Pierre Michel-Estival, one of Digital Domain’s original commercial directors, has joined production company Logan Industry for U.S. commercial representation.
A French director based in Los Angeles, Michel-Estival began his career in France where he worked in visual effects and contributed to more than 35 feature films alongside directors such as Oliver Stone and Alejandro Gonzรกlez Iรฑรกrritu. Michel-Estival’s work caught the attention of Hollywood, and he was soon approached by Oscar-winning Digital Domain to bring his style to the American film industry.
“Pierre is a force of nature and just a super great talent to have on set and in the cutting room,” said Josรฉ Nuรฑez, Logan Industry founder/executive producer. “He is not only an engaging storyteller and an actor’s director, but also a wonderful person. We’ve worked with him before and always found him to be brimming with vivid ideas and genuine enthusiasm for whatever task was in front of him. As a new company that is focused on directors and nurturing careers, we are happy and excited to be working with directors of Pierre’s high caliber, who are passionate about what they do and about the brands they’ve service. They are very visual and forward thinking and they are key partners in Logan Industry’s rapid growth and success.”
A member of the Directors Guild of America since 2016, Michel-Estival has directed a wide range of projects for brands including Nike, Piaget, Lancรดme, Ubisoft, Disney and Cartier. He has also been involved in filming events such as the Tribeca Film Festival, the Nobel Peace Prize and the Super Bowl. He has worked with high-profile figures, including Ryan Reynolds, LeBron James, Buzz Aldrin, Jennifer Lopez, and Conan O’Brien to name a few. Michel-Estival’s creative range is exemplified by his work on a wide range of projects, from luxury commercials to groundbreaking initiatives like the first-ever auto-lacing shoe commercial for Nike. He is equally comfortable directing high-profile celebrities like Reynolds on a London rooftop for Piaget, as he is directing complex cinematic scenes on a motion capture stage for a Star Wars project.
“Logan is a special company, an organization with real values,” said Michel-Estival. “Jose and executive producer Marthinus Lamprecht are wonderful people who run their company like an extended family, paying special care and attention to everyone on the team and to the clients they work with. Their focus on people-values is unique and wonderful, and they treat their roster of extremely talented directors as family, all of whom I have already met. When you’re working with a family business, with people you appreciate and who really appreciate you, that is the magic formula.”
Logan Industry has been building its production team and growing its business steadily since it was founded two years ago by Nunez, who produced 2020’s award-winning documentary feature The Donut King, directed by Alice Gu, who is on Logan Industry’s directorial roster. The company has produced campaigns for such brands as Samsung, Genesis, Toyota and United Health. In addition to producing broadcast commercials, branded content and online advertising content, Logan Industry also is in pre-production on a major feature film with a top Hollywood director and stars, to be announced soon.
Vatican, Microsoft Create AI-Generated St. Peter’s Basilica–For In-Person and Virtual Visitors
The Vatican and Microsoft on Monday unveiled a digital twin of St. Peter's Basilica that uses artificial intelligence to explore one of the world's most important monument's while helping the Holy See manage visitor flows and identify conservation problems. Using 400,000 high-resolution digital photographs, taken with drones, cameras and lasers over four weeks when no one was in the basilica, the digital replica is going online alongside two new on-site exhibits to provide visitors -- real and virtual -- with an interactive experience. "It is literally one of the most technologically advanced and sophisticated projects of its kind that has ever been pursued," Microsoft's president Brad Smith told a Vatican press conference. The project has been launched ahead of the Vatican's 2025 Jubilee, a holy year in which more than 30 million pilgrims are expected to pass through the basilica's Holy Door, on top of the 50,000 who visit on a normal day. "Everyone, really everyone should feel welcome in this great house," Pope Francis told Smith and members of the project's development teams at an audience Monday. The digital platform allows visitors to reserve entry times to the basilica, a novelty for one of the world's most visited monuments that regularly has an hours-long line of tourists waiting to get in. But the heart of the project is the creation of a digital twin of St. Peter's Basilica through advanced photogrammetry and artificial intelligence that allows anyone to "visit" the church and learn about its history. The ultra-precise 3D replica, developed in collaboration with digital preservation company Iconem, incorporates 22 petabytes of data โ enough to fill five million DVDs โ Smith said. The images have already identified structural... Read More