In a major addition to their core business, NY-based VFX and color grading studio Nice Shoes will add a high-end design division by merging with sister design and animation company Freestyle Collective (FSC). The move greatly enhances Nice Shoes' existing offerings, which include high-end visual effects, 2D and 3D animation, and world-class color grading. The FSC brand name will cease to exist even as the studio continues to operate under the Nice Shoes brand. This move, which completes a 12-month integration cycle, follows Nice Shoes' calculated consolidation of sister VFX company Guava.
Nice Shoes will gain an exceptional creative boost in the merger, with Creative Director Victor Newman and Executive Producer Maribeth Phillips joining the team. To accommodate this new talent, Nice Shoes is reorganizing accordingly. The creative department will be organized into separate design and VFX departments. FSC founder and CD Newman, who has built a reputation in the design community for great storytelling over the course of his 20-year career, will creative direct design projects, while current Nice Shoes CD Aron Baxter will continue to oversee VFX.
Phillips will take over as EP of the Design & VFX departments, freeing Pat Portela to focus her efforts as EP for color grading (she currently acts as EP for both VFX and color grading). Phillips has an impressive production history of working from conception to completion in the areas of design and animation, live-action and integrated/interactive production, and VFX, including experience as EP / MD at Imaginary Forces, Spontaneous, Razorfish NY, and Lee Hunt Associates.
Newman and Phillips bring FSC's outstanding reputation in the design world and their impressive collection of design awards. FSC's recent work includes design solutions for American Express, Starbucks, JetBlue, Samsung, Hallmark, Avon, Crest, and Dirt Devil, as well as for networks Cartoon Network, VH1, BET, MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon.
Due to the intertwined history of the two shops and the volume of previous collaborations, the transition will be seamless. "Both companies have such a strong history together and mutual respect built on collaboration it just seems like a natural progression for both brands," noted Phillips. "We can now collaborate more closely than ever, creating a transparency between design and VFX that results in a more powerful creative solution for our clients."
The reorganization of the two studios mirrors a larger industry trend, in which all-inclusive creative shops have become the baseline for attracting key talent and marquee clients. "Clients are increasingly demanding work that is multidisciplinary, and that calls for a wider array of capabilities to provide the optimal creative solution," noted Nice Shoes Managing Director Mike Donovan. "With FSC's expert design team now under the same roof as Nice Shoes' outstanding VFX squad, we are in a position to handle the creative demands of any client."