Reel FX

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About Reel FX Reel FX develops and produces award-winning animated films, virtual reality experiences, mobile/interactive content, live-venue projects, and commercials. Based out of Dallas, Texas and Santa Monica, California, the company has over 23 years of experience working with studio partners like Fox, Warner Bros., DreamWorks Animation and Universal Studios as well as national advertising agencies and global brands. In 2010, Reel FX announced the launch of its feature film banner, Reel FX Animation Studios. Its slate includes the Golden Globe-nominated The Book of Life with 20th Century Fox and Free Birds with Relativity Media. The two films have grossed a combined $210 million worldwide. Multiple feature-length animated projects are currently in development. Reel FX Commercial, the studio’s turn-key short-form division, crafts a variety of broadcast and digital content, music videos and themed attractions. The studio’s newest division, Reel FX VR, launched in 2014 and has already developed dozens of world-class VR interactive activations and 360º narrative content for innovative brands, such as 20th Century Fox, Acura, American Express, AT&T, Frito-Lay, GE, GMC, Hilton, Legendary Pictures, Lionsgate, Porsche, Samsung, and the U.S. Air Force, and for all leading VR headset platforms including Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Samsung Gear VR and Cardboard.

Animation / Production

Reel FX Creates ‘The Monkey King’, a New Animated Comedy for Netflix | Summer 2023

Reel FX Posted On May 2, 2023

SNEAK PEEK: Netflix just dropped a still from our next film, The Monkey King!

Meet Lin, voiced by Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, and the one and only Monkey King, voiced by Jimmy O. Yang! And follow their fantastical journey this summer 2023, The Monkey King is an action-packed family comedy that follows a charismatic Monkey and his magical fighting Stick on an epic quest for victory over 100 demons, an eccentric Dragon King, and Monkey’s greatest foe of all — his own ego! Along the way, a young village girl challenges his self-centered attitude and shows him that even the smallest pebble can have a big effect on the world.

Directed by Anthony Stacchi (The Boxtrolls), produced by Peilin Chou, executive produced by Stephen Chow. Starring Jimmy O. Yang, Bowen Yang, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, Jo Koy, Ron Yuan, Hoon Lee, Stephanie Hsu, Andrew Pang, Andrew Kishino, Jodi Long, James Sie and BD Wong

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Animation / Production

‘Super Giant Robot Brothers!’: Watch Exclusive First Look Trailer For Reel FX ‘s Ani Series For Netflix

Reel FX Posted On June 14, 2022

As part of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Reel FX has debuted a first look trailer for their animated series Super Giant Robot Brothers! The 10-episode series will have it’s Netflix debut on August 4, 2022.

Super Giant Robot Brothers! is a 3D animated action-comedy series, directed by Mark Andrews (Brave), following two robot brothers, Shiny and Thunder. They are tasked with fighting off the invading Kaiju, but it would be a lot easier if their sibling rivalry didn’t get in the way. Reel FX developed and produced this Netflix animated series, created by Executive Producers Victor Maldonado and Alfredo Torres. Showrunner Tommy Blacha, Andrews, and Reel FX’s Jared Mass and Steve O’Brien are also executive producers. Producers are Paul Fleschner, Adam Maier, and Emmanuel Laurent.

The animated series is the first of its kind to be completely rendered in a video game engine. Utilizing the Unreal Game Engine, Reel FX combines live-action filming techniques with traditional animation tools to visualize the animation in real-time. Reel FX Animation will be showcasing this process at three events being held this week at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

Today, Unreal Engine is hosting “The Animation Fellowship,” which will demonstrate how their game engine’s real-time technology is changing the animation industry. Reel FX will be taking over the Epic Games booth at Mifa on Wednesday, where they will be hosting live, real-time demonstrations of the virtual production techniques used in Super Giant Robot Brothers! These events culminate in an Annecy panel called “Epic Games Presents: Animating in Unreal,” where panelists Elizabeth Ito (City of Ghosts), Mark Andrews (Super Giant Robot Brothers!), Brad Lewis (How To Train Your Dragon: Hidden World), and Adam Valdez (Prehistoric Planet) will discuss their approach to using Unreal Engine for animation.

