AGBO’s VisualCreatures Names Ian Unterreiner President And Partner Of Russo Bros’ Effects And Animation Operation

DEADLINE

By Dade Hayes

January 31, 2023 7:00am

EXCLUSIVE: The Russo Brothers’ AGBO has named Ian Unterreiner president and partner of virtual production studio VisualCreatures, which the company recently acquired.

A specialist in real-time applications in visual effects and animation, the outfit has opened a studio equipped with a motion-capture-enabled sound stage at AGBO’s downtown LA campus.

The appointment of Unterreiner, who spent 13 years at Zoic Studios, will advance the virtual production efforts at AGBO, whose recent projects include 2022 Netflix feature The Gray Man. Unterreiner will report to AGBO and team with VisualCreatures co-founders Ryan McNeely and John Cranston on a range of initiatives.

“Ian joins our team with an abundance of thoughtful leadership and vision. His passion for forward thinking perfectly aligns with VC & AGBO’s common goal of making the very best work with the very best people. He will be an incredible partner on our continued path towards creating innovating workflows and game changing content,” McNeely said.

“Having spent 13 years at Zoic, whose life blood is innovation, joining Ryan, John and the AGBO team to advance virtual production efforts was a natural progression. I’m both humbled and privileged to play a role in guiding VisualCreatues’ evolution, whose growth potential is immeasurable,” Unterreiner said.

AGBO COO Nick Anglewicz said Unterreiner “embodies the perfect balance of artist champion, futurist and business pragmatist,” describing him, McNeely and Cranston as “animals of innovation and storytelling, especially on the frontier of virtual production.”

Unterreiner has two decades of post-production experience and ended his tenure at Zoic as EVP, overseeing corporate strategy and studio oversight of the company’s LA, New York and Vancouver operations. Over his career, the exec has produced large-scale projects in film and TV for Netflix, Marvel, Paramount, Apple and Warner Brothers. Unterreiner started his career assisting James Cameron during principal photography and post-production of Titanic.

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