Acclaimed Compositors Credits Include Spider-Man 3, Sin City and The Matrix Revolutions

Ed Mendez, the award-winning visual effects artist and compositing supervisor whose credits include such blockbuster hits as Spider-Man 3, King Kong, Fantastic Four, Sin City, The Kite Runner and the HBO mini-series John Adams, for which he recently won an Emmy Award, has joined the staff of DIVE, the division of Shooters Post & Transfer specializing in visual effects and post production supervision for feature films. Mendez, who was most recently Compositing Supervisor at Santa Maria, CA-based Cafe FX, joins a staff that includes Visual Effects Supervisor Mark Forker, who joined DIVE following several years at Digital Domain, Los Angeles.

Since joining DIVE, Mendez has been working on two of the companys biggest film projects -The Road, starring Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron and Robert Duval; and Happy Tears, starring Demi Moore and Parker Posey.

”Eds level of talent and professional work experience is another key addition to build our company upon,” said Forker. ”His experience on major motion pictures fits right into the direction we are heading as a company and his work ethic is equally impressive. Ed came in and made an immediate impact with our staff and clients, and raised DIVEs level of expertise immediately.”

Mendez has led a productive postproduction life since graduating from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in 2001. He immediately joined Massachusetts-based Kleiser-Walczak and began working on the visual effects compositing of several big budget films including X2 (the 2003 sequel to X-Men).

From there he moved to the West Coast to join ESC, a Warner Bros. visual effects shop in Alameda, CA, where he worked on such films as The Matrix Revolutions, Catwoman, Constantine and the Coen Brothers film The Ladykillers. In 2004 he joined Caf FX where he stayed for four years working most recently as Compositing Supervisor on Spider-Man 3, The Kite Runner and John Adams, which resulted in his first visual effects Emmy.

For Mendez, the move to Philadelphia is a return of sorts for the Bethlehem, PA-native. He noted that the facilities at DIVE and Shooters Post & Transfer are as impressive as any company he has worked for in the past.

”This is a truly an amazing environment to work in with so many great artists,” Mendez said. ”They can do a lot of things, yet maintain an intimate feel, which I really enjoy. The companys technological infrastructure is equally as impressive. I think when more filmmakers, on both coasts, see just how much technology and talent are available here they will be blown away. Im looking forward to helping the company grow and contributing to its success.”