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Home » PowerHouse VFX Rises to Top of New York’s VFX Industry Leveraging Talent and Partnership with Sixteen19

PowerHouse VFX Rises to Top of New York’s VFX Industry Leveraging Talent and Partnership with Sixteen19

Photo caption: (l to r) PowerHouse’s Bob Lowery, Ed Mendez
 
Buoyed by a string of high-profile film and television projects, PowerHouse VFX has quickly solidified its place as an industry leader on New York’s VFX scene. Founded last year by Emmy Award-winning visual effects supervisor Ed Mendez, executive producer Bob Lowery and chief engineer Eric Zeller, the studio is adding significant talent in all departments as it gears up for current and future assignments, notably the M. Night Shyamalan film Glass, where it’s serving as sole visual effects provider.
 
PowerHouse opened last fall in a new facility in Chelsea built from the ground up in partnership with Sixteen19, with whom they maintain a strategic alliance. Out of the gate, they were brought in to provide visual effects for Deception, an hour-long drama produced by Warner Bros. for ABC. Since then, PowerHouse has delivered thousands of visual effects shots for broadcast network shows, feature films, and streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon. Some of the feature work includes the STX film Second Act, starring Jennifer Lopez and Milo Ventimiglia, and Paramount Pictures’ surprise hit A Quiet Place. Along with Glass, current projects include The Purge for USA, Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and the Netflix series Maniac.
 
The steady stream of high-profile projects has garnered PowerHouse a reputation as a leader in New York’s VFX industry. This reputation has already paid dividends in the form of more work and new, top-flight talent. The company expects its current team of 40 artists to grow significantly over the coming months.
 
“Our aim in founding PowerHouse was to build a boutique studio where visionary creatives and talented artists want to work,” said Lowery, who serves as Managing Partner. “The ability to attract that level of talent shines through in the work we deliver. It’s allowed us to grow and take on even more projects.”
 
Before founding PowerHouse, Lowery and Mendez worked together at the VFX house DIVE on projects including the television series Power, The Leftovers and earlier Shyamalan films The Visit and Split. “Ed and Bob have been trusted creative partners on several of my films, so when they made the bold decision to form their own company, working with them again became a no-brainer,” Shyamalan said. “Great work and strong, reliable relationships are equally important factors for me in choosing my collaborators. I look forward to seeing PowerHouse grow and prosper so we can do more work together in the future.”
 
Lowery and Mendez have built an elite team of artists led by CG/VFX Supervisor Dan Bornstein and VFX Supervisor Ruben Rodas. Bornstein’s background includes 10 years at ILM and credits on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Pacific Rim, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Rodas previously held supervisory roles at DIVE and Café FX with credits including Power, The Family, and The Leftovers. PowerHouse also recently added to the team General Manager, Chris Kenneally, who is an award winning filmmaker and 20 year post production industry veteran, and Sr. VFX Producer Ryan Cunningham who was previously at ZOIC studios New York office where he worked multiple projects including Warrior for HBO and Maniac for Netflix.
 
“I’m so excited with the talent we have been able to recruit to join our team,” noted Mendez, who is also the studio’s lead creative. “We have an amazing crew of talented visual storytellers who not only create beautiful work, but also collaborate brilliantly.”
 

 
PowerHouse’s strategic alliance with Sixteen19 has proven an asset to both companies through co-ventures and collaboration on one another’s projects. The two companies recently worked together on a network pilot, with PowerHouse producing visual effects and Sixteen19 handling dailies and finishing. PowerHouse also provided VFX support to A Quiet Place during editorial at Sixteen19.0
 
“It’s a perfect partnership,” Lowery said. “Sixteen19 offers everything from dailies through picture finishing, but desired a visual effects partner. We supply that piece of the puzzle. We see PowerHouse as an extension of the extremely positive working environment Jonathan and Pete have crafted over the years.”
 
Lowery notes the alliance grew out of our existing relationship with Sixteen19 principals Jonathan Hoffman and Pete Conlin. “We’ve worked together on several projects over the years and share a similar mindset” says Hoffman. “We all believe that a culture of honesty and creativity translates directly into strong client relationships and high-quality work,”
 
While success has come quickly to PowerHouse, Mendez is clear that he and Lowery will continue to build on the fundamentals that have gotten them this far: best-in-class talent, deep wells of experience, and a commitment to dynamic, collaborative client relationships. “We’re excited about the projects we have in the pipeline and the opportunities we see on the horizon,” he said. “We’ve got a great team and our alliance with Sixteen19 gives us the unique advantage of offering clients comprehensive solutions.”
 
For more information about PowerHouse, call 215-284-9949 or visit www.powerhousevfx.com.

