Freefolk Introduction - Area 23 - Syfove 'Slow Yeah'

INTRODUCING FREEFOLK

Established in 2003 and based in London, Freefolk is an independent VFX studio specialising in colour grading, 2D and 3D visual effects, shoot supervision, animation, design, direction and concept.

We are recipients of multiple prestigious awards including an Emmy Award, BAFTA TV Craft nominations, British Arrow Crafts, Midsummers, Kinsale Sharks, LIAA, D&AD Yellow Pencil and Oscar nominated.

Commercials have been our core work for many years, but to complement this and drive the creativity forward we set up our Film & Episodic department in 2016. This has grown year on year and led to us becoming one of the most successful, trusted and creative companies in London. Our clients include Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Paramount, TNT, Universal and Warner TV.

At Freefolk we pride ourselves on our high-level artistry and the personalised, bespoke service we provide to our clients, which has become our hallmark. Our commitment to upholding the independent spirit that has always set us apart and given us the sterling reputation we stand behind today.

Testimonial from Chris Balmond:

"Freefolk once again over-delivered, never letting a challenging schedule affect quality and attention to detail. It’s never easy treading the line between a CGI animal and one with more personality and charm, but Jason, Harin, Laura, Matt and their team navigated it perfectly."

MEET THE TEAM

JASON WATTS - Creative Director

Jason started his career at The Mill becoming one of their key creative employees and winning coveted awards from D&AD and The British Arrows Craft Awards. At The Mill, he gained a wealth of knowledge and worked with directors such as Frank Budgen, Malcolm Venville, Daniel Barber and Ivan Bird on campaigns for BMW, Mercedes, Barnardos, AntiSmoking, Levis, Ford, and the banned BBC “Cliffhanger” ident and George Miller and Michael Cumming on Film and TV Series such as 'Babe' and Brass Eye.

In 2004 Jason opened his own VFX studio called Finish (now known as Freefolk), with the vision to create a smaller creative company that could maintain a presence in a project from start to finish. Within two years of opening the studio was voted Top Ten Post Houses (Campaign, 2005) and has been voted in the Top 10 UK Facilities for the last 20 years (Televisual).

Jason has also supervised a number of Longform projects for the studio and worked on shows including the BAFTA nominated 'Emerald City', Daniel Barber's 'The Keeping Room', Neil Marshall's Doomsday and the 2018 Netflix Series ' The Alienist' winning an Emmy for Best Visual Effects. More recently Freefolk have worked on Napoleon, Fast & Furious 10 and lead vender on WINX.

HARIN HIRANI - Head of 3D

Harin Hirani is Freefolk’s award-winning Head of 3D and led the CG team for TNT/Paramount’s ‘The Alienist’, which won an Emmy for Outstanding Visual Effects (2018).

Recently he has delivered over 400 Shots for Netflix’s upcoming release ‘Fate: The Winx Saga’, 200 shots on Netflix’s Bafta-Nominated ‘Cursed’, and hero environments and FX shots for the critically acclaimed HBO series ‘The Third Day’ starring Jude Law.

He has also overseen major advertising campaigns for Freefolk, working with a handpicked team of CG artists to build a strong department that offers a deep understanding across a broad skillset of key 3D and FX disciplines including Houdini, animation and creature work.

Harin has a keen eye for photography, an interest that supports his look development and lighting work. He has a flair for lighting and taking textures to an extremely high finish, to create seamless realism.

As a Supervisor, he possesses the rare ability always to identify and offer up the final flourish required to make a shot exceptional when signing off his team's work.

Studied at the University of West London (2004) & Escape Studios (2008) and joined Freefolk in 2008 as a junior 3D artist.