Stephen Elson(I)
- Visual Effects
Elson's career in VFX started over 30 years ago in the early days of The Computer Film Company in Soho, London. CFC was the first (technical Academy Award) to marry the new digital computer technology with the old analogue optical, chemical, electrical world of film.
He just happened to be in the right place at the right time: the birthplace of Visual Effects.
As a career sculptor, working at CFC was the best part time job an aspiring artist could ever wish for. And after 8+ uncredited years in the back room on 80+ films from Memphis Belle to Eyes Wide Shut, and countless commercials, he went full time at the brand new Millfilm as studio manager on Tony Scott's Enemy of the State and Ridley Scott's VFX Academy Award and VFX BAFTA winner, Gladiator.
Heading to Germany, he cut his teeth as a VFX Producer on Jean-Jacques Annaud's Enemy at the Gates for Das Werk. Here he led a pop-up facility, hiring what were, at the time some of the first freelance VFX artists in Europe.
Back in Soho after three years as a production VFX Producer in Canada, France and England, Elson founded Baseblack (born out of his in-house VFX department on Olivier Dahan's Rivières Pourpres II) thanks to a late award on Alfonso Cuarón's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (CG crows around the Executioner) and his own credit card. Baseblack as a start-up was one of the first independent film VFX facilities in London. From just 3 artists it maxed out at around 50.
13+ years and 36 movies later, the cost of entry went down, the competition caught up and then overtook. After a sabbatical and one hell of a blast as VFX Producer on Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman: The Secret Service, Elson shuttered the outfit and crossed the food chain once again as an Independent VFX Producer and occasional VFX Supervisor.
As VFX HOD, he combines a deep knowledge of the business with his wealth of experience in the art and crafts of cinema and long-form television, pursuing his interest in cutting edge VFX whenever possible. He has built a network of long standing relationships spanning Studios, Producers, Show-runners, Directors, Vendors and his peers.
Stephen Elson is always engaged in visualization and the creative process, whether in the art of VFX or in the art of his own making.
As a career sculptor, working at CFC was the best part time job an aspiring artist could ever wish for. And after 8+ uncredited years in the back room on 80+ films from Memphis Belle to Eyes Wide Shut, and countless commercials, he went full time at the brand new Millfilm as studio manager on Tony Scott's Enemy of the State and Ridley Scott's VFX Academy Award and VFX BAFTA winner, Gladiator.
Heading to Germany, he cut his teeth as a VFX Producer on Jean-Jacques Annaud's Enemy at the Gates for Das Werk. Here he led a pop-up facility, hiring what were, at the time some of the first freelance VFX artists in Europe.
Back in Soho after three years as a production VFX Producer in Canada, France and England, Elson founded Baseblack (born out of his in-house VFX department on Olivier Dahan's Rivières Pourpres II) thanks to a late award on Alfonso Cuarón's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (CG crows around the Executioner) and his own credit card. Baseblack as a start-up was one of the first independent film VFX facilities in London. From just 3 artists it maxed out at around 50.
13+ years and 36 movies later, the cost of entry went down, the competition caught up and then overtook. After a sabbatical and one hell of a blast as VFX Producer on Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman: The Secret Service, Elson shuttered the outfit and crossed the food chain once again as an Independent VFX Producer and occasional VFX Supervisor.
As VFX HOD, he combines a deep knowledge of the business with his wealth of experience in the art and crafts of cinema and long-form television, pursuing his interest in cutting edge VFX whenever possible. He has built a network of long standing relationships spanning Studios, Producers, Show-runners, Directors, Vendors and his peers.
Stephen Elson is always engaged in visualization and the creative process, whether in the art of VFX or in the art of his own making.
