CafeFX was an award-winning feature film visual effects facility offering visual effects

Visual effects

Visual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or...

 production and supervision, CG character creation, and 3D animation. Founded in 1993 by Jeff Barnes and David Ebner, CafeFX was located in a 36000 square feet (3,344.5 m²) studio on an eight-acre campus in Santa Maria

Santa Maria, California

Santa Maria is a city in Santa Barbara County, on the Central Coast of California. The 2010 census population was 100,062, putting it ahead of Santa Barbara for the first time and making it the largest city in the county...

, the heart of Santa Barbara County. Its commercial and music video division, Santa Monica

Santa Mônica

Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...

-based The Syndicate, was a creative design, branding services and digital production studio, specializing in live action direction, visual effects, animation, motion graphics, and telecine

Telecine

Telecine is transferring motion picture film into video and is performed in a color suite. The term is also used to refer to the equipment used in the post-production process....

. CafeFX and The Syndicate were held by umbrella corporation the ComputerCafe Group, which has also established Sententia Entertainment, a long form production company. With a focus on both live action and animated projects, Sententia is poised to capitalize on years of experience in the feature film market while developing a catalog of properties utilizing the proven strengths of sister companies CafeFX and The Syndicate.

History

After founding the company in 1993 as Computer Café, Jeff Barnes and David Ebner worked their way up from local to regional and then national commercial and broadcast assignments. “Our first job was to show how a product called Shoe Goo

Shoe Goo

Shoe Goo is a polyurethane-based adhesive intended for repairs of athletic footwear and rollerskates.-Origins:Shoe Goo was created in 1972 by Lyman Van Vliet, a 45-year old senior executive at Hughes Aircraft Co. with a degree in physics from Wayne State University...

 worked.” said David.

As their commercial

Commerce

While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...

 reputation grew, so did their client base - from foster's Freeze to HBO. "We always took a conservative approach because we were funding our own growth," says Jeff. "Our plan was to just pay off the ten thousand dollar loan we used to start the company, and then afford to employ ourselves."

Still under the banner of Computer Café, Jeff and David moved into motion picture effects by first tackling Clive Barker

Clive Barker

Clive Barker is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer...

’s 1995 feature, Lord of Illusion. Yet even then, notes Jeff, “Everything we made, we put back into the company.”

By 2002, Jeff and David were in a position to expand their operations. Interest in a Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 outlet for their CG feature film work, together with a plan to expand into other markets, led them to the purchase of a Santa Monica

Santa Mônica

Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...

 based telecine

Telecine

Telecine is transferring motion picture film into video and is performed in a color suite. The term is also used to refer to the equipment used in the post-production process....

 company. Renamed 'The Syndicate', it has become an award-winning short form visual effects company, providing finishing suites, full CG services, and one of the industries top telecine

Telecine

Telecine is transferring motion picture film into video and is performed in a color suite. The term is also used to refer to the equipment used in the post-production process....

 studios.

As they continued to grow, the Santa Maria

Santa Maria, California

Santa Maria is a city in Santa Barbara County, on the Central Coast of California. The 2010 census population was 100,062, putting it ahead of Santa Barbara for the first time and making it the largest city in the county...

 office park they had called home for eleven years soon became cramped, leading to the 2005 purchase of CafeFX studio. “This has been a dream of ours since the beginning. We wanted to create the ultimate workspace for clients and staff alike, and believe we have “ smiles Jeff. The new studio includes room for over 200 artists, as well as such amenities as a café, fitness center, game areas, a 60-seat film and 2k digital theater, and even a two-lane bowling alley. The eight-acre campus leaves plenty of room for outdoor activities and future expansion. “We can’t wait to add our Frisbee field, basketball courts and shooting stages,” notes Jeff.

In 2005, Jeff ad David also launched Sentenia Entertainment, a live action production company currently in post on its first feature project. “We are very excited about this division.” Stated Jeff, “It helps us to further diversify our group, and also provides an additional creative outlet for our talent.”

Complete list

1. Enthiran (2010) ... Special Effects Company

2. Shutter Island (2009) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

3. The Final Destination (2009) ... Special Effects Company

4. Public Enemies (2009) ... Special Effects Company

5. Land of the Lost

Land of the Lost (film)

Land of the Lost is a 2009 American science-fiction comedy film directed by Brad Silberling and starring Will Ferrell, Danny McBride and Anna Friel, based on the 1974 Sid and Marty Krofft TV series of the same name.-Plot:...

 (2009) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

6. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is an American adventure comedy film directed by Shawn Levy, and starring Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, and Steve Coogan. The film is a sequel to Night at the Museum...

