Press Release from Digital Domain
Venice, CA -- April 16, 2009 -- Digital production studio Digital Domain has named veteran Visual Effects Supervisor and technologist Thad Beier to the new position of Head of CG. In this role Beier will oversee production technology and long-term facility planning to ensure that artists across all feature productions can create the highest quality images efficiently and effectively.
Reporting to Digital Domain CEO Cliff Plumer, Beier will work with a cross-functional team of software engineers, visual effects supervisors and digital effects supervisors on show methodology, R&D, and development of production tools for current and future projects.
Beier is a twenty five year veteran of the visual effects industry. A Visual Effects Supervisor on more than a dozen films, he most recently supervised the creation of 1,150+ visual effects shots for FAST & FURIOUS, leading the work of twelve VFX studios around the world. In 1995 Beier co-founded Hammerhead Productions where he spent fourteen years developing the company's VFX production toolkit and supervising visual effects.
Prior to that he was an Animator and R&D Manager at Pacific Data Images, where he was instrumental in helping to develop the company's film production infrastructure. He has been recognized with a Scientific and Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS). Beier was also a software developer at Silicon Graphics and has consulted for studios including Universal, Walt Disney Feature Animation, Cinesite and Sony Pictures Imageworks. Beier started his career as an Animator at the New York Institute of Technology working on the development of early digital effects systems. He holds a BA degree in Electrical Engineering/Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University, and is a member of the AMPAS Science &Technology and Visual Effects Steering Committees.
Digital Domain CEO Cliff Plumer, said, "Thad has a depth of experience in both production and technology that few in this industry can match. He understands the immediate needs of feature productions and the long term needs of a visual effects studio and can make strategic technology decisions that will benefit both. He's a great asset to Digital Domain."
Beier said, "The revolution in the use of digital effects in movies is unprecedented. There's been a huge increase in the volume of work and Digital Domain is positioned at the apex of that pyramid, doing the kind of complex, exciting visuals that have never been done before. There are tremendous artistic and technical resources here and I'm really excited to be part of the continued progress of this company."
Digital Domain earned a 2009 Academy Award for Achievement in Visual Effects on THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON and is in production on visual effects for TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN, G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA, 2012, TRON, and PERCY JACKSON.
