R!OT Names Nakada Director Of Visual FX

Ken Nakada has been promoted to the post of director of visual effects for Santa Monica, Calif.-based R!OT. In addition to overseeing all of the studio’s feature film, episodic television, commercial and music video effects work, Nakada also continue to perform his duties as a matte painter and compositor.

Nakada will initially focus on expanding the department to service a full slate of productions, including the six-hour Angels in America for HBO, on which R!OT is the lead effects provider. The studio will also provide effects for Suspect Zero for Paramount Pictures and Biker Boyz for DreamWorks.

Before joining R!OT in 2000, Nakada spent six years at Illusion Arts, where he worked under legendary matte painter Syd Dutton and Emmy-winning director of photography Bill Taylor. His credits there included Star Trek: First Contact, Mask of Zorro, Stuart Little, X-Men, The Fast and the Furious and From Hell.

Kakada’s body of work for R!OT includes The Scorpion King, Queen of the Damned and The One.