 (2009) ... Special Effects Company

7. Dragonball Evolution (2009) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

8. Love Ranch (2009) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

9. Seven Pounds

Seven Pounds

Seven Pounds is a 2008 film, directed by Gabriele Muccino. Will Smith stars as a man who sets out to change the lives of seven people. Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, and Barry Pepper star. The film was released in theaters in the United States and Canada on December 19, 2008, by Columbia Pictures...

 (2008) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

10. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is a 2008 American action adventure film and sequel to The Mummy and The Mummy Returns . The film stars Brendan Fraser, Maria Bello, John Hannah, Luke Ford, and Jet Li, and was released on August 1, 2008 in the United States...

 (2008) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

11. Chi bi (2008) ... Special Effects Company

12. The Happening

The Happening (2008 film)

The Happening is a 2008 science fiction thriller film written, co-produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan that follows a woman, her husband, the husband's best friend, and the friend's daughter as they try to escape from an inexplicable natural disaster. The plot revolves around a mysterious...

 (2008) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

13. Speed Racer

Speed Racer (film)

Speed Racer is a 2008 American live action film adaptation of Tatsuo Yoshida's 1960s Japanese anime series of the same name, produced by Tatsunoko Productions. The film is written and directed by the Wachowskis...

 (2008) ... Special Effects Company

14. Iron Man

Iron Man (film)

Iron Man is a 2008 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film stars Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, an industrialist and master engineer who builds a powered exoskeleton and becomes the technologically advanced superhero, Iron...

 (2008) ... Special Effects Company (additional visual effects)

15. Pathology

Pathology (film)

Pathology is a 2008 thriller horror film directed by Marc Schölermann and written by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the writers of Crank. The cast was announced on April 4, 2007 and filming started in May 2007...

 (2008) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

16. Street Kings (2008) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

17. Nim's Island

Nim's Island

Nim's Island is a 2008 Australian adventure-fantasy film directed by Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin and starring Abigail Breslin, Jodie Foster, and Gerard Butler. The story is based on the book Nim's Island by Wendy Orr. A young girl, Nim, seeks help from the author of her favorite adventure...

 (2008) ... Special Effects Company

18. John Adams (2008) ... Special Effects Company

19. The Mist

The Mist (film)

The Mist is a 2007 American science-fiction horror film based on the 1980 novella of the same name by Stephen King. The film is written and directed by Frank Darabont, who had previously adapted Stephen King's works The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile...

 (2007) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

20. The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner (film)

The Kite Runner is a 2007 drama film directed by Marc Forster based on the novel of the same name by Khaled Hosseini. It tells the story of Amir, a well-to-do boy from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul, who is tormented by the guilt of abandoning his friend Hassan, the son of his father's...

 (2007) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects) (as Café FX Inc.)

21. Evan Almighty

Evan Almighty

Evan Almighty is a 2007 American religious comedy film and the stand-alone sequel to Bruce Almighty . The film was directed by Tom Shadyac, written by Steve Oedekerk, and starring Steve Carell as the title character. Morgan Freeman also reprised his role as God from the original film. Production of...

 (2007) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

22. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is a 2007 American superhero film, and the sequel to the 2005 film Fantastic Four. Both films are based on the Fantastic Four comic book and were directed by Tim Story...

 (2007) ... Special Effects Company (additional visual effects)

23. Spider-Man 3

Spider-Man 3

Spider-Man 3 is a 2007 American superhero film written and directed by Sam Raimi, with a screenplay by Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent. It is the third film in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man...

 (2007) ... Special Effects Company (additional visual effects)

24. Lucifer (2007) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

25. Ghost Rider

Ghost Rider (film)

Ghost Rider is a 2007 superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the character of the same name which appeared in Marvel Comics, the film stars Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze, a stunt motorcyclist who sells his soul to the Devil and transforms into thevigilante Ghost...

 (2007) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects) (as Café FX)

26. Eragon

Eragon (film)

Eragon is a 2006 fantasy-adventure film based on the novel of the same name by author Christopher Paolini. The cast includes Edward Speleers in the title role, Jeremy Irons, Garrett Hedlund, Sienna Guillory, Robert Carlyle, John Malkovich, Djimon Hounsou, Alun Armstrong, Joss Stone, and the voice...

 (2006) ... Special Effects Company (additional visual effects)

27. The Good Shepherd

The Good Shepherd (film)

The Good Shepherd is a 2006 spy film directed by Robert De Niro and starring Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie, with an extensive supporting cast. Although it is a fictional film loosely based on real events, it is advertised as telling the untold story of the birth of counter-intelligence in the...