original content

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Visual FX

Reel FX Commercial Division & Shilo Team up to Launch Strategic Creative Group ATK PLN

Reel FX Posted On February 13, 2018

L-R: ATK PLN Managing Director David Bates, Executive Creative Director Jose Sebastian Gomez and Executive Producer Jim Riche

The award-winning commercial division of digital studio Reel FX has teamed up with Shilo Founder/Executive Creative Director Jose Sebastian Gomez to launch strategic creative group ATK PLN. Emmy Award winner Gomez will lead the creative vision for the studio, joined by former Digital Domain HOP Jim Riche as Executive Producer, with overall strategy led by David Bates as Managing Director. The trio will draw from their formidable expertise across VFX, design, production, interactive media, branding and marketing to deliver comprehensive creative content solutions for clients, offering in-house services from ideation to final delivery. Weaving together in-house creative disciplines will serve to enhance the studio’s robust framework for content creation, augmenting production and post services with a narrative-driven creative strategy that addresses client’s growing needs in the continually evolving media landscape. The team has already created dynamic work for top clients, including AT&T, Fox Racing and MADD.

ATK PLN will work across design, animation, live action and all combinations of these disciplines to offer clients visual storytelling carefully tailored to their unique business needs. The strategic creative group will work between its new Hollywood studio, Montreal and Dallas locations.

ATK PLN will also partner with sister companies Flight School for their in-depth expertise at the intersection of technology and entertainment and Reel FX Animation to tap its Golden Globe-nominated entertainment talent and experience for a wide range of projects. The studio will embrace a screen agnostic approach and fuse the boutique sensibility of Shilo with the technical expertise, capabilities and infrastructure of a feature entertainment studio like Reel FX Creative Studios.

Bates returned to Reel FX in 2015 after 6 years in a strategic leadership role at Bedrock Manufacturing, working on the launch, relaunch, and management of a diverse range of brands, including Shinola and Filson. He got his start in creative marketing for FOSSIL, spending nearly a decade in multiple roles, developing international brand standards as well as leading the creative vision of the in-store experience for stores worldwide. He left FOSSIL to join Reel FX in 2002, evolving to become Head of Commercial Production, bolstering in-house talent and broadening the scope of branded projects.

“The landscape of the marketing and advertising worlds is changing all around us, and the changes are coming at lightning speed. The modes and methods of communication have changed, and the old ways of working no longer stand,” notes Bates. “New solutions for a new paradigm begin with a complete rethinking of what we’re doing, and not just how we’re doing it.”

Gomez will draw from his background crafting design-driven visuals for brands along with his experience launching a skateboard brand to collaborate with clients, infusing brand essence and strategy into dynamic visually-driven work. “By leveraging Shilo’s design philosophy and creative finesse and Reel FX’s wide scope of technical expertise, we will come together as a powerful content studio,” notes Gomez.

“When I joined David Bates at Reel FX almost two years ago we created a vision to elevate the company to the next level, challenging the status quo of the advertising community to offer a new, unique approach to creative problem solving,” notes Riche. “Bringing on Jose Gomez and his creative vision to our team at ATK PLN is allowing us to turn our ideas into reality. I am excited about how this forward-thinking team will continue to evolve with the changing market.”

Contact:
Jenna Wigman
617-966-0649
190020@email4pr.com

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Production

Reel FX, Creative Team from Moonbot Studios Launch Flight School

Reel FX Posted On April 17, 2017

Reel FX Animation Studios’ VR/AR division and the creative leadership team from Moonbot Studios have taken flight to form a newly minted multi-platform content studio aptly named “Flight School.”

The “Flight School” creative team will be led by Academy Award-winning Chief Creative Officer, Brandon Oldenburg, and Emmy Award-winning Executive Creative Director, Limbert Fabian. The studio will be managed by CEO Kyle Clark, Reel FX’s current co-CEO, and Executive Vice President Lampton Enochs, former CEO of Moonbot. The new entity fuses award-winning creative leadership with world class production and technical expertise developed across a wide spectrum of projects that have garnered a multitude of accolades including Academy, Emmy, Annie, Cannes Lions, and Lumiere awards to name just a few.

