When I arrived in Vancouver my APOC recommended that I meet with John as she had worked with him and thought he had done an excellent job as an independent in-house VFX Supervisor. I was looking for three things.  1.) a better approval and input process to get the best work possible; 2.) to reduce cost so that I could put more money into the physical production of an action show and 3.) someone that I could turn to at any time during prep, production or post and talk about what was needed and what could be accomplished.  In hiring John all three wishes came true.  My VFX budget was reduced by about 40%, the work was extraordinary and John was ever-present.  

 

I believe in retrospect that hiring John and letting him pull together an in-house team was quite possibly the best decision I made in Season 2.  He's incredibly knowledgeable and willing to take risks and always ready to make something possible.  He worked well with the directors and DPs to solve problems and was by their side whenever needed.  He’s a perfectionist so his team was driven to do the best work possible.  He listened to our concerns and taught us all what could be accomplished and what was outside of our capability - which by the way was almost nothing.  His team had enthusiasm and truly cared. 

 

And on another note - I love his quirky sense of humor and every producer on the show enjoyed his friendship.