Zachary Kinney is a Los Angeles-based motion designer, visual effects artist, graphic designer, and lover of drawing, who has spent more than three decades developing visual languages shaped by curiosity, experimentation, and a fascination with images. His work spans film, television, advertising, web, and print. Whether working with a pencil or a computer or a camera, Zach approaches each project with the same instinct: to find the image at the heart of an idea and bring it to life.

After painting a wicked awesome dragon in 3rd grade, and getting his own point and shoot camera in 6th grade, he realized he had knack and love for art and gadgets and dug in, eventually studying animation and editing in high school, and then going on to attend Rhode Island School of Design and receiving a BFA in Film/Animation/Video. His professional career mostly began in NYC in 1995 at R/Greenberg Associates, where he worked across a wide range of disciplines, contributing to film titles, broadcast design, commercials, print and logo design, interactive installations, and web design. The experience gave him an early foundation in post-production, graphic design and the rapidly emerging possibilities of motion graphics on desktop computers. From 1999 to 2004, Zach worked as a freelance artist with some of New York’s most influential design and post-production studios, including Trollbäck & Co., Eyeball, Pittard Sullivan, Psyop, and Razorfish. In 2004, Zach joined Click3X as Senior Design Director, where he led a team of designers, cg animators, and effects artists while continuing to expand his work in art direction, motion graphics, visual effects, and print. The position marked a transition from working primarily as an individual artist toward taking on larger creative and leadership roles.

In 2006, Zach relocated to Los Angeles, increasingly drawn toward the world of filmmaking and visual effects. His first big break came as an in-house VFX artist for Robert Schwentke’s RED. Then in 2009 he co-founded SaintsLA, a boutique post-production studio in downtown Los Angeles. As Creative Director, Art Director, VFX Supervisor, Producer, and artist, he gained firsthand experience not only making images but also building and managing a creative business.

Since returning to freelance work in 2014, Zach has collaborated with major film studios and leading design and post-production companies throughout Los Angeles and beyond, including Cantina Creative, Prologue, Logan, Mocean, Ntropic, Engine Room, Ring of Fire, and Trailer Park. He continues to work independently from his home studio, where commercial image-making and a more personal artistic practice exist side by side.

For inquiries, contact Zach.

 

SOFTWARE

Proficent in After Effects (and popular plugins), Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, and Mocha. Working knowledge of Cinema 4D, Nuke, Syntheyes, PFTrack, Resolve, Lightroom, Procreate/Dreams, and Shotgun/Flow.

SELECTED CREDITS

• Deadpool & Wolverine – Compositor, Cantina Creative

• Gran Turismo – In-house Compositor and Graphics Consultant

• The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes – Postvis artist

• Top Gun – In-house Compositor

• Star Trek: Discovery – Title Sequence (Emmy-nominated)

• Bloodshot – Postvis & In-house Compositor

• Allegiant and Insurgent – Postvis & Lead In-house Compositor

• The Finest Hours – Postvis

• G.I. Joe: Retaliation – Postvis, VFX Artist & VFX Supervisor (SaintsLA)

Additional credits include numerous TV shows, feature films, and shorts. You can find a full list of his film and TV work on IMDb, as well as some of his personal work on Instagram @z_kinney.