With the fundamental mission of telling great stories across emerging tech platforms, Flight School launches in Dallas, Texas with a team of approximately 30, including creative directors, producers, animators, engineers, developers and game designers. “Flight School is a collective of amazing artists and technicians who bring the highest standards to everything we create and reflect our emphasis on innovation, storytelling and design,” explains CCO Brandon Oldenburg.

Reel FX has a 22-year history as a premium digital content creator for major film studios, theme parks, ad agencies, and fortune 500 companies, which Reel FX Head of Strategic Partnerships Chuck Peil said “established the studio as an early innovator and leader in the world of emerging technology. We quietly built one of the world’s largest portfolios of completed VR projects, and now with the addition of the Moonbot creative team we couldn’t be better positioned.” Recent successes include the Lumiere-awarded “Shinola” behind-the-brand film, activation for the Lions Gate film “Power Rangers,” and Verizon’s Super Bowl 51 Virtual Gridiron VR experience.

During their years at Moonbot, members of the Flight School creative team became well known for their highly regarded narrative driven animation and interactive projects including the Chipotle Mexican Grill short film and app, “The Scarecrow,” one of the most highly awarded branded entertainment pieces in history. Oldenburg won an Academy Award for his work on “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” and shares Emmy awards with Executive Creative Director, and co-director Limbert Fabian, on “Silent” and “Scarecrow.”

Flight School represents a unique and dynamic blend of creative and technical expertise. “We’ve combined award-winning storytellers along with our renowned team of VR experts, and are primed to meet the growing demand for compelling VR content” says Clark. While Flight School will operate as a separate entity, it will benefit from Reel FX’s robust infrastructure, as well its teams of entertainment and commercial talent. Executive Vice President Enochs looks forward to continuing the legacy of crafting inventive stories that evoke a sense of wonder. “Our stories speak to audiences of all ages,” he says. “We want to tell stories for the kid in every adult and the adult in every kid. We want to awaken the childlike wonder that still exists in all of us. Innovation is part of our DNA and we are always on the lookout for new and exciting ways to expand the narratives and worlds we create.”

Continuing its groundbreaking work in VR, Flight School will begin launching original content, starting with the release of “Manifest 99” in the summer of 2017. “This project will set the course for the types of stories we love to tell” says Oldenburg, who describes the project as an interactive narrative VR experience that leads the user on a mysterious and emotional journey of discovery and redemption.

About Flight School:

Flight School is a multi-platform content studio, made up of award winning creatives with the fundamental mission of telling great stories across emerging tech platforms.

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Virtual Reality

Reel FX Investing in the Future of VR for Social Good at Sundance 2017

Reel FX Posted On January 25, 2017

While virtual reality continues to strengthen its footing across entertainment, gaming, advertising, journalism, education and numerous other sectors, many skeptics are still asking: how can VR make an enduring impact?

Dallas, TX/Santa Monica, CA-based Reel FX has stepped up with Oculus’ $1 million ‘VR for Good’ initiative, dedicating their internal talent and resources to inspire social change through immersive VR content that promotes empathy. Having crafted and developed award-winning VR projects for the likes of 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, AT&T, Shinola, American Express, Hilton, GMC, Google and Legendary among others, Reel FX jumped at the opportunity to become more involved with Oculus’ exciting new initiative. In addition to their director Elliot Dillman crafting a 360 video for LA-based nonprofit Harmony Project, Reel FX leveraged their robust post-production resources. Reel FX editor Chris Collins cut Dillman’s film “In Harmony” and editor Quan Tran cut the “Notes to My Father” film on child trafficking, directed by Jayisha Patel. With a full studio that has produced Golden Globe-nominated feature animated films to original immersive storytelling, their entertainment and technology chops were essential to elevate the production values on these cause-driven immersive films to create the most vivid experience for viewers.

This is a continuing dedication to cause-driven VR work for Reel FX, having previously teamed up with AT&T’s ‘It Can Wait’ campaign to allow viewers to truly understand the horrific possibilities of distracted driving. The VR experience creates an unprecedented level of immersion to give viewers a 360 degree, lifelike account of what it is really like to text/post/video chat while driving and the potentially deadly consequences of glancing at your phone while driving. You can view a look inside the impactful experience, which was included in a panel discussion at SXSW 2016 and went on a 100-city tour, HERE. Reel FX also created the award-winning #enlistme 360 Skydive for GMC featuring Josh Duhamel taking two wounded veterans on a dive of their life to support injured service members awaiting life-changing smart homes.

