About

I am CEO of production company Uncharted Territory Inc., founded in 1999 with my friend and business partner Volker Engel (Volker won the Academy Award (Oscar) for visual effects on “Independence Day”).

I’m currently working on Disney’s “The Nutcracker and The Four Realms” as co-producer and VFX producer. This project came right at the heels of “Independence Day: Resurgence”, on which I served as VFX producer. I started directly after a one-year stint as President of Method Studios, a subsidiary of Deluxe Entertainment, with 9 international locations and 650+ employees. Before that, I worked on Sony Pictures’ Roland Emmerich-directed “White House Down” as 2nd Unit Director, Visual Effects Supervisor and Co-Producer in 2012/2013. As 2nd Unit Director with a 70-people strong team, I completed a massive car chase sequence shot in Montreal and aerial and ground photography in Washington, D.C. and Montreal, as well as several studio-based narrative scenes.

Before that, I worked on Emmerich’s “Anonymous” as Executive Producer and Visual Effects Supervisor, released in early November 2011 by Sony Pictures. Prior to that, I was Co-Producer and Visual Effects Supervisor on Emmerich’s “2012” for Sony Pictures. On both “Anonymous” and “2012”, I directed Splinter Unit shoots.

I also served as VFX Supervisor (for Uncharted Territory) for the Academy Award Winning “Hugo”, as Producer and VFX Supervisor for the 3-part TV mini-series “The Triangle” for NBC Universal (also directing Splinter Unit and Miniature Unit shoots), as Co-Producer and VFX Director for the 2-part TV mini-series “Dark Kingdom” for the Sci-Fi channel (now SyFy), and as Producer-Writer for the independent feature film “Coronado” in 2001-2002.

Before heading Uncharted Territory, I was CEO for visual effects company Dreamscape Imagery Inc. Opened in 1995, their credits include “Independence Day”, “Muppets From Space”, “Flubber”, “The Drew Carey Show” and many European movies and series.

As the VFX Project Manager for “Independence Day”, I created “Digital Assistant for Visual Effects”, a project management software program, to manage, schedule and track the shooting of thousands of VFX elements. My software was subsequently licensed to several major studios, including 20th Century Fox, the Walt Disney Company and Sony Pictures. It was used on many feature films in the mid- to late-nineties, including “Stuart Little”, “Alien: Resurrection”, “Flubber”, “Volcano”, “Godzilla”, “Wing Commander”, “Monkeybone”, “Bless the Child”, and “X-Men”, as well as on TV movies and series. The source code has since been purchased by Creative Planet, owners of the “Movie Magic” scheduling and budgeting software. I also developed a VFX scheduling board system in association with the company Hollywood Production Boards.

I majored in film directing and producing at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Germany (1991-1994). During that time, I produced various award-winning commercials and films in Germany in the early nineties and served as Visual Effects Producer for “The Last Kosmonaut”, winner of the “Prix Futura”.

In addition to winning the Emmy Award for outstanding visual effects on the mini-series “The Triangle”, I have also received a Satellite Award, five VES Award nominations, a Critics Choice Award nomination and a Saturn Award nomination. I am a member of the Directors Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and the Visual Effects Society.

I was a speaker at the first (2009) “Produced By” conference of the Producers Guild of America, at events of the Directors Guild of America, the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE), SIGGRAPH Los Angeles and Vancouver, the Visual Effects Society, FMX, and was part of the subcommittee on previsualization of the Art Directors Guild (et al), and the subcommittee on virtual production.

I have lectured at seminars sponsored by European Digital Arts Media at the High Tech Center Babelsberg, and conducted the Visual Effects Master Class “Action with Effects” for Directors for the European Film Academy. I have also taught visual effects classes at the University of Applied Sciences in Salzburg, Austria, the HPI school of Design Thinking, Berlin, Germany and The Art Institute of Los Angeles. In  June 2014, I will do another Masterclass for the European Film Academy, about Virtual Production. This one will be held at the historic Studio Babelsberg near Berlin.

My written publications include articles for the British “High Definition Magazine” and an ongoing blog for Los Angeles-based Animation World Network (AWN).

I am a member of the Directors Guild of America (DGA), Producers Guild of America (PGA), Visual Effects Society (VES), Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) and an Associate member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).