Xavier Ruffin | |
---|---|
Born | Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. | January 14, 1988
Occupation(s) | Film director, film producer, screenwriter, designer, animator |
Years active | 2011–present |
Xavier Ruffin (born January 14, 1988) is an American film director, writer, illustrator, motion graphics and title designer. He is currently President at Dopamine Productions. [1] He is best known for writing, directing and producing the independent web series Mad Black Men. [2] [3] [4] [5]
Ruffin, who is African-American, was born on January 14, 1988, in Little Rock, Arkansas, the son of Gwli McHenry Ruffin and James Edward Ruffin. At the age of three, Ruffin's parents moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he currently resides. [6] Ruffin exhibited a passion for music and the arts at a very young age. In the third grade he was featured in a local magazine along with his school band as a young blues guitar player, though he actually he played the cello. In high school he was enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program and showed a strong inclination to drawing and visual art. Growing up in Milwaukee, one of the nation's most segregated cities, would later influence and inspire Ruffin to push boundaries and challenge perceptions in his creative works. [7]
As a teen, he was accepted into a pre-college program at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design to pursue his artistic goals, where he later received a BFA. [1] He was later hired as an adjunct professor there teaching typography at the age of 25. He began his design career at Kohl's© where he helped create internet ads as well as layouts for Kohls.com. In 2013 Ruffin was contacted by a Dailymotion executive who saw his work on music video spoofs via YouTube and worked for the company as a preferred content creator. He then earned backing from Dailymotion to launch the web series Mad Black Men through the company's Motion Maker's Fund Grant. [5] Ruffin got connected with Robert Townsend, [8] who advised and helped pull the cast and crew.
Xavier has animation, vfx, title design, and director credits on music videos with Riff Raff (rapper), T.I., [6] Donald Glover, OG Maco, Mac Miller, Gerald Walker, and others.
as Director [9]
Bullshit (2014) | Raz Simone | |
Let It Go (2014) | Raz Simone | |
Watchmen (2014) | Ben Kerns | |
Is It Me (2013) | Black Fitted | |
Forever Whatever (2013) | Klassik | |
One of These Kids (2013) | Dana Coppafeel & Speak Easy | |
Fools For Rowan (2012) | Killed A Man Today | |
Finest Gangsta (2012) | Yo-dot | |
Anything (2012) | Klassik | |
On Ten (2012) | Proph | |
Bulletproof Soul (2012) | Gerald Walker | |
Thinking About You (2012) | Troy'ce Sayles | |
PSTFU (2012) | Gerald Walker | |
Jungle (2011) | Prophetic | |
The Missing Piece (2011) | Gerald Walker | |
I pooted (Big Sean I Do It Spoof) (2011) | Mrr Vanilla |
as Animator
2 mph (2015) | Danna Coppafeel, SpeakEasy, and Haz Solo | |
Kokaine (2014) | Riff Raff | |
Lava Glaciers (2014) | Riff Raff ft Childish Gambino | |
Aquaberry Dolphines (2014) | Riff Raff ft Mac Miller | |
Wit Me (2014) | B.o.B. | |
Wit Me (2013) | T.I. | |
On Dat Ho (2012) | Jazz Lazer | |
Hot Shots Part Deux (2012) | Action Bronson |
as Editor
2 mph (2015) | Danna Coppafeel, SpeakEasy, and Haz Solo | |
How To Be The Man (2014) | RiFF RAFF | |
Forever Whatever (2013) | Klassik | |
Hot Shots Part Deux (2012) | Action Bronson |
as Writer
Anything (2012) | Klassik | |
I pooted (Big Sean I Do It Spoof) (2011) | Mrr Vanilla |
as Title Designer
King (2014) | T.I. | |
I Need War (2014) | T.I. | |
The Way We Ride (2013) | T.I. |
as VFX
Action Bronson Skee TV skit (2015) | Action Bronson | |
King (2014) T.I. | ||
Plates Say Texas (DGK) (2013) | Trae Tha Truth |
as Animation Director (1)
Memories Back Then (2013) | Hustle Gang |
as Art Director (1)
Memories Back Then (2013) | Hustle Gang |
[10] s Director (2)
Mad Black Men (2014) | Web Series | |
Anything (2012) | Short Film |
as Editor (2)
Mad Black Men (2014) | Web Series | |
Anything (2012) | Short Film |
as Writer (2)
Mad Black Men (2014) | Web Series | |
Anything (2012) | Klassik |
Framestore is a British animation and visual effects studio based on Chancery Lane in London, England. Formed in 1985, Framestore specialises in effects for film and prestige TV, advertising, rides and immersive experiences. It is the largest production house in Europe, employing roughly 3,000 staff, including 1,000 in London, and 1,500 across studios in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Montreal, Melbourne and Mumbai.
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began production on the original Star Wars, now the fourth episode of the Skywalker Saga.
