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BIO
Work History
I arrived in London in 2001, spending 5 years moving through the ranks from runner to Flame op, enjoying night shifts & night outs at Clear. I went full time at Condor, then freelance at Rushes & MPC, before emerging with my own mini Flame department at Sapient Publicis. Working mainly on the Sky account, it was stable, the perfect backdrop to put down roots, buy a house & start a family. Nearly 10 years later, I was one of the first Flame Artists to set up shop on their own. GVFX, now in its 9th year, I have been fully remote since long before Covid, and my studio is fully fledged, tuned up & bedded in. After 2 successful years as partner at Ark Studios, where GVFX operated within the group, I chose to return to total autonomy, and this website marks the relaunch.
My Background
I grew up & was privately educated in Glasgow, a complex & sometimes contradictory background. After uni I was entirely preoccupied with writing music for several years. At the height of Britpop, we signed with Alan McGee at Creation Records, the home of Oasis. After several riotous years on the scene things cooled & when Creation sold to Sony, I had set my heart on becoming a Flame Op in London.
I'm qualified to masters degree [BSc Hons Architecture, MSc Electronic Imaging] but favour practical application. I like that the TV industry, more by necessity than design, will ask 'Can you do it?' without the need for a qualification. This trend, now prevalent in the modern workplace, aligns with my values for getting things done. Conversely, my default setting, in downtime, is to go slow, take everything apart & figure how it works.
TERMS
OF BUSINESS
My Working Protocol
After years in high-pressure environments, I've learned that best VFX work happens when there's space to think. Do mode is fast. [ConfigureSteps>Execute], but that only works when things are relatively straight forward. Deliberation mode, on the other hand, can give the appearance of going nowhere, [[Hypothesis>Outcome]*Repeat], whilst actually raising the bar for the entire project. Both have their place, but they’re not so good if you mix. Often the best clients understand this.
I'm ADHD [Everything Now] & ASD [Every Single Detail]. It’s a brilliant combo when aligned, but it can tip into overload. I work best with clear briefs, realistic timelines & room for manoeuvre.
Complex technical challenges require uninterrupted focus. I'll flag 'deep work' periods and provide updates at natural breakpoints, but since I tend to continue in ‘solve’ mode ad infinitum, your bigger picture input, such as ‘forget that, fix this’, will be invaluable.
If you need someone who thrives on impossible deadlines & last minute all-nighters, that’s not me, but I’ll do my best to recommend someone.
There are no hard & fast rules. What we can say upfront will be of enormous benefit later.
Day rate: £700 + VAT
Minimum booking is one day per job, thereafter bookable by the hour @ £70 per hour + VAT
Pencils may be cancelled by either side without notice or cancellation fees. Regular communication is key.
Payment: 30 days
Your project will be unavailable after sign off due to the re-allocation of disk space. If you would like the project to be archived, so that you can make changes at a later date, a separate quote will be provided.
Hours: 9am-6pm. Overtime during the week is 2x. Weekend work is 1.5x with notice, or 2x without notice, if available.
Outside of normal working hours all notifications will be off. Any messages received during this time will not be viewed until the next morning, when they will be actioned first thing.
I will be generally responsive at all times during work hours. In exceptional circumstances, there may be unplanned out of office hours, for which the time will typically be made up, or removed from your bill.
This is not a fault free service. There will always be a small risk of non delivery; disks can fail, files can corrupt and new workflows require verification. Every effort will be made. However, if your project carries a significant risk there should be a buffer in your schedule, otherwise, please consider paying full facility rates, where the service is geared for greater contingency.
Anti-disclaimer. There have been no significant mishaps in the 240 jobs delivered in the 9 year history of GVFX.