Reel FX has been at the forefront of the burgeoning virtual reality industry, launching their dedicated VR/AR/Interactive division in 2014 as the sector was just beginning to gain its footing. Since then, they have continued to innovate by leveraging their superior technical capabilities and award-winning storytelling talent to create immersive stories that engage and reverberate with viewers long after the headset is removed.

The nine rising filmmakers and nonprofits that make up the VR for Good will debut their immersive films at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival from January 23 – 25, with a VIP viewing day on January 22. The Oculus House will run January 20 – 26.

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Virtual Reality

Reel FX and Leo Burnett Team up on VR Live Action for GMC – Smart Homes for Injured Veterans

Reel FX Posted On June 8, 2016

The commercial and VR divisions of Golden Globe-nominated digital studio Reel FX, and its director Elliot Dillman, teamed up with Leo Burnett out of Detroit, for client GMC on a live-action and virtual reality production. In honor of Military Appreciation Month, and as part of the ongoing relationship between veteran support program Building for America’s Bravest, GMC’s #enlistme campaign launched on May 20, 2016. The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness and donations in support of the over 200 injured service members waiting for life-changing smart homes.

Stephen Valyou

The campaign features unique content pieces centered on the moving stories of two severely injured veterans who took an amazing leap in the form of a skydive, and invited viewers to come along for the ride virtually on May 21 through a Facebook 360 video, and other impactful content introduced by actor, Josh Duhamel. He was enlisted by GMC as campaign ambassador, and accompanied veterans SSG Stephen Valyou and Cpl. Todd Love as they prepared to surmount their disabilities and take a monumental jump to support injured service members waiting for life-changing smart homes – their jump represents the independence that these homes can bring to the lives of injured service members.

SSG Stephen Valyou, Cpl. Todd Love and Josh Duhamel

The campaign includes four :30 second teaser videos (“Todd”, “Stephen”, “Prep” and “Anticipation”), a :60 featurette (“The Jump”), plus a :90 virtual reality skydive experience entitled “GMC #enlistme 360 Skydive”. Since launch the video has garnered over 8.3MM views.

Reel FX handled both the traditional live-action and 360° content pieces “soup-to-nuts” including all elements of production and post-production from its Dallas headquarters.

Shot in Perris, California, Reel FX director Elliot Dillman made two jumps prior to the shoot to ensure that the jump day was a success. The team shot the five pieces over four separate jumps, utilizing multiple cameras to capture the footage for both the live action video pieces (Shot on a RED Dragon) and the 360° video shot with custom GoPro rigs. The :90 360° video experience allows viewers to virtually experience the jump alongside the veterans, also taking in immersive views of the moments leading up to the jump and the triumphant landing.

Watch jump below…

https://youtu.be/Vp_3mHNuwi0

Reel FX Credits:

Client – GMC

Agency – Leo Burnett Detroit

Director – Elliot Dillman

Head of Production – Jim Riche

General Manager – Commercial – David Bates

General Manager- VR & Interactive – Steve Nix

Editor (Live-Action pieces) – Greg Sunmark

Editor (360 Content) – Quan Tran

Executive Producer – Live Action – Steve Johnson

Executive Producer – Virtual Reality – Taylor Williams

Senior Producer – Marcie Teague

Production Manager – Rachel Bradley

Director of Photography – Samuel Brownfield

Aerial Director of Photography – Craig O’Brien

VFX Artists – Laychin Lee, Dan Margules

Stitching Supervisor – Lyn Caudle

Lead Stitching Artist – Matt Stocks

Stitching Artists – Shannon Walsh, Kelsey Craig, Doug Hogan, Jessica Hogan

Stitching Technical Directors – Ryan Hartsell, Dylan Rogers

Audio Engineer – Frank Pittenger

Editorial Assistant – Steven Happel

Production Coordinator – Julia Gibson

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