The-Artery has added Elad Offer as ECD/head of 2D and Yuval Levy as VFX supervisor and director.
Offer brings over 20 years experience as a visual effects supervisor, producer, and Flame artist to The-Artery in NYC. The creative VFX vet has played an integral role in creating content for leading brands including Apple and Microsoft while working at advertising agencies and VFX houses. He spent many years freelancing as a VFX supervisor and lead Flame artist at Framestore and previously, The Mill. He’s also been the owner and creative director at production company Adorable Monsters since 2011.
During his career, Offer has also worked with some of Hollywood’s top directors and producers on feature films including Pearl Harbor, Moulin Rouge and Get Smart, as well as music videos for Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliot, Britney Spears and more. Notably, he was also part of the MTV Video Music Award-winning team for Outkast’s classic, “Hey Ya.”
Levy, meanwhile, boasts two decades of VFX experience of his own, spending half that period of time steadily moving up the ranks at Gravity New York (formerly RhinoFX) from CG supervisor/head of CG to VFX/digital supervisor and creative director. Along the way, he’s lent his talents to features such as Universal Pictures’ The Adjustment Bureau, Columbia Pictures’ The Other Guys and Warner Brothers’ Crazy Stupid Love.
On the advertising side, Levy made his mark with the well-known, long-running Ford F-150 campaign–which he designed, directed and supervised for the Ford Motor Company–along with other high-profile work for brands including BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Coca-Cola. He also spent five years in Toronto, supervising commercials and documentary films for National Geographic and The History Channel.
While Levy has successfully traversed the film and advertising worlds, he has also infused his effects and design sensibilities into the art world. He began doing so in 2014 by collaborating with renowned artist Clifford Ross to create a series entitled “The Digital Wave” which entailed large, immersive screens of ocean waves. The work was inspired by Ross’ prior “Hurricane Wave” series depicting the ever-changing forms of ocean waves during storms. Variations of the pieces were displayed in museums including MASS MoCA, The Parrish Art Museum, COAL + ICE Exhibition and the Climate Festival in San Francisco as well as in private collections.
This collaboration with Ross led to numerous experimental and experiential works, and the creation of multiple art/video installations utilizing high-resolution projections for Ross’ collaboration with The Orchestra of St. Luke’s for the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn Festival. Levy continues to experiment and research the boundaries of digital art as a media and as art form, including delving into virtual and augmented reality, designing for startup companies in the game industry, and ideating for interactive experiences for major brands.
With their arrival, Offer and Levy will each play a pivotal role in advancing The-Artery’s mission to spearhead tech innovation and influence, which is already reflected in the company’s capabilities that have extended from visual effects and post-production to design, experience, and TV/film production.
“This is a whole different ball game from our perspective,” said Vico Sharabani, founder and CCO of The-Artery. “[Working with] the director, brand and agency producing and doing the visual effects that’s soup-to-nuts is definitely something that we want to do more of. We’ve proven the high quality over the years but now with multiple directors and the R&D in new worlds, real-time [projects], Metaverse, etc.”
