Visual Effects Executive Rides Into Consulting World

An avid cyclist, Jeff Ross can ride between 80 miles to 120 miles a week. The long-time entertainment industry executive also finds in cycling a metaphor for business: that one needs to keep up the momentum and always move forward. In his own career Ross recently moved forward by leaving a vice president position with a visual effects house to start his own consulting company. For his new venture Ross turned to a favorite outdoor activity for the name – Pedal Faster. Ross will provide his services to mainly medium and small visual effects and post-production companies. He has two clients lined up so far and is getting the Pedal Faster name out through brochures and e-mails. Having held many senior level positions Ross can go into a company that may be struggling with clarity and experience and see what needs to be changed and how to change it. “As a consultant I can do that effectively by not being a part of the company,” Ross said. Pedal Faster will offer marketing and public relations expertise, operational evaluation, and how to break into new markets. One area that Ross can be of assistance is in showing the right way for effects and post-production houses to grow. These companies are started by creative people with limited business experience and as their companies grow the find less and less time to be creative. That’s where Ross can come in. “I can help them with infrastructure and help with that growth,” Ross said. Late Night Venues One late night host, two late night sets. So just where is Jay Leno going to do his show from when he returns to the 11:35 p.m. slot on March 1? There are the options of staying in Burbank, where he did “The Tonight Show” and then the disastrous prime time variety show or going to the new set in Universal City, the one built for when Conan O’Brien took over hosting duties. And if Leno does go to the Universal what does that mean for the Burbank studio space? I tried to find that out but met with silence from the NBC Universal corporate non-communication department as spokesman Nate Curtman refused to return phone calls. Is there little wonder why the network is the laughingstock of the television industry? Visual Boss Jeffrey Okun was re-elected to a second term as chairman of the board of the Visual Effects Society. Okun is a veteran effects supervisor whose credits include “Blood Diamond” and “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and creating visual effects techniques dubbed the “PeriWinkle Effect” & the “Pencil Effect.” “This is a pivotal year for the VES and I am pleased to lead our community of artists as their talents and influence are recognized within our industry across the board – in film, broadcast, special venue, commercials, games and animation,” Okun said. Serving with Okun on the VES board are: First Vice Chair Carl Rosendahl, a private consultant and faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University. He founded Pacific Data Images where he received multiple Emmy Awards and was recognized with a Technical Achievement Academy Award in 1998. Second Vice Chair Richard Winn Taylor II, creative director, yU+Co Inc. He is a member of the DGA and has directed live action commercials and special effects for over thirty years. Treasurer Bob Coleman, president, Digital Artists Agency, which represents artists for work in feature, commercial and related fields. Secretary Pam Hogarth, director of industry relations at Gnomon School of Visual Effects, a school specializing in training for careers in high-end computer graphics for the entertainment industries. Piracy Discussion Representatives of the major Hollywood studios and the Motion Picture Association of America joined federal law enforcement officials on Jan. 26 in Virginia to discuss international piracy. Movie piracy costs the U.S. economy $20.5 billion in output annually and more than 140,000 jobs across multiple industries, according to a study published by the Institute for Policy Innovation. Illegal copies of feature films are distributed on the Internet and through knock-off DVDs with imitation packaging and product codes. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is targeting online piracy in the same ways it has targeted illegal physical product in the past, said John Morton, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for ICE. “Industry knows where the vulnerabilities are and law enforcement should consult with industry to help identify those who exploit those vulnerabilities for their own gain and subject them to law enforcement investigation and subsequent arrest,” Morton said. Represented at the meeting were The Walt Disney Co., Dreamworks, Twentieth Century Fox, NBC-Universal, Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros. 3ality Digital has joined with BSkyB to launch a 3D television service in the United Kingdom and Ireland. 3ality will provide the camera rigs and image processors to capture much of the programming to be broadcast. BSkyB will broadcast the 3D programming on the communication firm’s existing High Definition infrastructure. “Sky is leading the way in its commitment to offering the next generation of television,” said Steve Schklair, CEO of 3ality Digital Systems, the technology and production arm of 3ality Digital, LLC. “The success of its 3D broadcasting initiative is critical to the industry. We are proud that Sky has selected 3ality Digital as the camera and image processing systems supporting its launch.” 3ality technology has been used to show concerts, sporting events and network television shows in 3D. After appearing on On the Record with Greta Van Susteren in 2005 waiting for me in the office the next morning was a voicemail from Carlos Hernandez Gomez, a friend and journalism colleague back in Chicago. Carlos was no stranger to appearing on television himself as a regular contributor to Chicago Tonight and later at CLTV, the Tribune Co.-owned news channel where he covered politics. His message was a gesture I always appreciated, one of two things I’ll always remember about Carlos. The other is what a sharp dresser he was in a profession not known for its fashion sense. I saw Carlos last July during a visit back home. He was in his natural milieu at the Billy Goat Tavern and still the same Carlos – snappily dressed and working his way around the bar talking to people. So I was shocked when he told me he had been diagnosed with cancer. He seemed optimistic that a procedure he would have in a few months would help. It didn’t. Carlos Hernandez Gomez died from cancer on Jan. 17. He was 36. Staff Reporter Mark Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or by e-mail at [email protected].