Ben Grossmann

Last updated
Ben Grossmann
BenGrossmann RamaStage2022.jpg
Grossmann in 2021
Born
Benjamin Tyndale Grossmann

(1977-07-23) July 23, 1977 (age 46)
Washington, D.C., USA
Occupation(s) CEO, Visual effects supervisor
Years active2001–present
SpouseAriane Rosier
ChildrenScarlet Rosier

Ben Grossmann (born June 23, 1977) is a visual effects supervisor in Los Angeles, California. He won an Oscar award for Hugo in 2012, and an Emmy award for The Triangle in 2006. He is the co-founder and CEO of Magnopus, a cross-reality experience company.

Contents

Career

Between 1994 and 2000, he worked as a photojournalist at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as a weatherman at both KFXF Fox 7, and KXDF-CD CBS13, and was a radio DJ at KSUA 91.5FM in Fairbanks, Alaska. [1]

From 2001 to 2013, he worked as a visual effects artist & technician on Hollywood films, music videos, and commercials under visual effects supervisors like Rob Legato,Volker Engel, & Marc Weigert for filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Roland Emmerich, J.J. Abrams, Tim Burton and Jon Favreau. [2] During this time, he worked on music videos for artists like Radiohead, Justin Timberlake, Mariah Carey, and also directed television commercials. He worked as a designer on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey an motion-based dark ride in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

In 2013, with partners Alex Henning, and Rodrigo Teixeira, he formed MAGNOPUS, a visual development company with offices in downtown Los Angeles. [3] and St. Albans, England. [4] [5]

Between 2018 and 2022, he was director for the largest cross-reality geospatial metaverse to date at Expo 2020 Dubai. [6] He also served as Narrative and Exhibition Designer for the Mobility Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. [7]

He is a patented inventor in mixed reality. [8]

In 2022, his company's Connected Spaces platform was selected as one of Time's Best Inventions of 2022. [9]

Early life

Benjamin Tyndale Grossmann was born on June 23, 1977, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. His father Bruce R. Grossmann, served in the US Army first as an enlisted Medic, and then as a Signal Officer, his mother, Dawn Elise Frazier( née Warren, later Grossmann) was a preschool teacher and weather observer in Delta Junction, Alaska. He has two sisters Brooke Grossmann, Annalise Grossmann and a brother Elias Grossmann.

Though he traveled extensively throughout the United States as a child, he spent most of his childhood in Alaska before moving to California. [10]

Awards

In 2013, he was nominated for an Academy Award for the film Star Trek Into Darkness [11] [12] directed by J.J. Abrams.

In 2012, he won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for the film Hugo . [13] [14] [15] directed by Martin Scorsese. (Video)

In 2006, he won an Emmy for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for the Scifi Miniseries The Triangle. [16]

In 2011, he won a Satellite Award for Best Visual Effects. [17]

He has won two Visual Effects Society Awards: Outstanding Virtual Cinematography for The Lion King (2019 film) in 2020, and Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture for Hugo (film) [18]

He has been nominated twice (in 2011 and 2013) for the BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects.

Notable appearances

In 2023, he gave a presentation on Immersive Storytelling in the Metaverse in the "Building the Open Metaverse Podcast" (Video)

In 2019, he discussed the development of virtual cinematography systems in the supplemental material for The Lion King (2019 film) (Video)

In 2017, he presented Mission:ISS developed with NASA in virtual reality to MIT at Beyond the Cradle, alongside filmmaker Douglas Trumbull and author Warren Ellis.

In 2017, he gave a presentation The Importance of Communication & Other Skills Needed on Movie Sets (Video) and Why Reliability is Better Than Talent (Video) to the graduating students of Full Sail University.

In May 2015, he was the Commencement Speaker at the University of Alaska Fairbanks graduation ceremony (Video).

In 2012, he gave a Visual Effects Mini Masterclass in a Video by the British Academy Film Awards

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References

  1. ↑ Tori Tragis. "All The Stories Are True" (PDF). Aurora Magazine. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  2. ↑ "Ben Grossmann Visual Effects Credits". Imdb.com. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  3. ↑ Alexandria Abramian. "New VFX Firm Magnopus Sets Up in Downtown L.A." The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  4. ↑ Unknown. "Mission:ISS' Magnopus Acquires XR Design Studio REWIND". Plato Data Intelligence. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  5. ↑ Alex Farber. "Magnopus acquires Rewind". Broadcast Now. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  6. ↑ Andrew Graham. "Expo 2020 Dubai Enters The Metaverse World Connecting Millions Across The Physical & Digital Globally Credits". YahooFinance.com. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  7. ↑ Jude Forbes. "Expo 2020 Dubai Project Credits". Magnopus.com. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  8. ↑ "Collaborative Multi-Modal Mixed-Reality System and Methods Leveraging Reconfigurable Tangible User Interfaces for the Production of Immersive, Cinematic, and Interactive Content". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  9. ↑ "Best Inventions of 2022". Time.com. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  10. ↑ "UAF Centennial:Ben Grossmann". UAF.edu. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  11. ↑ "Oscar Winners 2015: The Complete List - 86th Academy Awards". Oscar.com. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  12. ↑ "Space Society to Salute Hollywood at Confab; Shares Gravity-Defying Selfie (Photo)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  13. ↑ "'Hugo' Beats Out 'Harry Potter' For Visual Effects Oscar". MTV News. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  14. ↑ Los Angeles Times. "Oscars 2012: Visual effects". latimes.com. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  15. ↑ "Academy Awards Oscars - Awards Central- IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  16. ↑ "The Triangle". Television Academy. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Award Archive". PressAcademy.com. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Visual Effects Society Awards". IMDB.com. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
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