LOS ANGELES — VFX pros Vico Sharabani (right) and Alex Frisch (left) are launching COPA (Co-Op of Artists), a global collective of VFX artists working in the commercial and feature film space. COPA is a network of connected hubs in strategic cities around the world, though its headquarters are based in New York and Los Angeles. Executive producer Yfat Neev, former with Rhino and Gravity FX, anchors the New York location, while EP Steve Reiss formerly with Speedshape and Sea Level VFX heads up LA. They also have links with established facilities in Chicago, Tel -Aviv, Toronto, Serbia, London and Paris.
"We are taking high-end VFX work in a never-before-seen model and an A-level team to build not just a company, but a community of the world's best talent," states Sharabani. "This is a new collaborative model that will upend the current landscape, allowing us to adapt to projects of any scope by taking the best talent in the world anywhere on the planet at any time."
COPA initiates only those artists who have excelled in all aspects of the business: creative, technical, budgeting, scheduling, and client interface. This talent will work in a co-op structure united by the shared value of collaboration.
The talent convenes daily in a common cloud-based online workspace, eliminating constraints of time and distance to give the studio the flexibility its clients demand. The company’s model provides clients with the face-to-face contact as well as local spaces to meet and check on work.
The team has spent a year tweaking the new model with projects for Lincoln and Crayola via McGarry Bowen. One of its first projects is the music video Turn me On for David Guetta and Nicki Minaj. They also handled 150 shots for the feature film A Late Quartet.