VFX facility with a renderfarm and custom pipeline tools. Implemented the nodal digital compositing track teaching Shake, Digital Fusion and Nuke. Worked closely with all 3D teachers to help integration of CGI using digital compositing.
  Teacher: Continuing Education. Compositing classes in After Effects, Shake and Digital Fusion.
  
• 

  Adjunct Professor.

  New York University

  2002 - 2010

  Greater New York City Area · On-site

  Adjunct Professor for the Master Program in Visual Effects: Intermediate and Advance Digital Compositing, Pipeline and CG integration, focus on compositing.
• 

  Adjunct Professor.

  Parsons School of Design - The New School

  1997 - 2010

  Greater New York City Area

  Adjunct Professor for the Master program in Design and Technology (MFADT).
  Course: Digital compositing and post production for feature films.
  Adjunct Professor for the Communication Design Department. Course: Advanced Broadcast Design concepts and techniques.

  
• 

  Teacher.

  Pratt Institute

  2004 - 2007

  Greater New York City Area · On-site

  Teacher for the Continuing Education Department.
  Course: Digital Compositing with Shake.
• 

  Teacher.

  NYU School of Professional Studies

  2000 - 2004

  Greater New York City Area

  Teacher for the Intensive Post Production Course (VFX for Post Production).
  Course: Introduction to Digital Compositing for Feature Film Editors. Course: Introduction to Shake.
  Course: Introduction to After Effects.
  

• Teacher.

  Altos de Chavón School of Design

  2003 - 2003

  Dominican Republic

  Teacher: Week Intensive course in TV Production
• 

  Technical Director

  Microsoft

  September 1995 - January 1996

  Greater Seattle Area

  Technical Director producing quicktime VR's for Microsoft. Product: Encarta
• 

  Production Assistant

  New Line Cinema

  April 1990 - November 1992

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  Production assistant for the movies "House Party II' and "Ruby".

• Production Assistant

  Praxis Films

  January 1990 - February 1990

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  Production assistant for the new GM Caprice to be showed during the 1990 Oscars.

• Editor

  TV Manchete Ltda.

  April 1985 - December 1989

  Rio de Janeiro Area, Brazil

  Started as tape editor while studying Journalism. I got promoted to Editor of “Programa de Domingo” the TV version of “60 Minutes”. During that time, I was exposed to all the phases of TV production. Worked on several programs, from journalism, to sports, to live shows.