Efraim "Effi" Wizen (born October 29, 1956, in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

) is an Israeli computer animator and

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

specialist.

Biography

Wizen graduated from

ORT Israel ORT Israel ( he, אורט ישראל) is a non-government organization devoted to education in Israel. "ORT Israel" (ORT is an acronym of the russian: Общество Ремесленного Труда, Óbchestvo Reméslenava Trudá – "Ass ...

, having studied

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

. He also earned a

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in architecture and

city planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

from the

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology ( he, הטכניון – מכון טכנולוגי לישראל) is a public research university located in Haifa, Israel. Established in 1912 under the dominion of the Ottoman Empire, the Technion ...

. He is one of the first specialists in

computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

and

, founding the first

3D animation Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...

company in Israel, “Dad_Pro”, in 1984. In 1987, Wizen created one of the first film

digital compositing Digital compositing is the process of digitally assembling multiple images to make a final image, typically for print, motion pictures or screen display. It is the digital analogue of optical film compositing. Mathematics The basic operation use ...

systems, called Toccata. Wizen used the system in one of the first digitally composed movie '' Taxandria'' in 1989 and ''

Neverending Story III ''The NeverEnding Story III: Escape from Fantasia'' (also known as: ''The NeverEnding Story III: Return to Fantasia'') is a 1994 Fantasy film, fantasy-adventure film. It is the third and final film in the franchise. It stars Jason James Richter as ...

'' in 1994. He worked on both films as

Digital Effects Digital Effects Inc. was an early and innovative computer animation studio at 321 West 44th street in New York City. It was the first computer graphics house in New York City when it opened in 1978, and operated until 1986. It was founded by Ju ...

Supervisor. Also in 1994 he founded the post production house "Gravity VFX and Design", serving six years as the co-

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

.Gravity VFX
/ref> He then opened Gravity VFX in Canada, aligning with "RhinoFX", and now known as "Gravity". In 1998, Wizen created the consortium"Digital Domain Inc. Joins a New Consortium in Acquiring Premier Visual Effects Studio in Germany"
December 17, 1998 that was composed of

Digital Domain Digital Domain is an American visual effects and digital production company based in Playa Vista, Los Angeles, California. The company is known for creating digital imagery for feature films, advertising and games from its locations in Californ ...

, Kushner-Locke Company,

Capitol Films Capitol Films was a British film production and distribution company (number 02392790), incorporated on 6 June 1989 and dissolved on 7 May 2013. In January 2006 it was sold to American Mobius Pictures, owned by entrepreneur and film producer Dav ...

of the United Kingdom, Israeli Financial Banking firm DLIN Ltd., and Israeli

post-production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. The ...

facility Gravity VFX and Design (a VFX boutique with offices in Canada and Israel, of which he is CEO and creative director). In 1997, he handled digital effects for ''The Dybbuk of the Holy Apple Field''. In 2000/2001, he shared the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

Craft and Design Award for Visual Effects – Digital nomination for ''Planet Storm''. In 2010, he was the head of visual effects for

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

-based Estudios Quanta, a major regional film industry company. In 2011, he combined with Brazilian producer Roberto d’Avilla and entrepreneur Perival Palesela to acquire Imarion, a Toronto visual effects and animation post-production company.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wizen, Effi 1956 births Computer animation people Special effects people Visual effects supervisors Living people Israeli animators Technion – Israel Institute of Technology alumni