An Absolute Arrival: Mark Pinheiro
Mark Pinheiro has joined Absolute Post, London, as VFX supervisor. He will oversee the VFX pipeline for Absolute’s client base while stepping into the new frontiers of virtual production. 

Across his 30 years in the industry, Pinheiro has worked at studios including MPC, The Mill, Goldcrest Post, Aardman Animations, Screen Scene, Molinare and most recently, Framestore. His portfolio boasts award-winning work: Christopher Nolan’s Tenet and Martin Scorsese’s Hugo which each scored an Oscar and a BAFTA for VFX; and season two of The Witcher, also a BAFTA winner for VFX. 

Pinheiro’s work on season six of Game of Thrones scored a VFX Emmy, as did BBC’s miniseries, Man In An Orange Shirt. In music, Coldplay’s “Daddy” won at the British Animation Awards while Klaxons’ “Twin Flames” scored best VFX at the UK MVAs. 

Assembly Hires Zeevalk, Garrido
New York-based post company Assembly has made two senior hires to develop its feature film, episodic and advertising VFX arm. David Zeevalk joins the studio as SVP of VFX and co-founder of the VFX division, where he will be charged with developing the studio’s VFX offering to major film studios, streaming brands and advertising agencies. Zeevalk joins from Nice Shoes (Break + Enter), where he was creative director of VFX. Prior to that he also held senior VFX creative and leadership positions at Alkemy X, Look FX and Zoic Studios. With nearly two decades of experience in the VFX industry, Zeevalk has among his career creative highlights The Many Saints of Newark, In The Heights, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel and Game of Thrones. 

Luiz Garrido joins Assembly as VP of VFX technology and co-founder of VFX. Garrido is an accomplished developer with over 20 years of experience within the digital arts field, specializing in computer graphics and cloud-based computing. Garrido joins from Nice Shoes, where he was head of pipeline. Previous to that he was head of technology at Alkemy X and head of research & development at O2 Filmes in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Garrido has a rich history of working with artists to develop technology and tools that enhance the creative process. He will be working with Assembly’s leadership team and clients to develop the studio’s cloud-based capabilities, a core function of which the studio is built on to allow for flexibility for both clients and staff.

The two new hires join industry veterans who have invested in the growing startup, including president/founder Art Williams along with Colin Moneymaker, Tara Holmes and David Goodman. 

Launched in 2021, the company has a hybrid cloud and location-based series of studios offering VFX, color grading and dailies across advertising and entertainment work.  The studio’s creative highlights include work for brands such as Hershey’s, Google and ESPN, in addition to longform entertainment work for Hulu, A24 and Showtime.  

Annie Awards To Return To Live Ceremony
ASIFA-Hollywood’s 50th Annual Annie Awards recognizing the year’s best in the field of animation will return to a live ceremony on Saturday, February 25, 2023 at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Los Angeles. 

The Annie Awards covers 37 categories and include Best Animated Feature, Best Animated Feature-Independent, Special Productions, Sponsored Films, Short Subjects, Student Films and Outstanding Individual Achievements, as well as the honorary Juried Awards. Categories span such disciplines as character animation, effects animation, production design, storyboarding, writing, music, editing and voice acting. The Annie Awards competition has often been a predictor of the annual Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.