Marvel Studios, LLC is an American film and television production company. Marvel Studios is the creator of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a media franchise and shared universe of films and television series produced by the studio, based on characters that appear in Marvel Comics publications. The studio was founded by Avi Arad as part of Marvel Entertainment and has been led by producer Kevin Feige, who serves as its president, since 2007. The studio originally licensed the film rights to several Marvel characters before beginning to produce its own films in 2004, and has since regained many of those rights. It has been owned by the Walt Disney Company since 2009, and has been a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios since August 2015, where it is part of Disney Entertainment. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures has distributed most of the studio's films since The Avengers (2012).
Ronaldo del Carmen is a Filipino writer, director, storyboard artist, illustrator, and voice actor. He co-directed and co-wrote the story for the Pixar film Inside Out (2015), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, the first naturalized Filipino to do so.
Michael M. Wartella is an American underground cartoonist, animator, writer and director based in New York City, generally publishing under the name M. Wartella or just Wartella. He is best known for his work in The Village Voice and on Cartoon Network's MAD.
Matthew Hoffman Weiner is an American television writer, producer, and director best known as the creator and showrunner of the television series Mad Men, and as a writer and executive producer on The Sopranos.
The High School of Music & Art, informally known as "Music & Art", was a public specialized high school located at 443-465 West 135th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York, from 1936 until 1984. In 1961, Music & Art and the High School of Performing Arts were formed into a two-campus high school. The schools fully merged in 1984 into the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & the Arts.
DNEG is a British-Indian visual effects, computer animation and stereo conversion studio that was founded in 1998 in London, and rebranded as DNEG in 2014 after a merger with Indian VFX company Prime Focus; it was named after the letters "D" and "Neg" from their former name.
Mad Men is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons and 92 episodes. It is set during the period of March 1960 to November 1970.
The first season of the American television drama series Mad Men premiered on July 19, 2007, and ended on October 18, 2007. It consisted of thirteen episodes, each running approximately 47 minutes. AMC broadcast the first season on Thursdays at 10:00 pm in the United States. Actors Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, January Jones, Christina Hendricks, Bryan Batt, Michael Gladis, Aaron Staton, and Rich Sommer receive main cast billing.
McCann, formerly McCann Erickson, is an American global advertising agency network, with offices in 120 countries. McCann is part of McCann Worldgroup, along with several other agencies, including direct digital marketing agency MRM//McCann, experiential marketing agency Momentum Worldwide, healthcare marketing group McCann Health, and public-relations and strategic-communications agency Weber Shandwick.
Horst Christian Simco, known professionally as Riff Raff, is an American rapper from Katy, Texas. He was originally managed by Swishahouse co-founder OG Ron C in 2011. After initially signing with rapper Soulja Boy's record label Stacks on Deck Entertainment, Simco signed with producer Diplo's record label Mad Decent to release his debut studio album, Neon Icon (2014). Despite lukewarm critical and commercial response, it mildly entered the Billboard 200 along with his second album Peach Panther (2016), which was released by Warner Records. Prior to its release, Simco entered a US$4 million joint partnership with Stampede Management and BMG for his Neon Nation label and production company. The joint deal fell apart in the wake of legal disputes with the publication of the 2012 film Spring Breakers.
David Wilson is an English music video director and animator from Wells, Somerset, currently living in London. Wilson studied Illustration at Brighton University and did a foundation course in Art and Design at St. Martin's. He is represented by the production company Riff Raff in the UK and The Directors Bureau in the U.S.. He has directed music videos for Arcade Fire, The Maccabees, David Guetta, Arctic Monkeys and Tame Impala.
Jerome Chen is a Chinese American visual effects supervisor and director. He is a founding member of Sony Pictures Imageworks.
Major Lazer is an American adult animated television series based on the electronic music group of the same name, created by DJ and record producer Diplo with Ferry Gouw and Kevin Kusatsu. It premiered on FXX on April 16, 2015, as part of their Animation Domination High-Def (ADHD) block. After Stone Quackers, Major Lazer is the second ADHD original series to be aired on the channel after FOX had stopped its broadcast of the block itself.
Neon Icon is the debut studio album by American rapper Riff Raff. It was released on June 24, 2014, by Mad Decent. The album, which features Childish Gambino, Mac Miller, Paul Wall, Amber Coffman, Mike Posner, and Slim Thug, was produced by DJA, Larry Fisherman, DJ Mustard, Raf Riley, Harry Fraud, and executive producer Diplo. Neon Icon was supported by singles "How to Be the Man" and "Tip Toe Wing in My Jawwdinz".
The American hip hop rapper Riff Raff has released five studio albums, two remix albums, one EP, three collaborative albums, twenty mixtapes, and fifty-five singles.
Peter Szewczyk is an American film and animation director, cinematographer and music video director.
Steve Reiss is a Grammy-nominated producer, entrepreneur, author and ocean activist.
Trixter is a German visual effects studio, with divisions in Munich and Berlin. Founded in 1999 by Simone Kraus Townsend and Michael Coldewey, the company was acquired in August 2018 by Cinesite. As of August 2023, TRIXTER's senior management includes Christopher Hantel and Christina Caspers-Roemer.