Zeroing in on The pursuit of happiness
Does Zero VFX have the most contented workforce in the CG world? Tom May feels more relaxed already…
studio statistics
Over two decades working in animation and VFX, you’d think creative director Sean Devereaux would have seen it all. But working at Zero VFX, the company he co-founded in 2010, never gets boring and continues to make him smile. “Honestly, today is the high point, but tomorrow will be as well,” he says. “We’ve grown and evolved so much in six years that every day brings a high point. Even the hard days bring a knowledge that allows us to continue to grow and build a place where we can create great work and have fun while we do it.”
At the moment he’s working on MGM’S remake of The Magnificent Seven. “It’s my first Western and I can’t wait for the world to see it,” he enthuses. “The cast is amazing and this is the most epic film I have ever worked on.” But whatever the project, he clearly loves his work at the Boston-based company, which opened a second studio in Venice Beach, California, last November.
“I’m surprised at least once a day by an image that moves me more than I expected it to,” he enthuses. “Or the look of pride on the face of an artist who Don is a CGI veteran
with more than a decade’s experience in the entertainment and automotive industries. He joined the team in early 2014 as CG supervisor and creative
lead on projects. www.zerovfx.com solves a challenging shot and knows it’s better because they touched it.” His colleagues tell a similar story: it seems Zero VFX is one happy place. “The work environment is a big reason I came to Zero,” says VFX supervisor Don Libby. “The company makes a huge effort to ensure a good work/life balance for the staff, a lot of whom have been here since the beginning. Everyone here is personally invested in the success of the company.”
Lately the CG veteran has been working on Magnificent Seven, and before that, finalised work on this month’s first-person spectacular, Hardcore Henry. It’s dubbed the world’s first action film to be shot entirely from the hero’s perspective. And Zero’s sequence, a wild highway chase, was one of the most challenging shots Don’s worked on to date.
“It was designed to play as one long two-minute shot, but it was actually dozens of shots seamlessly stitched together,” he explains. “It’s a crazy frenetic shot where a cyborg takes down a convoy of armoured vehicles using a variety of weapons. He starts at the back