People on the Move

Postproduction and visual effects company Encore has announced the promotions of Jay Bodnar to sr. VP, engineering; Tom Kendall to sr. VP, VFX; and Morgan Strauss to sr. VP, operations. In new positions designed to spearhead Encore’s next phase of growth, the executive trio remains in the company’s Los Angeles headquarters, reporting to Encore executive VP Bill Romeo.

Bodnar and Strauss have been with Encore since 2000 and 2001 respectively, by way of former sister company R!OT, while Kendall joined the company in 2002. Each has been actively involved in advancing their particular division within Encore Hollywood and will now extend their venerable expertise to the company’s growing worldwide network.

A leader in the company’s transition to file-based workflows, including 4K, Bodnar has overseen Encore’s talented team of engineers and ensured that clients benefit from the company’s innovative use of advanced technologies. In his expanded role, Bodnar will be working with his team to architect and deploy progressive technical solutions and optimize pipelines across the Encore locations for a cohesive, global postproduction experience.

Under Kendall’s direction, Encore’s VFX department has made a rapid ascent in episodic television. During the 2013 awards season, Encore took home both Emmy and Visual Effects Society Awards for outstanding VFX work, and looks to continue the trend through its current slate of projects, with Encore artists recently nominated for a 2014 Emmy Award. Kendall now helms worldwide VFX efforts for Encore.

As director of operations, Strauss has been the logistics expert for Encore Hollywood’s postproduction arm. From business development and strategy to workflow design and IT, Strauss and his team have provided Encore’s roster of clients with a seamless experience by ensuring technology and creativity interact flawlessly. In addition to Encore Hollywood, Strauss now oversees day-to-day operations for Encore Vancouver and will be responsible for new Encore locations as well.

Encore is a Deluxe Entertainment Services company with locations in Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto and London. The company also offers near-set services anywhere in the world via mobilabs, a proprietary compact system for on-site color management and dailies.

Hawthorne Direct, a full service brand response ad agency, has promoted Neil Klayman from sr. copywriter to associate creative director. Klayman will continue to report to John Pucci, chief creative officer.

In his new position, Klayman will be more involved with new business pitches, as well as manage the creative process on a diverse range of client campaigns, from ideation through production.

Klayman joined Hawthorne Direct as a sr. writer in 2012.  In that role, he was responsible for DRTV, BRTV and digital advertising copy creation for all agency clients. Klayman came to Hawthorne Direct with over 15 years of experience as a copywriter at various advertising agencies and entertainment companies, including The Woo Agency, Rapp Worldwide, E! Networks and Mattel, Inc. He honed his copywriting and creative skills while working on campaigns for such clients as Lenovo, Samsung, Bank of America, Schwab, AAA, E! Entertainment TV, Style Network, Disney, and Pixar.

Klayman has been honored numerous times by the International Film & TV Festival of New York for his outstanding writing. He was honored by Eunice Kennedy Shriver for writing and producing several documentaries profiling New Hampshire Special Olympics athletes. He is also the author of the popular, published children’s book, “Boris Ate A Thesaurus”, which was chosen as a “Book of The Year” by both the National Education Association and the California Teachers Association. 

Creative studio Splice has brought visual effects artist Patricio Fernandez aboard its roster. With credits that include such feature films as Wrath of the Titans, Terminator: Salvation, Iron Man 3 and Captain America: The First Avenger, Fernandez expands the visual effects capacity of Splice, as the company continues to grow its feature and episodic television visual effects team.

Early on in his career Fernandez served as a creative and producer for commercial campaigns, an assistant editor for a feature film, and an editor for a postproduction company, all in Argentina. With his mind set on future goals, he moved to the U.S. in late 2000 where he earned a Master’s Degree in Computer Animation at the Miami International University of Art and Design. Since then, Fernandez founded Illusion Factory, Inc. in Florida, a postproduction company that provided services to Discovery Channel. He then freelanced for a variety of studios but for the three years prior to joining Splice, he worked regularly with Method Studios in Santa Monica, Calif.

Fernandez has worked in a variety of roles as a VFX artist for the aforementioned feature films  as well as Cloud Atlas, This Means War and Argo, in addition to a  number of commercials and Super Bowl ads for Kia, Microsoft, Direct TV and Canon.

Splice producer Drew Sondeland said of Fernandez, “He has the know-how and experience to be plugged in early, providing our clients with valuable pre-pro insight. His vast capabilities have already opened up a lot of new exciting opportunities for Splice.”

Editor Tom Vogt has joined the roster at the New York office of Spot Welders, the creative editorial company.  

Vogt’s career includes an extensive background in editing long and short form comedy for broadcast and cinema. He played a key role in the irreverent storytelling of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, shaping as lead editor the groundbreaking animated TV series South Park. Vogt’s credits also include Team America: World Police and South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut.

Vogt also spent two years working closely with the Academy Award-nominated director Morgan Spurlock, for whom he edited POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Story Ever Sold, Spurlock’s take on sponsorship and branding.  Formerly on staff at Bluerock and MacKenzie Cutler, Vogt has since freelanced for a range of agencies and post houses.

The editor’s commercial work includes spots for FedEx, Axe, Oberto Beef Jerky, eBay, ESPNU and AT&T (starring Will Arnett). Vogt’s deft timing on Bud Light’s famous “Dude” spot helped launch the campaign that became an early Internet sensation.

Vogt wanted to bring his skills to a company with a strong brand and experience and knowledgeable leadership. After meeting with the key players at Spot Welders in NYC, including partner/editor Dick Gordon and EP Joanne Ferraro, he was convinced it was the best place for him.  Vogt added that the ability to move back and forth between advertising and entertainment is another factor that attracted him to Spot Welders. 

A former acoustical engineer, Vogt designed concert halls, recording studios and performance spaces for Walt Disney World, Epcot Center, Universal Studios Tokyo and EuroDisney in Paris. While in France he began to study art and photography. His work eventually caught the eye of Carter Tomassi, the head of cinematography at Colossal Pictures, the vanguard San Francisco studio behind numerous award-winning commercials, interactive media projects and TV series such as MTV’s Liquid Television.

Vogt went on to join Colossal as a camera assistant and worked his way up through the production and effects ranks.  That’s where he discovered his passion for editing, which he saw as a link between his creative interests and his technical inclinations. After Colossal he sent his work to the creators of South Park, who welcomed him to the fold. Within months he was serving as the show’s lead editor, a post he held for eight years.

Vogt credits his experience in animation with teaching him many of the fundamentals of storytelling. While he enjoyed his time on South Park--and feels what he did there has resonated in popular culture--he’s happy to ply his craft on a wider creative stage.

“For me, the joy of editing and being able to tell different kinds of stories shouldn’t be limited to a specific genre,” Vogt explained. “What I learned in animation and comedy taught me a lot about rhythm and nuance, and those lessons can apply to anything. I’m looking forward to putting all that to use here at Spot Welders.”