The amazing Technicolor talents of director Andy Hall

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By virtue of their attendance at the recent 2009 Newport Beach Film Festival, tens of thousands of Southern Californians - including industry professionals and film fans alike - had numerous opportunities to witness the amazing talents of director Andy Hall first-hand. Since 2005, Andy has been with LA-based VFX boutique a52 (www.a52.com), filling roles on high-profile projects as director, 3D supervisor and/or VFX supervisor, and collaborating with many top industry talents - including a52's own VFX supervisor Patrick Murphy - on a growing list of amazing projects. For the 2009 Newport Beach Film Festival, Andy worked through full-service design company Elastic (www.elastic.tv), and in tandem with advertising agency RPA creatives Scott McDonald, David Smith and Gary Paticoff, to craft the festival's official :30 opening, which introduced all fare screened at the 8-day event. In the words of RPA's Scott McDonald, "Andy Hall is a mix of pure enthusiasm and sheer talent. Our client understood and supported what we were trying to do and believed in the artistry of the project. Elastic, Andy and a52 contributed such a sharp point of view - the very first ingredient was world class - we just kept throwing gasoline on that fire. I got to see this piece play on the biggest movie screen this side of the Mississippi and, let me tell you, it dropped some jaws."

It's my pleasure to present this project for your viewing enjoyment here. You can also read a detailed "behind the scenes" Q&A; with Andy on this project on Boards Magazine's Behind the Scenes blog.


Andy began his career at London's The Motion Picture Company, earning the title of senior animator and working on numerous TV commercials and features including "The English Patient," "Tomorrow Never Dies," "Richard III" and "The Miracle Maker." He then spent six years as animation supervisor for Digital Domain, where his feature film credits included "Peter Pan," "The Time Machine," "How The Grinch Stole Christmas," "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" and "Lake Placid" - as well as a long list of prestigious commercials and network on-air IDs. Throughout 2004 and the early part of 2005, Andy served as VFX/animation supervisor at CreoCollective, handling VFX supervision on many projects - and also serving as animation supervisor on high-profile jobs, including David Cornell's 2004 HD Sony Dreams project. At CreoCollective, he also directed a VFX-intensive cancer research spot for Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Andy was brought into the a52 family during the tenure of Mark Tobin, who served as the company's executive producer from 2004 to 2007. At the time, Mark said, "Clients that come to a52 will always work with an extraordinary team, and Andy's unique combination of talents makes him a great addition. In the past, the role of VFX supervisor has typically been in the 2D realm, but as CG becomes increasingly important, it's wonderful to have a world-class animator who also has the skills and talents to contribute effectively on-set to supervise visual effects."

Hope you enjoy this latest example of Andy's impressive talents at work. With this visual feast and quick history to guide our collective expectations, it seems pretty clear that his best is yet to come. The fully computer-animated opening was designed by Hall to look and feel like one of the epic stop-motion masterpieces of Terry Gilliam or Tim Burton. The content artfully presents a take-off of the strangely similar aesthetic of studio titles - like Hollywood with a dramatic twist - that welcomes viewers to Newport Beach and their 10th annual celebration of film with wit and charm.