Smoke & Mirrors New York proudly welcomes award-winning VFX Supervisor/Senior Flame Artist, Kirk Balden into the fold. Most recently, Kirk was a VFX supervisor/Flame/Smoke artist at LA-based A52 where he worked on notable projects for Microsoft, Nike, Lexus, Jeep and the main title sequence for HBO's Emmy nominated original program, Rome. Prior, Kirk permalanced as a Fire/Inferno artist at Sea Level, Venice working on Superbowl spot Visa Snowball, Gillette, and Toyota to name a few. In Addition, Kirk has held posts at Hydraulx (Santa Monica), Ring of Fire (Hollywood), and Sony Pictures Imageworks (Culver City).

SMNY’s recent hire Executive Producer Celest Gilbert adds, “I’ve been a big fan of Kirk’s since we worked together at Sea Level. He’s professional and talented with a great work ethic. I’m looking forward to having him on board with us.”

Kirk Balden first began using Flame for commercial work while at Venice-based King Cut in 1998. Two years later, he spread his wings as a freelance visual effects artist with Imaginary Forces, contributing to film sequences for Minority Report, network redesigns for Comedy Central and Lifetime, film trailers for Harry Potter and Jurassic Park III, architectural installation projects for IBM and Morgan Stanley, and scores of high-profile commercials. On Minority Report, Kirk was part of a three-person effects team that collaborated closely with art director/designers Matt Checkowski and Kurt Mattila, who directed the prevision sequences, to design the look of those sequences almost entirely in flame over the course of two months.

Founder/CD Sean Broughton notes, “Smoke & Mirrors is a creative-led facility and Kirk is a welcome addition; a superb talent with a great level of experience, both technically and artistically that will compliment the team perfectly.”