About Dan Ochiva

New York City-based journalist and NYCPPNEWS founder Dan Ochiva writes and consults on film, video, and digital media technology.

Community & Partner Links

How Sony’s New Virtual Sound Technology Can Change How We Hear Films

Kami Asgar and Jessica Parks are post-production heavyweights who work with major studios, namely Sony. As a sound designer (Asgar) and as a post executive (Parks), their collective resume touches on everything from Apocalypto to Grandma’s Boy to Venom.

Parks has recently shifted her focus from supervisor to hands-on sound design, and we talk about how it’s never too late to pivot on your career path and find the thing you love doing wherever you are in life.

Click on this link to read the rest of the article on No Film School’s site.

NJ – Governor Murphy signs $14B Incentive Program Bill – the NJ Economic Recovery Act of 2020

 Film tax credits — amending existing programs to include provisions for so-called New Jersey film partners and New Jersey film-lease partners and allowing an additional $200 million of tax credits annually over 13 years.

Click this link if you want to read the full article on the Lexology site. http://bit.ly/35NtDx6

Film Commish announces date for production restart

In her December 18, 2020 news update, MOME Commissioner Anne del Castillo announced that the Film Office is now accepting permit applications for production activity that begins on July 27th.

She also announced awards now (Awkwafina) and more. To read all of the Film Commish’s bloggy sort of news column, click here.

Stimulus Offers $15 Billion in Relief for Struggling Arts Venues

The coronavirus relief package that Congressional leaders agreed to this week includes grant money that many small proprietors described as a last hope for survival.

For the music venue owners, theater producers and cultural institutions that have suffered through the pandemic with no business, the coronavirus relief package that Congress passed on Monday night offers the prospect of aid at last.

To read the full article on The New York Times’ site, click here.

If you want to start production, here’s the latest news from the Mayor’s Office

Phase 4 production guidance is available on the Film Permit website. All production activity, whether it requires a Film Permit or not, must comply with New York Forward Industry Guidance.

For more information see, please refer to the State Department of Health’s Interim Guidance for Media Production During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Please review the guidelines and FAQ before submitting permit applications. The Film Office is operating remotely, so please allow additional time for Film Permit processing.

The above paragraphs contain links to the various FAQ – just mouse over the relevant words.

Nikon to Stop Making Cameras in Japan

Nikon has fallen on hard times as of late as its camera sales have cratered, and now there’s a new indicator of how dire its financial situation is: the company is reportedly pulling the plug on making cameras in Japan after over 70 years of doing so.

To read the full article on Petapixel’s site, click here.

NVIDIA Uses AI to Slash Bandwidth on Video Calls

NVIDIA Research has invented a way to use AI to dramatically reduce video call bandwidth while simultaneously improving quality

What the researchers have achieved has remarkable results: by replacing the traditional h.264 video codec with a neural network, they have managed to reduce the required bandwidth for a video call by an order of magnitude. In one example, the required data rate fell from 97.28 KB/frame to a measly 0.1165 KB/frame – a reduction to 0.1% of required bandwidth.

To read the rest of this article on Petapixel, click this link.

 

 

 

Union Health Plan Dodges Film Workers’ Suit Over Virus Relief

Law360 (October 9, 2020, 5:22 PM EDT) — The Motion Picture Industry Health Plan’s board can’t be sued under ERISA for allegedly flouting its duties when it relaxed plan rules in response to COVID-19, a California federal judge has ruled, nixing a proposed class action filed by two cinematographers who still couldn’t qualify for benefits.

In an order entered Thursday, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner granted the board of directors’ motion to dismiss Greg Endries and Dee Nichols’ Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit accusing board members of breaching their duty to treat all plan participants fairly.

Endries and Nichols, members of Local 600 of the International Cinematographers Guild, said in July that the board left them and others “out in the cold” in its attempts to address the problems COVID-19 caused for plan participants.

But Judge Klausner agreed with the board’s contention that the case, which alleged a fiduciary breach, should be tossed because plan administrators don’t act as fiduciaries when they amend health care plans.

Read the full article on the Law360 site by clicking here.

Russo Brothers Received Close to $50 Million From Saudi Bank

Anthony Russo and Joseph Russo photographed at the PMC Studio in Los Angeles for the Variety Playback Podcast.

The Russo brothers, directors of the all-time top grossing film “Avengers: Endgame,” quietly secured a roughly $50 million cash infusion for their production company AGBO from Saudi Arabia earlier this year, multiple sources tell Variety.

In a deal brokered and closed at the beginning of the pandemic, the Russos received the investment from an undisclosed Saudi bank in exchange for a minority stake in the brothers’ Los Angeles-based shop.

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