The Armory, a new company in West L.A., represents freelance directors for film, TV, commercials, music videos, and online. Launched by directors Bryan Lee and Paul K. Lee, the company's line-up features freelance creatives with extensive experience in VFX and design – Charles Paek has directed or supervised automobile spots including work for Toyota and Aston Martin; CLAUS (Justin C. Harder) is an experienced illustrator who's worked with Brand New School, Motion Theory, and Blur; designer Bryan Lee was a founder and partner at the boutique Nylon LA; and Paul K. Lee hails from Motion Theory and other studios, with a resume that includes work on campaigns for HP, Lenovo, Sunsilk, and Apple iPod. StudioDaily asked Paul Lee (pictured, above) to describe the concept behind The Armory, and what he hopes the company will achieve.
StudioDaily:  Tell me about The Armory. What’s the unifying philosophy behind the talent you represent?

Paul K. Lee:  When we were choosing our directors, we wanted to get top talent in different areas. For example, we really wanted to focus on visual effects. Charles Paek is a very talented VFX director with a photorealistic touch, and he caught our eye. As for Justin (CLAUS), we felt he filled the illustration area. As for Bryan Lee and myself, we focus more on motion graphics and design. That’s not to say we wouldn’t be able to work in other parts of the creative process. For example, Bryan and I also want to work more on live action. And as far as a live-action specialist, we have a director we’re currently working with whom we haven’t officially signed. We’re waiting for that moment to happen. But all together, our directors can handle any type of project that we have an opportunity to pitch on.

Your website points out specifically that The Armory is not a post-production studio …

Because we come from a post-production background and everyone in our industry known us as people who work in post, I wanted to make that clear. We have our own freelance companies and we still take on freelance projects. We want no conflicts with the studios we work with as freelancers. So we don’t want to be known as a post studio, but rather as a rep company getting work for directors.

Do you think this represents a shift in the way clients see their relationship with graphic designers and VFX artists?

Due to the current economy, a lot of agencies and other clients are going with smaller shops to produce high-quality end products. That’s not to say a large shop doesn’t do high-quality work, but it comes at a very expensive cost. Instead, clients can go directly to specific directors and through smaller shops to produce projects. There is a trend in our industry where studios are working with one another as opposed to against each other. They are collaborating to see who can team up and work together on getting a job, or passing work along to one another. We want to work with more of an organic business model. We definitely know who we are, but how we work and how we strategize is very organic and loose. Working with others will help drive us and keep us in business, as opposed to trying to hoard as much work for ourselves as we can. One example is that we’re working on fine-arts projects on the side, helping curate shows and working with whomever might fit with us within that realm.

Is affordable technology another driver for you?

We do try to keep up with the latest software. Getting our hands on the latest Cinema 4D or Maya or Adobe suite as soon as it comes out gives our directors a competitive edge, and we’re using those programs as opposed to always going through the Flame. I’m sure Charles has a few tricks up his sleeve that help him get that photorealistic look.

What’s the most important thing you want people to know about The Armory?

We want to fill a void for freelancers. For me, coming from a freelance background and going from shop to shop, I know that I wasn’t given many opportunities to direct. That’s where I came up with the idea, and I wanted to do something new for the industry. There should be something for people like myself. We try to home in on top talent freelancers and build a strong network of artists. If they’re not directors already, we will help them become directors while still allowing them to freelance. We want to be there for them.

Tell me about something that’s inspired you recently in your own work.

When I saw Charles’s Aston Martin piece, that really inspired me – just the amount of detail, and how he was able to create something so great with limited resources. Also a good friend of mine, Andy Kim, has been a great inspiration and mentor for me in business. He continues to show me that the only thing that limits people is themselves. Hopefully our company will open doors for people, and maybe even spark more freelancers to make the move and start to challenge the industry in different ways.

For more information: armoryrep.com.