 (2006) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

28. The Astronaut Farmer

The Astronaut Farmer

The Astronaut Farmer is a 2006 American drama film directed by Michael Polish, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Mark. The story focuses on a Texas rancher who constructs a rocket in his barn and, against all odds, launches himself into outer space.-Plot:Charles Farmer is a former...

 (2006) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects) (as Café FX)

29. Snakes on a Plane

Snakes on a Plane

Snakes on a Plane is a 2006 American horror-action-thriller film directed by David R. Ellis and starring Samuel L. Jackson. It was released by New Line Cinema on August 18, 2006 in North America...

 (2006) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects by) (as Café FX)

30. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is a 2006 street racing action film directed by Justin Lin. It is the third installment in the The Fast and the Furious film series and currently the sixth in terms of series chronology...

 (2006) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects) (as Cafe FX)

31. Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth is a 2006 Spanish Spanish-language dark fantasy film, written and directed by Mexican film-maker Guillermo del Toro. It was produced and distributed by the Mexican film company Esperanto Films...

 (El Laberinto del Fauno) (2006) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

32. Scary Movie 4

Scary Movie 4

Scary Movie 4 is the fourth film of the Scary Movie franchise, directed by David Zucker, written by Jim Abrahams, Craig Mazin and Pat Proft, and produced by Craig Mazin and Robert K. Weiss. It is distributed by The Weinstein Company via its Dimension Films unit in the U.S. and Television, and...

 (2006) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

33. Art School Confidential (2006) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

34. Underworld: Evolution

Underworld: Evolution

Underworld: Evolution is the second installment in the Underworld series, following Underworld in 2003...

 (2006) ... Special Effects Company (additional visual effects)

35. King Kong

King Kong (2005 film)

King Kong is a 2005 fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a remake of the 1933 film of the same name and stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody. Andy Serkis, through performance capture, portrays Kong....

 (2005) ... Special Effects Company (additional visual effects)

36. Memoirs of a Geisha

Memoirs of a Geisha (film)

Memoirs of a Geisha is a 2005 film adaptation of the novel of the same name, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Spyglass Entertainment and by Douglas Wick's Red Wagon Productions. It was directed by Rob Marshall. It was released in the United States on December 9, 2005 by...

 (2005) ... Special Effects Company (additional visual effects) (as Cafefx)

37. Shopgirl

Shopgirl

Shopgirl is a 2005 American romantic drama film directed by Anand Tucker. The screenplay by Steve Martin is based on his 2000 novella of the same name.-Plot:...

 (2005) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects) (as CaféFX)

38. Bad News Bears (2005) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

39. Fantastic Four

Fantastic Four (film)

Fantastic Four is a 2005 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics comic Fantastic Four. It was directed by Tim Story, and released by 20th Century Fox. It is the second live-action Fantastic Four film to be filmed. The previous attempt, a B-movie produced by Roger Corman only for the...

 (2005) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

40. The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D (2005) ... Special Effects Company (digital visual effects)

41. Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005 film)

Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a 2005 American romantic comedy action film directed by Doug Liman and written by Simon Kinberg. The original music score was composed by John Powell...

 (2005) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects) (as CafeFX Inc.)

42. Sin City

Sin City (film)

Sin City, also known as Frank Miller's Sin City, is a 2005 crime thriller film written, produced and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez...

 (2005) ... Special Effects Company (digital visual effects)

43. Are We There Yet?

Are We There Yet?

Are We There Yet? is a 2005 American family comedy film which was produced by Revolution Studios and was distributed by Columbia Pictures, directed by Brian Levant...

 (2005) ... Special Effects Company (additional visual effects)

44. Flight of the Phoenix

Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film)

Flight of the Phoenix is a 2004 remake of a 1965 film, both based on the 1964 novel The Flight of the Phoenix, by Elleston Trevor, about a group of people who survive a plane crash in the Gobi Desert and must build a new plane out of the old one to escape. The film stars Dennis Quaid, Tyrese...

 (2004) ... Special Effects Company (digital effects)

45. The Aviator (2004) ... Special Effects Company (additional visual effects)

46. Blade: Trinity

Blade: Trinity

Blade: Trinity is a 2004 American superhero vampire action film, written and directed by David S. Goyer, who also wrote the screenplays to the first two Blade films...

 (2004) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

47. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is a 2004 American pulp adventure science-fiction film written and directed by Kerry Conran in his directorial debut. The film is set in an alternative 1939 and follows the adventures of Polly Perkins , a newspaper reporter, and Harry Joseph "Joe" Sullivan ,...

