Alkemy X promotes Jep Hill to ECD, VFX
Award-winning entertainment company Alkemy X has promoted Jep Hill to Executive Creative Director, VFX after joining the company in 2021 as VFX Creative Director and Head of Imaging.
With over 25 years of visual effects experience, Hill maintains a superior creative and technical skill set gleaned from a career at the forefront of emerging visual effects technologies. Hill’s new role will include holistic creative and logistical oversight of the VFX department, including client relationship management, talent management and development, and quality assurance across all of Alkemy X’s VFX output.
Having worked with some of the industry’s most respected firms, including a recent stint at ILM, Hill combines an unyielding excitement for pushing creative boundaries with a keen eye towards process and pipeline efficiency to craft visual magic that defies limits. Past credits include Armageddon, The Polar Express, The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, Mighty Joe Young, The Giver and Spiderman: Homecoming.
The hire comes on the heels of continual growth for Alkemy X’s visual effects division, with a lineup of new hires and a new office space in the Los Angeles area with a deliberate focus on advanced technology to support the ever-evolving VFX industry space.
"At Alkemy X, consistently maintaining and improving our standard of crafting work with top-notch quality and visual aesthetic is paramount to our mission. Jep is a multidisciplinary VFX powerhouse, and under his leadership, I’m excited for our incredible VFX division to continue to push the envelope of what is possible at the intersection of art and technology and set the bar for excellence in our industry," notes Alkemy X President & CEO Justin Wineburgh.
“I'm excited to collaborate with such an inspired team to expand Alkemy's capabilities across North America and beyond, grow our team of talent, and raise the bar for quality and efficiency,” adds Hill.
Hill built the foundation of his career creating and supervising visual effects for many of the preeminent studios in Los Angeles. Working between both classic studio-style visual effects and leading teams through the entire process of live action and full CG feature films, he worked on a wide array of high-profile projects while consistently improving pipeline efficiencies to optimise and elevate creative output.
In 2007, Hill made the transition to New York City to grow the visual effects division of a post production studio as VFX Supervisor, where he applied his skillset from film visual effects to the interactive realm with a number of pioneering installations, including a “holographic” one, that are still in use today. Harnessing the wealth of knowledge and experience he had amassed across both major studios and boutique shops, he opened his own consulting group in 2010. The group specialised in VFX software integration, custom pipeline implementation, workflow optimisation, and education, working with top clients including Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis. In 2012, he took a role as Head of CG at the New York City office of a global VFX shop where he built the team and facility capabilities that eventually led to the company’s acquisition.
Making his way back West, Hill took a role as Digital Effects Supervisor in Vancouver, Canada before joining ILM to serve as a CG Supervisor and incorporate emerging technologies into their imaging and color workflows.