Company Information

Alex McDowell's career as a production designer spans two-plus decades of award-winning music videos, television commercials, and animation and feature films. Notable amongst his body of work are "The Terminal," the largest architectural set ever built for film, and the "Head on the Door," a music video for The Cure featuring the band inside a wardrobe, the smallest set ever built. He has designed for Steven Spielberg ("Minority Report" and "The Terminal"), Tim Burton ("Corpse Bride'" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"), David Fincher ("Fight Club"), and Terry Gilliam ("Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"). He has recently completed design of "Watchmen" for director Zack Snyder (300), and his first fully animated feature "Bee Movie."

He is currently in alliance with DreamWorks Animation again as production designer for a new long term digital stereo animation project, and he continues to work on the next generation of immersive design projects - whether film, animation interactive, or live. He is also involved in projects under the auspices of Matter Art & Science, a networked group of artists, designers, scientists and engineers he founded in 2000. In 2006 he was designated a Royal Designer for Industry by the Royal Society for the Arts. He is chair of the ADG Technology Committee and is co-founder of the 5D Conference, the first international forum for designers and creators across all narrative media.

Ron Frankel is President and Founder of Proof, Inc., the market-leading previsualization company based in Los Angeles, CA. Ron began working in previsualization more than a decade ago, as Creative Director at Pixel Liberation Front. There he introduced such directors as David Fincher, Steven Spielberg and Darren Aronofsky to the use of previsualization.

Since founding Proof in 2003, he has been a driving force behind the development of previs beyond its roots in technical planning for visual effects, to serve directors, DPs, production designers and art directors as well. Ron is currently Co-Chair of the Previs Committee, a cross disciplinary panel composed of members of the The American Society of Cinematographers, The Art Directors Guild and the Visual Effects Society. The goal of the committee is to document best-practices for previsualization and to chart the future of visualization techniques employed in the film production process.

Peter Frankfurt serves as Creative Director and Managing Partner of Imaginary Forces, the multidisciplinary communications, entertainment, and design firm he co-founded in 1996. Most recently, Frankfurt was the Creative Director on the "Mad Men" main titles, the Spike TV and Lifetime network branding projects, the film titles for "The Number 23" and "Charlotte's Web," teasers for "Transformers" and "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," and commercial campaigns for Pontiac, Sears, Nokia, and Nike. In the area of experience design, Frankfurt has overseen projects ranging from dynamic signage for the Museum of Modern Art in New York City to interactive online communities, including the highly-successful MTV Virtual Laguna Beach. As a filmmaker, Frankfurt has produced several movies, including: "Juice," "Boys," and the Blade trilogy, which are based on the Marvel comic book character.

Frankfurt's work has been honored by numerous organizations including: The British Design and Art Directors Club, The New York Art Directors Club, The Clios, The Association of Graphic Artists, and The Association of Independent Commercial Producers. His work is included in the permanent collection the NY MoMA.

Ric Neil is a visionary veteran of the gaming industry and currently head of production at D2C Games, a casual games startup. Ric founded D2C Games with long-time colleague Scott Orr, the original designer of the all-time best-selling Madden game franchise, and listed as a "gamemaking god" by Wired magazine in 2001.

Prior to D2C Games, Mr. Neil worked at AMD in their console gaming division where he managed the technical relationships with the game development studios. Previously, he was with Microsoft, where he led the creative effort behind NFL Fever for Microsoft Game Studios. In addition, he managed the technical relationship between game publishing leader, Electronic Arts, and the Xbox division. Prior to Microsoft, Ric led the Madden and James Bond franchise production teams at Electronic Arts for over a decade.

Jason Bloom is an award winning director of motion pictures and television whose credits include the feature films Bio Dome, Overnight Delivery, and Dead Simple. He recently filmed multiple episodes of the critically acclaimed television show Veronica Mars for the CW.

Sean Naughton is a creative consultant who connects the world of Hollywood visual effects with the technology of next-generation gaming systems. Sean brings rich knowledge of the feature film and television industry, and has previously worked with many accomplished directors, including David Fincher, Wim Wender, and Peter Greenway. In 2003, he joined Microsoft Games Studio as cinematics director, and has previously consulted for Activision on its True Crime Franchise.