Leadership

Sándor “Gara” Garaczi
Sándor “Gara” Garaczi
Head of CGI
18+ years at GYAR
Back

I wear several hats at GYÁR, being a VFX artist, a supervisor, even project & client service manager. I joined the company in 2005, at the very beginning of the company, actually before the first switch-on of the rendering server. The GYÁR co-founder, Robi, is my childhood friend.

How did you get into the industry? 

I got intrigued by the CGI early on, and started to learn modelling, for a half a year totally on my own. I got very good at color grading & rendering, even tipped my toes even in animations back then. And when I heard that GYÁR will start soon as a brand new studio, I was ambitious to join because I saw the opportunity to jump on the bandwagon to develop together with this young company.

What is your superpower?

I have a trait to absorb all the project related information, I am also good at managing other persons’ time & stress level to produce quality works hitting the deadline always.

What were your favourite projects so far?

Maybe Mattel’s Hot Wheels advertisement series (see our Hot Wheels Showreel on Vimeo), made for the US market, from the years of 2010-’13. I liked these projects so much because we were lucky to develop the whole 3D environment & looks from scratch. The client was fascinated by our concept works so much that they threw their visual directions in the trash and replaced them with our world. You can see them here and there. 

I always loved modelling for automotive ads because of their momentous scale, just take a look for example on our works for Toyota ("Camry" or "Portal"). Also, there were funny situations several times in the pre-smart-phone era when we did not get any models about the new phone, just a few photos, and then we had to create the CGI based on these limited inputs only.

From the management & company culture perspective, I like to participate in those kinds of projects when we collaborate with other studios & freelancers, especially with folks working in other countries, because they always bring in fresh views & inspirations into the GYÁR family.

What do you do if you are not working?

Countryside family life. A few years ago, I moved to a small town near Budapest, after spending decades in the Hungarian capital, with my beautiful wife & 2 charming kids (age 2 and 6 now) to live in a large garden full of fruit trees. 

How do you grow professionally?

Regarding the VFX profession: everything about generative AI. I am committed to building my leadership & management skills by practice, experience, empathy, reflection.

What is your favourite movie of all time?

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas + Tropic Thunder

 

Robi Erdélyi
Robi Erdélyi
Co-Founder, COO
19+ years at GYAR
Read about Robi
Áron Németi
Áron Németi
Head of Compositing
19+ years at GYAR
Read about Áron
András “Piri” Piroska
András “Piri” Piroska
Creative Director / Head of VFX Production
17+ years at GYAR
Read about András