Creative studio Leviathan announced the addition of senior 3D artist Andrew Butterworth, creative technologist Harvey Moon, 2D artist Ely Beyer and associate producer Kelsey Barrentine to its staff, as well as several promotions. “Being in a growth phase is simultaneously exciting and daunting for us, as we put a lot of thought into our recruiting process,” executive producer Chad Hutson said. “Though Leviathan first looks at candidates’ portfolios and relevant skills, we’ve really worked hard to also build and maintain a healthy culture here. All our new staff has talent in spades, along with incredible attitudes, work ethic and heart.”
Butterworth joins Leviathan as senior 3D artist from Superfad in Seattle, where he spent the past four years serving as the studio’s 3D generalist. During his years at Superfad, working alongside industry professionals including Will Hyde, David Viau and Nando Costa. Butterworth contributed to projects for Sony’s Bravia HDTV, Google Internet HDTV and Xbox, Sprint, Cartoon Network, Fox Sports, Netflix and Nickelodeon. He was also a vital member of the 3D team for Superfad’s short films Preguntas Hermosas and Tactile Waveforms. “What attracted me the most about Leviathan is that the studio feels like an ever-evolving art project,” Butterworth said. “From the projects to the people, the young studio definitely caught my eye.”
Moon is a recognized new media artist whose high-tech projects have been exhibited all around the world. Over the past two years, he was part of the team that won the top prize at the 2013 Red Bull Creation Challenge, and he also co-created The BikeSpike, which was successfully crowd-funded through a $150,000 Kickstarter campaign earlier this year. Even before being part of those ventures, for the past seven years Moon has been an independent artist specializing in software, design and mechanical fabrication.
Over the past year, Beyer has been a freelance artist in the Chicago market, working for creative shops including Leviathan, where he contributed to projects for brands including John Deere and The North Face. “Leviathan’s emphasis on high-level design really appealed to me as a designer,” Beyer said. “Leviathan is also a driving force of integrating technology into the industry, constantly pushing the boundaries of how far a design/production studio can venture into the high-tech world.”
Barrentine joins Leviathan from agency TPN, where she began in 2012 as an intern and made herself a key production assistant. Her time at TPN exposed her to all aspects of production, from maintaining schedules, booking talent, negotiating music licenses, producing radio, overseeing V.O. sessions and independently producing the agency’s submission videos for the Reggie and EFFIE Awards. Also responsible for coordinating screenings, Barrentine met Leviathan’s Hutson and Jason White when they visited the agency to screen their work. “There was something different about Leviathan’s presentation that stuck with me,” she said. “A combination of the innovative work they were doing and the passion that they exhibited had me turning to my boss at the time and proclaiming, ‘I want to work for those guys.’”
In the promotions department, Lauren Shawe rises to senior producer, Ellen Schopler rises to producer, David Brodeur rises to art director and Gareth Fewel rises to lead designer.
