Carbon Enhances Chicago Team with New VFX Supervisor & Lead Colourist

Creative studio Carbon welcomes friendly, world-class talent to its newly-launched Chicago office. Both fine artists and industry experts, Devon Taylor will lead as VFX Supervisor and Flame Artist, while Maria Carretero will take the helm as Lead Colourist.

Carretero emphasizes Carbon’s mission to house an elite international talent roster in Chicago, as she joins the studio after cementing her credentials as a colourist for over 15 years in her native Madrid. During her career, the post-production vet has collaborated with a client base that includes Mercedes, Vodafone, and Coca-Cola while also lending her talents to Spanish filmmaking luminaries such as Pedro Almodóvar and Alejandro Amenábar. In between painting mattes for feature films, overseeing teams of colourists spanning Europe and the Middle East, and making her mark as a colourist in the industry, Maria has also carved out some time to become a successful fine artist in her own right, exhibiting paintings, installations, and sculptures in galleries around the world.

“Maria was head and shoulders above the competition when considering colourists for this role,” Linturn recalls. “A real no-brainer of a decision. Her reel is world-class, easily standing alongside the best in the major markets. On top of that, she’s a warm and friendly individual with a quirky and infectious enthusiasm for her craft … and life in general.”

Before Carbon, Taylor spent nearly two decades honing his VFX skills in both Europe and the US, launching and running his own shops in Scandinavia, and serving as a Senior Flame Artist/VFX Supervisor at Animal in Pittsburgh. The opportunity to help establish an operation in the Windy City drew Taylor to Carbon; “When I heard that Carbon was building a crew and facility from the ground up in Chicago, with amazing equipment and talented artists—I was more than interested.”

Chicago EP Phil Linturn explains how Taylor’s global background ranging from numerous film credits to Audi, Volkswagen, Ford, ESPN, Dannon, and GNC, played a pivotal role in placing him in the Chicago office; “I was interviewing a number of people for the VFX supervisor role at the time, but Devon just seemed more calm, self-assured, and had the experience to back it up,” he says. “This quiet confidence comes from a huge amount of creative experience, gained over the last two decades with a small collection of discerning companies, as well as having previously assisted in the setup of two boutique companies while in Europe. So, opening Carbon is a natural transition for him.”