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This year the company won the MTV Music Awards Award for the Best Visual Effects category. "Gloria FX" for his work on the “Where Are U Now” video with Justin Bieber. Moreover, it was this team that worked on four out of five videos that fought for the statuette. Few people know that these young guys are Ukrainians who risked opening a representative office in Los Angeles only a year and a half ago, at the height of the revolution in Kiev.

Now “Gloria FX” works with the stars of the first magnitude: Paris Hilton, Muse, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Marilyn Manson, Shakira, Julio Iglesias, David Guetta and Justin Bieber. The "Forum" met in Los Angeles with 32-year-old producer Maxim Chizhevsky, who, he claims, with his personal presence in the city provides the company with more profitable orders.

According to Chizhevsky, fifty engineers, artists and animators work for Gloria FX. They create visual effects, animation and computer graphics for music videos, films and commercials.

Ukrainian specialists not only add new objects and effects, people and nature, but also often correct the flaws of the face and figure, remove excess weight. “If you need to blow up a car or correct mistakes made during the production of a video, contact us. Nevertheless, I am sure: everything that can be removed naturally, it is necessary to do so. The fewer the effects, the better, ”Chizhevsky explains.

The company, of course, does not show anyone the video before and after the improvements. Viewers should not be disappointed and demonstrate what kind of work lies behind the perfect picture. “Customers do not want to know how much we are working on their face or body,” explains Chizhevsky. “The best post-production is when even the experts do not notice our work.”

Started with home videos

The company was founded in 2008 by artist Anatoly Kuzmitsky and Sergey Mashevsky. Two years later, Max Chizhevsky joined them.

“We started with the filming of a home video, adding special effects there. Then they tried to work with a music video. It's quick and you can roam with creativity, ”recalls the producer.

The first customers of the company were Russian performers - rapper Timati and pop singer Valeria. “After we were not paid for one project, we closed the Russian market. They went deliberately to the American market, but the first one and a half years worked literally “for food” in order to develop connections and show that we can, ”says Chizhevsky.

Post-production fees range from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars. On average, an hour of work withPC Specialist Specialist costs more than $ 40, that is, a high-class professional can earn $ 100 000 and more.

The first client was the favorite of American teenagers Justin Bieber. With him and other customers Ukrainian animators first four years I personally did not meet, willingly took work “for yesterday”, did not sleep at night - in short, worked hard and tried to establish themselves. “Now we are already working with major labels and artists directly. In most cases, I myself am present at the site, which greatly simplifies the work later, ”explains Chizhevsky.

Los Angeles is famous for its large Jewish and large Armenian diasporas. “They all help each other. But, unfortunately, not in the case of Russians or Ukrainians. Therefore, we preferred to work directly with Americans, where everything is simple and only professionalism is valued, ”says Chizhevsky.

The cost of work depends on the order and the star of the client and starts from a few hundred to tens of thousands of dollars.

No right to mistake

Among the last star clients of the Dnepropetrovsk company is the Muse group, for them “Gloria FX” did post-production to the clip. Chizhevsky says that he considered them outright "inaccessible", but they turned out to be "very pleasant and sociable guys."

Another client is Britney Spears, teen idol in 2000's, seemed “simple and open.” She, as well as another famous blonde Paris Hilton, loves a really perfect picture, notes the producer.

Gloria FX works in a very tough environment. “The visual effects market is quite young (about 60 years old) and close (everyone knows each other), so it's rather difficult to get into the business. And if you make a mistake, it is better to change the profession, ”explains Chizhevsky.

To stay on the crest of a wave, Gloria FX created its own school, where in two years young professionals can teach all the nuances of the profession. At the same time they work on real projects.

The results of the Dnepropetrovsk company are really impressive. In the 2014 year - 30 nominations on MTV, eight clips were made on a turnkey basis by Gloria FX. In 2015 - 13 projects.

The fate of MTV awards is usually decided not by the jury members, but by the audience voting on the official website. But "technical" nominations, such as this one, are awarded based on the opinions of industry experts. Therefore, Chizhevsky is especially proud that their company has achieved recognition not only of stars, but also of experts. The next dream is to win an Oscar. This Chizhevsky plans on 2020 year.

Read other materials from the “Our People in Hollywood” series:

Musician Vlad Debryansky - about how he was homeless, and then received a nomination for “Grammy”;

Our people in Hollywood: producer Valeria Phil;

Our Beverly Hills: a doctor with Soviet roots about his clients Michael Jackson and Mile Jovovich;

Lady with a dog. How ex-Kharkiv wore dogs of all Hollywood stars.