Encore Hollywood has brought on visual effects artist John Roden as 2D Supervisor. Roden, who has broad experience as a compositor, matte painter and graphics designer for film, television and advertising, will seek to build and lead a team of artists engaged in those disciplines as part of a larger effort by Encore to grow its visual effects capabilities.

Roden is currently involved in creating visual effects for two projects, the television series House for FOX and Black Water Transit, a feature directed by Tony Kaye for Capitol Films.

Roden has been working as a freelancer for the past several years and brings an unusually broad mix of skills to Encore. He is experienced in Autodesk platforms, including Inferno and Flame, as well as a variety of desktop visual effects systems. He also has experience as an on-set visual effects supervisor and effects designer.

“John has a very impressive background and has shown a lot of imagination and resourcefulness throughout his career,” said Encore Director Of Visual Effects, Tim Jacobsen. “Most importantly, he brings a lot of passion and energy to his work, and shows strong leadership skills. His experience will be put to good use in helping to build and shape our visual effects team.”

Over the past few years, Roden has freelanced through such visual effects houses as Method Studios, Zoic Studios and Ring of Fire. His credits over that period includes a promotional campaign for Discovery, the film The Bucket List and commercials for such brands as Acura, Microsoft, Sea World and Volkswagen.

In discussing his move to Encore, Roden said that a staff position will give him more opportunities to work with other artists in a supervisory role and to play a greater part in the process of designing effects. “I want to do the best work that I can and help to enhance Encore’s position as a leader in visual effects,” Roden said. “We are looking to build our team with people who are eager and excited about the work and have a strong commitment to the process.”

Roden is a native of Baltimore and a graduate of the University of Maryland. He began his career as an editor with Bikini Editorial in Manhattan. He later shifted his focus to compositing and visual effects production, and developed an impressive list of commercial clients. He relocated to Hollywood in 2005 and entered the freelance market.

Roden prides himself on having mastered a variety of visual effects systems and on his problem solving skills. “The tools for creating great visual effects are constantly changing, and as new tools appear they create opportunities to do new things,” he said. “Technology is constantly making the process faster and more efficient and providing artists with more creative options.”

/www.encorehollywood.com/