People on the Move

Entertainment company Alkemy X has continued the expansion of its visual effects division with the hiring of Sarah Grieshammer as VFX supervisor. Her nearly two decades of experience in visual effects span episodic, feature film and commercial projects. Among Grieshammer’s major credits include films like The Amazing Spider-Man, The Hunger Games and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, as well as series including Stranger Things, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Sleepy Hollow and Your Honor. 

Alkemy X president and CEO Justin Wineburgh said, “Sarah’s profound positivity and enthusiasm for the innovative nature of the creative process is reflected in each and every project she works on.” At Alkemy X, Grieshammer reunites with Mark Miller, executive producer, business development.

Grieshammer shared, “To me, visual effects is a unique opportunity to step back and see how all of the puzzle pieces fit together and how the collaboration of the various disciplines come together to form one cohesive piece. I’m thrilled to be a part of the rapid momentum that the VFX department at Alkemy X has been building over the last couple of years. The team has met me with the utmost enthusiasm and optimism, and I am excited to bring the same to my work with our team and clients.”

Ohio-born Grieshammer followed a lifelong passion for the arts to Los Angeles, studying art and animation at California State University, Los Angeles. Her strong sense for motion, color and composition, alongside an inherent technical prowess, gave her a natural professional start in visual effects. Learning the industry through the lens of a compositor allowed her to gain a holistic understanding of the multitude of roles and departments within visual effects studios, using her artistic and technical skillsets to bring all of the disparate elements together to create the final vision. Already harnessing a comprehensive point of view of the strategic approach to visual effects, stepping up to the role of VFX supervisor was an organic move she embraced as an opportunity to continue pushing the boundaries of what her team could deliver for clients. Working as an on-set supervisor allowed her to further deepen her grasp on the end-to-end process, developing an understanding of how she could best serve the creative vision through visual effects.

In the interest of building a more diverse industry for the future, Grieshammer is passionate about mentoring emerging artists in the VFX industry, lending her expertise to broaden the awareness of the multitude of career path opportunities available. Currently based in New Orleans, she also periodically teaches visual effects at Loyola University New Orleans and continues to refine her love of fine art through oil painting.

Digital Domain has promoted visualization expert and studio veteran Matt McClurg to serve as its new head of visualization. McClurg will oversee the VFX studio’s full range of visualization efforts, including comprehensive previs and post viz work and its virtual production department.
 
For 30 years, Digital Domain has turned out visual effects for award-winning features, episodics and more while earning a reputation as a technological innovator due to its pioneering research into digital and autonomous humans and countless advancements in virtual production and visualization. McClurg will leverage Digital Domain’s advanced tools to offer clients a visual representation of what their final product will look like, giving them a clear path forward.

“Matt has played a pivotal role in propelling Digital Domain’s visualization efforts to unprecedented heights in recent years,” remarked Lala Gavgavian, COO and global president of Digital Domain. 
 
Along with overseeing Digital Domain’s current and upcoming visualization projects, McClurg will help streamline and incorporate new pipelines that take full advantage of the VFX studio’s bespoke toolsets. That includes its proprietary machine learning software and AI-driven creations. McClurg will also continue to lead the development of custom systems and processes created within game engines, designed to give filmmakers new ways to watch and edit effects-heavy scenes remotely from anywhere in the world.
 
McClurg’s resume includes stops at both The Third Floor and 20th Century Fox, and in 2014 he was hired by Pixomondo to help create and run its previs department. In 2019, McClurg joined Digital Domain as previs supervisor, overseeing several major features including Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: No Way Home, Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story and the Oscar-nominated Free Guy. McClurg was also heavily involved in several episodic previs projects, including HBO’s The Last of Us and Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville.

Laundry Design, LLC, a production company and animation studio with bases of operation in L.A. and San Francisco, has opened offices in New York City and brought in Susie Shuttleworth as executive producer. Shuttleworth brings to Laundry NY a wealth of experience, recently leading creative shops Alkemy X, LAVA and most recently Sound Lounge.  Shuttleworth will handle all incoming business from the eastern territory in partnership with Andrew Michaeloff and Anya Zander of indie rep firm Hustle.

Born and raised in NY production, Shuttleworth has been a content-focused EP for high profile brands such as Cadillac, Puma, Apple and Disney, as well as networks and agencies.

James Sweigert, CEO/managing director of Laundry, noted that the company has been working in the NY market for many years but decided to set up a studio there to better serve its East Coast clients. He described Shuttleworth as the ideal person to head up the NY shop and “a perfect cultural fit for Laundry.

Integrated creative company Butler, Shine, Stern and Partners (BSSP) has appointed Lauren King as its new director of digital media and activation. King is tasked with managing and fostering relationships with key industry partners, developing and refining the media department’s processes to streamline efforts and better serve BSSP’s roster of clients, while also staying ahead of rising trends within the digital marketplace. King will report to Kerri Gouveia Stumpo, BSSP’s head of media and communication strategy. 

Stumpo said of King, “With her own style of strategizing and creativity, this new role presents much growth opportunity for the agency. Finding the right person that not only flourishes with leading our internal teams, but with our roster of existing and incoming clients, can be tricky. With Lauren’s background, we are fully confident that she will thrive as our new director of digital media and activation.” 

A veteran of the media industry, King previously served as the associate media director at Horizon Media where she worked for over four years on the Constellation Beer, Wine and Spirits account. With a primary focus on Modelo Especial, the fastest growing domestically imported beer in the U.S. 

“I couldn’t be more eager to join the BSSP team after just our first meeting together. I saw intelligence and passion from each person I met, almost instantly,” said King. “Starting this new position and being a part of a full-service agency where I can hone in on the creative development process with a fully integrated team is important to me. I am beyond ready to get my hands on new business pitches and celebrate a ton of success with team BSSP. It’s going to be a big year.” 

This appointment highlights the continued growth and evolution BSSP is undergoing as the shop nears its 30th anniversary this year.