Martin Scorsese’s 3D epic adventure, Hugo, won critical acclaim and five Academy Awards®, including a Best Visual Effects statue for Pixomondo’s Ben Grossmann. To bring Hugo to life, primary visual effects provider Pixomondo had ten of its facilities across Germany, the US, Canada, China and the UK contributing to the more than 800 stereo 3D VFX shots in the film. The company’s global pipeline enabled artists to work on the film 24/7, which was instrumental in delivering the flexibility and creativity Scorsese demanded, while still keeping the film on time and budget. Coupled with Pixomondo’s standardized workflow, the company could address change requests quickly and efficiently. Grossmann might provide VFX direction from Los Angeles, handing off creation of CG elements to Shanghai, Matchmoves to Beijing to pass along to the VFX team in the UK for compositing, and have it back for review and approval in Los Angeles by the next morning. In this presentation, Grossmann will discuss the production process behind Hugo and how this method is becoming the new model of international visual effects. In addition to addressing the technical workflow, Grossmann will touch on the benefits and challenges that arise when working with facilities spread across the globe.

Ben Grossmann, Visual Effects Supervisor Pixomondo Los Angeles
Academy Award-winning Visual Effects Supervisor Ben Grossmann joined Pixomondo in July 2010 just as the studio was beginning work on Martin Scorsese’s 3D adventure epic Hugo. As the lead visual effects provider on the film, Pixomondo created just over 800 shots at ten of the company’s eleven global locations, all of which Grossmann supervised. He also was responsible for overseeing several outside visual effects vendors and served as the primary liaison for those vendors with the production. He was honored with an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for his work on the film. His work on Hugo extends his run of multiple project collaborations with legendary film director Martin Scorsese and visual effects supervisor Rob Legato.