Digital studio Reel FX, Dallas/Santa Monica has brought back former Reel FX Head of Production David Bates as General Manager. Bates spent nearly eight years with Reel FX from 2002-2010, and will leverage his recent executive experience curating talent for creative roles at a wide range of companies to assemble top tier in-house teams for projects across Reel FX's short form and VR divisions. This hire comes on the heels of the recent success of Reel FXs virtual reality division, Reel FX VR. After opening in September 2014, the division has continued to expand and innovate, with an impressive slate of immersive experiences, including a recent The Hunger Games 360-degree narrative experience exploring key moments from throughout Katniss journey across all films, a fully-integrated recruiting experience for the U.S. Air Force out of GSD&M and an impactful VR experience for AT&Ts It Can Wait campaign with BBDO New York.
Notes Bates, I'm incredibly thrilled to rejoin the team at such an exciting time. This talented Reel FX group is creating some of the most ground-breaking, innovative and unique work in the studio's history. My goal as GM is to blaze even more new trails in the months ahead. Weve got a lot of great things happening here now, as well as incredible opportunities on the horizon. Over the next few weeks, well be making several more announcements including new faces and projects.
Bates got his start in creative marketing for FOSSIL, spending nearly a decade in multiple roles, including serving as director of the graphics team for a re-launch of the brand's apparel line as well as leading the creative vision of the in-store experience for stores worldwide. He left FOSSIL to join Reel FX in 2002 as Creative Director and Art Department Manager, evolving the creative breadth of the department. He transitioned to become the SVP/Head of Commercial Production, bolstering in-house talent, broadening the scope of branded projects, overseeing the build out of the Santa Monica space as well as managing sales, project management and operations. He left in 2010 to apply his creative management skills to a diversified range of companies at Plano, TX-based Bedrock Manufacturing for brands such as Shinola, and Filson, and others such as Marissa Webb and Clare Vivier.
About Reel FX
Reel FX develops and produces award-winning animated films, short form content and virtual reality experiences. The company's feature slate, includes the Golden Globe-nominated The Book of Life with Twentieth Century Fox, released on October 17th, 2014. The film also garnered Best Animated Feature nominations from the Critics' Choice Awards, Producers Guild Awards, and Annie Awards. The title is now available on DVD and Blu-ray. Reel FX's first full-length animated feature, Free Birds, was released by Relativity Media on November 1st, 2013 and grossed over $110 million worldwide.
Based out of Dallas, Texas, Reel FX has over 22 years of experience as an award-winning one-stop studio for the creation of animated content including films, special attraction/live venue projects, commercials, and interactive projects for companies like Fox, Warner Bros., DreamWorks Animation and Universal Studios. The studio also maintains a short form division focused on commercials, music videos, theme park attractions as well as virtual reality content through its dedicated VR division, Reel FX VR.
Since opening in 2014, Reel FX VR has developed world-class VR interactive activations and 360 narrative content for innovative brands, such as 20th Century Fox, Acura, American Expresss, AT&T, Frito Lay, GE, Legendary Pictures, Lionsgate, Porsche, Samsung, and the U.S. Air Force. Reel FX VR crafts unique and innovative content for all the leading VR goggle platforms - Oculus, HTCVive, and Samsung Gear VR.
###
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
15/06/2026
Detach from Direct-Attached: How Remote Editing with EVO Keeps Creative Teams Mo...
14/06/2026
Library captures 1960s R&B/pop drum sound
Following on from their recent wave of plug-in effects, Iconic Instruments have just launched an all-new virtual d...
14/06/2026
HBO Comedy Rooster Shot with URSA Cine 17K 65
Brie Clayton June 14, 2026
0 Comments
Large format brings viewers intimately close to characters.
Black...
13/06/2026
Latest expansion pack includes 252 presets
Devious Machines have recently introduced another expansion for their powerful multi-effects plug-in, Infiltrator...
13/06/2026
Create custom DAW/plug-in controllers using prompts
MetaGrid have recently introduced an all-new AI Builder function to their touchscreen-based control surf...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production, Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it has given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what o...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
Digital studio Reel FX, Dallas/Santa Monica has brought back former Reel FX Head of Production David Bates as General Manager. Bates spent nearly eight years with Reel FX from 2002-2010, and will leverage his recent executive experience curating talent for creative roles at a wide range of companies to assemble top tier in-house teams for projects across Reel FX's short form and VR divisions. This hire comes on the heels of the recent success of Reel FXs virtual reality division, Reel FX VR. After opening in September 2014, the division has continued to expand and innovate, with an impressive slate of immersive experiences, including a recent The Hunger Games 360-degree narrative experience exploring key moments from throughout Katniss journey across all films, a fully-integrated recruiting experience for the U.S. Air Force out of GSD&M and an impactful VR experience for AT&Ts It Can Wait campaign with BBDO New York.
