Ntropic, a visual effects house with bases of operation in San Francisco and Los Angeles, has brought creative director/VFX supervisor Simon Mowbray aboard. The co-founder of digital studio Radium, which opened in San Francisco in 1996, Mowbray had most recently been freelancing at Ntropic on projects for Sprint, Coinstar and Oracle before deciding to make the shop his official home.
     Mowbray began his career in 1987 in Sydney, working at several CG and design studios in the early days of CG and compositing. He moved to Montreal in '91 to work as a product specialist for Softimage. He then helped start Discreet Logic with four other founders in '92 and then moved to the former Western Images in San Francisco where he worked from '94 to '96 as an Inferno artist. In '96, he and Western colleague Jonathan Keeton started visual effects company Radium, where Mowbray served as VP/creative director/designer/Inferno and CG artist.
     In '07, Mowbray and Keeton sold Radium to Dallas-headquartered Reel FX, and he became freelance after the company closed its San Francisco office earlier this year (SHOOT, 4/3) while continuing its Dallas and Santa Monica studios. 
     Mowbray and Ntropic founder Nate Robinson have known each other for many years. Furthermore Ntropic executive producer Dana Townsend previously worked with Mowbray at Radium. The camaraderie among the three of them was key to Mowbray's decision to join the company.
     "Nate and I bounce ideas off of one another and share a passion for visual effects and digital production," related Mowbray. "Here, I can focus my attention on the work and have the benefit of an extremely collaborative environment, both in San Francisco and in the Los Angeles office."
     Ntropic opened in San Francisco in '96 and extended its reach to Southern California with an L.A. office late last year (SHOOT, 12/19/08).