 (2004) ... Special Effects Company (additional visual effects)

48. Hellboy

Hellboy (film)

Hellboy is a 2004 supernatural superhero film, starring Ron Perlman, John Hurt and Selma Blair, directed by Guillermo del Toro. The film is based on the Dark Horse Comics work Hellboy: Seed of Destruction by Mike Mignola. It was produced by Revolution Studios, and distributed by Columbia Pictures...

 (2004) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

49. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a 2003 film directed by Peter Weir, starring Russell Crowe as Jack Aubrey, with Paul Bettany as Stephen Maturin and released by 20th Century Fox, Miramax Films and Universal Studios...

 (2003) ... Special Effects Company

50. Gothika

Gothika

-Box office:Gothika was released on November 21, 2003 in North America, grossing $19,288,438 in the opening weekend and ranking at #2, behind The Cat in the Hat. It went on to gross $59,694,580 in the domestic market and $81,896,744 from foreign markets for a worldwide total of $141,591,324...

 (2003) ... Special Effects Company (visual effects)

Extra information

CafeFX was also the sole provider of visual effects for Seven Pounds

Seven Pounds

Seven Pounds is a 2008 film, directed by Gabriele Muccino. Will Smith stars as a man who sets out to change the lives of seven people. Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, and Barry Pepper star. The film was released in theaters in the United States and Canada on December 19, 2008, by Columbia Pictures...

, a Sony Pictures Entertainment film starring Will Smith, which opens on December 19, 2008.

CafeFX completed work on approximately 100 shots for the film adaptation of the classic comic book, Ghost Rider

Ghost Rider (film)

Ghost Rider is a 2007 superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the character of the same name which appeared in Marvel Comics, the film stars Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze, a stunt motorcyclist who sells his soul to the Devil and transforms into thevigilante Ghost...

, starring Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes. The studio was called on to introduce the film's main villain—Blackheart—during a storm featuring fire rain and clouds with demon faces.

Snakes on a Plane

Snakes on a Plane

Snakes on a Plane is a 2006 American horror-action-thriller film directed by David R. Ellis and starring Samuel L. Jackson. It was released by New Line Cinema on August 18, 2006 in North America...

- As the lead visual effects studio, CafeFX created more than half of the 500 VFX shots, including some 100 photoreal snake sots as well as all of the airline exteriors. CafeFX also handled all the airplane inflight exteriors shots and the Boeing's climactic emergency landing at LAX.

Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth is a 2006 Spanish Spanish-language dark fantasy film, written and directed by Mexican film-maker Guillermo del Toro. It was produced and distributed by the Mexican film company Esperanto Films...

- Tasked with 300 shots and five months of post-production, the VFX crew embarked on a journey that required both artistic and technical inspiration to bring director Guillermo Del Toro

Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro is a Mexican director, producer, screenwriter, novelist and designer. He is mostly known for his acclaimed films, Blade II, Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy film franchise. He is a frequent collaborator with Ron Perlman, Federico Luppi and Doug Jones...

's visions to life. The production had very detailed storyboards and the team stuck to those designs "religiously".

2009 releases

• Dragonball Evolution - 20th Century Fox

20th Century Fox

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...

, release date April 8, 2009

• Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is an American adventure comedy film directed by Shawn Levy, and starring Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, and Steve Coogan. The film is a sequel to Night at the Museum...

 - 20th Century Fox

20th Century Fox

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...

, release date May 22, 2009

• Land of the Lost

Land of the Lost (film)

Land of the Lost is a 2009 American science-fiction comedy film directed by Brad Silberling and starring Will Ferrell, Danny McBride and Anna Friel, based on the 1974 Sid and Marty Krofft TV series of the same name.-Plot:...

 - Universal Pictures

Universal Studios

Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

, release date June 5, 2009

• Public Enemies - Universal Pictures

Universal Studios

Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

, release date July 1, 2009

• G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra - Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

, release date August 7, 2009

• The Final Destination - New Line Cinema

New Line Cinema

New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...

, release date August 21, 2009

• Whiteout - Warner Bros.

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

, release date September 11, 2009

• Shutter Island - Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

, release date October 2, 2009

Theme park attraction

A major project underway at CafeFX for the past year is an attraction for “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter,” the world’s first fully immersive Harry Potter themed environment slated to open at Universal Orlando theme park in 2010.

External links

• http://www.cafefx.com
• CafeFX Creates Snakes on a Plane
• http://www.fxguide.com/ article395.html
• http://www.dexigner.com/ design_news/7262.html
• http://findarticles.com/p/ articles/mi_m0HNN/is_2_22/ai_ n18646394