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Brian Keeney
 
Brian Keeney
Senior Producer
Sony Pictures Imageworks

Brian Keeney joined Sony Pictures Imageworks in 1996 as a senior visual effects coordinator for "Starship Troopers," which received an Academy AwardŽ nomination for Best Visual Effects. Keeney was digital effects producer on the Academy AwardŽ nominated invisible man thriller, "Hollow Man," managing the crew tasked with development of multiple CG characters. He spearheaded the 3D and visual effects work on the talking cats for the sequel "Stuart Little 2," winner of the VES Award (Visual Effects Society) for Best Character Animation in an Animated Feature. More recently Keeney and a crew of experienced pipeline developers developed digital advances for the production of "The Polar Express" and "Spider Man 2".
Currently, Keeney serves as senior producer for pipeline and software development at Sony Pictures Imageworks. "We're striving to expand the performance of our digital tools. Our clients want to create larger, more complex CG character shows. Our mission is to ensure growth of a strong and flexible pipeline that will continue to enable our artists to create high quality characters and effects that push the envelope of what is possible." Keeney's current projects are: "Open Season", the first CG feature under the Sony Pictures Animation banner; "Monster House", a film building on the performance capture techniques of Polar Express; and the highly anticipated sequel to the successful Spiderman 2.

Prior to Keeney's arrival at Imageworks, and while attending the University of Southern California, he made contact with school alumni working for at Lightstorm Entertainment James Cameron on "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." A working relationship developed, allowing him to be involved in such diverse projects as miniature refurbishing for "T2" and editorial work on special laser disks for home video. This diverse experience at Lightstorm gave him a solid introduction to the professional film making community.

In 1994 he was hired by Buena Vista Visual Effects/Walt Disney Studios as an editorial coordinator on "James and the Giant Peach." "Buena Vista was a great experience," Keeney says. "I was cutting film on a movieola and prepping dailies. I was learning the business from the ground floor up." He later moved on to production work as visual effects coordinator on John Carpenter's "Escape From L.A."