When his company eatdrink started to bounce back from the recession in 2009, Chad Hutson turned to Matt Daly, formerly a CG and VFX artist at Optimus, to augment his downsized staff and win bids for Walt Disney Imagineering and Maytag.
The two began to envision a design studio “grounded in broadcast CG but extending into experiential design,” with Daly as chief technologist and Hutson as executive producer. They brought on Jason White from lift as executive creative director, and launched Leviathan in 2010.
“We’re being approached by top agencies, brands and entertainment companies from all over the world,” Hutson says. “Some want us to produce more of what we’ve already done, some ask us to create technologies never seen before.
“Broadcast is still our first love, however, and we’re gaining a solid reputation for not only animation and visual effects, but also conceptual development and even directing.”
Leviathan has grown to a staff of 22 in two years. “That’s larger and quicker than we planned,” Hutson says, fueled by a faster-than-anticipated rise in demand for experience design, which now accounts for half their business.
“Clients and agencies have really embraced using interactive and immersive events to advertise in the last couple years,” Hutson says, “and they don’t settle for less than broadcast-quality content to convey their messaging.”
Interactive installation at Navy Pier Sept. 20-12
For Studio Gang Architects’ “unprecedented interior environment design” at the Expo Chicago art and design exposition at Navy Pier Sept. 20-23, Leviathan is contributing “an interactive installation incorporating motion-sensing technology to artfully depict the movement of Expo Chicago visitors,” Hutson says.
Following up on their AICP Next-shortlisted work for Brazilian electronic music Amon Tobin’s ISAM Live 2011-12 world tour, Leviathan is creating new elements that will be featured when Tobin returns to Chicago Sept. 8 for a Congress Theatre show.
“The set will be considerably larger and more complex this time around,” Hutson says, “and one number features intricate mechanical elements we’re physically building and shooting.”
For the current tour, White and Daly collaborated with VJ Vello Virkhaus, utilizing projection mapping to apply video images to stacked cubes onstage. “Instead of the output being for a flat screen,” Huston says, “it covers the bends, folds and protruding surfaces of a complex shape.”
Artists at work profiled on Autodesk’s website
Leviathan is featured in three artist profiles on the website of Autodesk, the publisher of Maya, Softimage and 3D Studio Max software. “They actually came to our place and shot our artists at work for a couple days, interviewed our creative leads and have since posted three different video studies of our team online,” Hutson says.
“To be featured by Autodesk in their artist profiles, alongside our peers and our idols, really was an ‘aw shucks’ moment for us.”
“The outlook for the coming year is a steady upward incline, and we’re getting ready for it now,” Hutson says. “Some of this preparation involves small improvements to infrastructure, and some means evolving our business plan to accommodate growth.
“But no matter what, we’re sticking with our core philosophies and passions. They’ve served us well thus far.”
