Feature Film

The Trans List Tonight on HBO

translist

The Trans List is a collection of stories told by 11 transgender women and men in their own words and on their own terms. The film is directed by noted photographer & filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and features an on-camera introduction by producer and prominent author and activist Janet Mock.

It was an honor to be asked by editor Johanna Giebelhaus to contribute visual effects to the film, and collaborate in helping these people bring their stories to the world.

You can read Time Magazine’s conversation with Janet Mock about the film.

These stories are honestly shared and deeply moving. It was impossible not to be affected by these lives as we worked on this film.

You will be too.

The Trans List airs on HBO December 5, will be on HBO NOW and HBO GO for streaming.

The Trans List will be screening at Cinema Village in New York City on December 9-December 15 during its Academy Award Qualification run.

The Congressman Main Title Sequence

We love films, and we love the art of the title, so we jumped at the chance to design and animate the main titles for The Congressman, released in Spring 2016.

The film stars Treat Williams as Maine Congressman Charlie Winship. Fed up with Washington and special interest lobbyists, battered by a media scandal and recovering from divorce, it is only after meeting a group of rugged and self-reliant lobstermen fighting to save their way of life that Charlie reconnects with the idealism that drew him to Congress, while discovering a second chance at personal happiness.

In addition to the main titles, the sequence had to communicate Charlie’s backstory to the audience by incorporating a series of archival photos and clips. Working closely with editor and co-producer Johanna Giebelhaus, our goals were to create a visual sequence recalling classic film titles of the 1960s and 70s with just a hint of a modern feel, and to find an elegant solution within the resources of an independent production.

We’re proud of the final sequence, anchored by a handwritten main title, evocative of both the lawmaker’s signature and the intimacy of the narrative. The tiles reference both the pieces of Charlie’s life, which may be falling apart or coming together, as well as the frame through which the illicit photographer is spying on him. The sequence is rounded out by subtly moving rectangles and credits that frame the historical narrative and set the tone as we move through history to the present day.

We were privileged to be part of this production, with a first-rate performance from Treat Williams, and featuring both gorgeous photography and music by longtime friend Joe Arcidiacono.

The Congressman is now available on Amazon and numerous other streaming services and enjoying theatrical runs throughout the country. You can see the full schedule and list on the film’s website.

Hope and the Political Process

It’s an election year and everyone has an opinion about what’s broken in Washington.

The Congressman stars Treat Williams as a frustrated lawmaker who catches a breath of fresh air during an unexpected retreat to a remote island in his district to deal with a fishing dispute.

The film, written and co-directed by former congressman Robert Mrazek, tells a story which evokes Bill Forsyth’s Local Hero, a personal favorite of Declan’s.

We designed and animated the main titles.

The film anchored closing night of the The 18th Annual Sarasota Film Festival, and hits theaters in New York and Washington on April 29, and independent cinemas across the country in the weeks that follow.

Find the complete schedule on the film’s website.

See The Congressman. And vote.

Our work featured in Touched With Fire opening Friday!

Paul Dalio’s Touched With Fire, which premiered at SXSW last year, opens in theaters this Friday, February 12th. The film has been garnering positive reviews and we can’t wait to catch it!

The Village Voice says “Dalio and his actors stir up what might be the greatest of youthful feelings: that as you get to know someone new, someone whose thinking rhymes with yours, you’re also becoming ever more yourself.” Sounds perfect for Valentine’s Day, huh?

The film stars Katie Holmes, Luke Kirby and Griffin Dunne in a story of two manic depressives who meet in a psychiatric hospital and begin a romance that brings out all of the beauty and horror of their condition. Spike Lee is the Executive Producer.

Our work, which included animated environmental projections based on Van Gogh’s Starry Night, landed Declan Zimmermann a credit as Visual Effect Supervisor on the picture. You can see the projections briefly in the trailer and fully, of course, in the film.

Coming in 2016: Touched With Fire

We were thrilled to be tapped for visual effects for Paul Dalio’s Touched With Fire, which premiered at SXSW this year and will be in theaters on February 12, 2016.

Our work included immersive environmental projections for a key scene and landed Declan Zimmermann a credit as Visual Effect Supervisor on the picture.

Watch the trailer.

We can’t wait to check it out on the big screen.

The Standbys, a NY Times Critics’ Pick – NYC Theatrical Run

The Standbys, a documentary feature from director Stephanie Riggs for which we had the privilege of designing and animating the titles and graphics, opens February 21, 2014 for a New York City Theatrical Run at the Quad Cinema in Greenwich Village.

The Standbys follows a variety of undiscovered performers for several years through their ups and downs, struggles and triumphs, onstage performances and private lives.

The film is a New York Times Critic’s Pick.

You can view a clip of the film’s open, including our main title design, in the portfolio here.

Catch The Standbys in the theater! Get tickets here.