Richard Kidd | Partner, Catalyst Media, LLC
B.S., Computer Engineering, University of Florida College of Engineering

Having pioneered the use of many of the technologies which are now used everyday in digital effects, such as motion capture, fully computer generated people, cyber scanning, digital water & virtual sets, Richard has expertise providing solutions to previously unsolved problems in the digital entertainment industry. He supervises various film & commercial projects assisting both business and entertainment clients in dealing with and excelling at operation in today's new media marketplace.

In his early career, Richard spent seven years managing and supervising visual effects work and teams in the entertainment industry. He formed and oversaw the team that generated all of the ocean water in James Cameron's Academy Award winning Titanic. He was then hired to work with the Wachowski brothers to design and breakdown visual effects for 1999's visually stunning The Matrix. Richard took on the role of Digital Effects Supervisor on Robert Zemeckis' Castaway and What Lies Beneath and managed an effects budget in excess of 12 million dollars while supervising a team of sixty artists, engineers, and software developers to produce some of the film industry's highest quality digital effects.

Richard formed his own visual effects boutique, Catalyst Media, in 2000. Under Catalyst Media, he has worked with some of todayʼs top directors and producers, including Rupert Wainwright, Marcus Nispel, Martha Finnes, Joseph Kahn, Tom Reeve, Paul Hunter, and Grant Heslov. He has also lent his talents to many up and comers like Josh Rose and Kenn Scott. Due to his extensive background in visual effects, Richard has consulted on 5 different continents helping organizations build top production facilities and instructional institutions.

Also under Catalyst Media, Richard supervised the visual effects on Ask the Dust for renowned director Robert Towne and oversaw a key action sequence on The Chronicles of Narnia for Director Andrew Adamson. In 2006, Richard produced his first independent feature, The Adventures of Johnny Tao for director and writer Kenn Scott. The film was the official selection of the 2006 Beverly Hills Hi-Def Film Festival and won “Best Feature” in the 2007 Backlot Film Festival.

In 2007, Richard supervised visual effects for both Spiderman 3 and Transformers. Recently, he supervised the visual effects for award winning director Catherine Hardwicke on the blockbuster film Twilight based on the New York Times Bestseller of the same name. Richard is currently in post-production on Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen and pre-production on Kingdom Come for director Dean Wright and Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro.

Richard sits on the Gnomon School of Visual Effects Advisory Board and is a former member of the Visual Effects Society Board of Directors. He has lectured on visual effects and film making at UCLA, the American Film Institute, The Art Institute of Los Angeles, University of Florida, as well as for the Entertainment Industry Development Council.