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Julian Levi — VFX Producer, “The Creator”

#467: 2024-03-25
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Over his 30-year career, Julian Levi has produced VFX for Hollywood movies, beginning with Braveheart, moving into O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Day After Tomorrow (with Chris), Speed Racer, X-Men: First Class, Prometheus, and many more. Most recently, he helped director Gareth Edwards bring the world of The Creator to life, earning four VES awards and a VFX Oscar nomination in the process.

Julian talks about how The Creator marks a return to the guerilla-style sci-fi Gareth pioneered with his debut, Monsters, utilizing cheaper cameras and preferring real-world locales over sets. Julian reveals how Gareth’s background as a VFX artist also means that he understands where corners can be cut while delivering awe-inspiring shots, and he shares his thoughts on how the industry is changing. 

Links:

Julian Levi on IMDb >

Julian Levi on LinkedIn >


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0:04:27 Studying film and television

0:09:27 Becoming a runner at R/Greenberg Associates in New York

0:14:41 Digital post and working on "Braveheart"

0:19:30 Becoming a producer to avoid going mad

0:21:43 Joining Digital Domain, meeting Kevin Mack, and working on "Red Corner"

0:27:14 "Supernova," "Day After Tomorrow," "Speed Racer," "The Grinch," and "Stealth"

0:29:22 How "O Brother Where Art Thou" pushed VFX forwards

0:31:40 Moving to MPC for "X-Men: First Class" and "Prometheus"

0:39:09 Joining Paramount Plus

0:40:12 How he became part of the incredible talent behind "The Creator"

0:44:20 What makes "The Creator" different to other VFX movies

0:49:34 Putting together the VFX jigsaw puzzle that was "The Creator"

0:54:32 Gareth's style of filmmaking

0:58:51 How Gareth Edwards always thinks ahead

1:02:15 New filmmakers in Hollywood

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About the author

Christopher Nichols

Chris is a CG industry veteran and Director of Chaos Labs. He can also be heard regularly as the host of the CG Garage podcast which attracts 20,000 weekly listeners. With a background in both VFX and Design, Chris has worked for Gensler, Digital Domain, Imageworks and Method Studios. His credits include Maleficent, Oblivion and Tron: Legacy.

Originally published: March 25, 2024.
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