By Adam Remson

Inferno artist Aron Baxter has left behind his native London to join New York postproduction facility Nice Shoes. With a 14-year background in animation and design, Baxter will be instrumental during the company’s transition to the Discreet Flame platform, which is currently underway.

For now, one upgraded and three new Flames will operate side by side with the company’s existing Quantel Henry machines, but Nice Shoes has said that it will favor the Flame’s high definition capabilities as the company goes forward. "Eventually, as the Henry becomes more outdated, the Flame will be the sole box in the room," explained Nice Shoes executive producer Pat Portela. "Aron has years of experience and we are hoping that he can translate the differences between the two platforms for our [Henry artists], and make the process a little easier for them."

According to Portela, Baxter also brings unique creative talents to Nice Shoes. "We enjoy a quiet reputation of being able to offer our clients excellent compositing, retouching and tracking, but when it comes to design or a more creative type of approach, we really haven’t been able to offer that in the past," she related. "Aron’s creative capabilities broaden our base a little bit more. He has a graphic design background and more experience in heavy-duty visual effects. He has also done shoot supervision and technical directing, and has more involvement in 3-D. These are all more of the aspects that the Discreet platform allows [us] to get into."

For Baxter, it was the challenge that ultimately convinced him to accept the position. "I’ve thought about working in the States before, but with Nice Shoes the timing was perfect," he said. "It was a good opportunity and a great challenge to help bring these new Flames in. I am also looking forward to working with new clients and collaborating with the talented team here at Nice Shoes."

Baxter joins the company after five-and-a-half years at the U.K. office of Condor Post Production, London, Brussels, Amsterdam and Berlin. As senior effects artist and effects supervisor/designer, Baxter worked for numerous commercial clients including Sony, Philips, HBO, Volkswagen and Lexus. From 1992 to ’97, Baxter was a visual effects compositor for London’s The Moving Picture Co. (MPC). While there, his commercial clients included Coca-Cola, Castrol, Gillette and VH1.

In ’88, Baxter studied graphic design for one year at the prestigious Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, London. From there, he took his talents to Warner Bros., where he earned a position as a model maker on the feature film Batman. He returned to school in ’89, enrolling at Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, England, where he studied animation and design. He graduated in ’91 and embarked on a brief freelance career in London before joining MPC.

Nice Shoes is repped nationally by Portela.

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