please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information . please remove or replace such wording and instead of making proclamations about a subject s importance use facts and attribution to demonstrate that importance . march 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message a major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject . it may require cleanup to comply with wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view . please discuss further on the talk page . august 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message cafefx type private industry visual effects cgi animation founded 1993 headquarters santa maria california usa number of employees 14 or more website cafefx.com cafefx was an award winning feature film visual effects facility offering visual effects production and supervision cg character creation and 3d animation . founded in 1993 by jeff barnes and david ebner cafefx was located in a 36 000 square foot 3 300 m2 studio on an eight acre campus in santa maria the heart of santa barbara county . its commercial and music video division santa monica 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 . cafefx and the syndicate were held by umbrella corporation computercafe group which has also established sententia entertainment a long form production company . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 out of business 2 filmography 2.1 complete list 2.2 extra information 3 2009 releases 3.1 theme park attraction 4 references 5 external links history edit after founding the company in 1993 as computer caf jeff barnes and david ebner kicked off their part time hobby in a small 10 by 10 room inside a local print design studio in santa maria . their initial tools included two amiga 2000 computers a vhs deck and video toaster . they used lightwave 3d d paint and imagine 3d as part of their initial arsenal of software creation . over the next 17 plus years computer cafe would change its name and grow to one of the world top visual effects studios in the world . their first official employee was ron honn who acted as the company designer and storyboard artist . soon to follow was vfx supervisor tom williamson who s connection in the la make up effects industry helped to launch the group to the feature film market . the team 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 worked . said david and then slime tires some crazy projects back then . as their commercial reputation grew so did their client base . starting with an initial campaign on 24 spots for foster s freeze to their first national contract for shasta soda . shasta was the first us nation spot to be fully rendered on a desktop pc . the team next steered its focus on broadcast work being repped by our gang productions and studios such as pittard sullivan . during that time they produced various opens and tv station packages for both regional and nation clientele . some projects include nbc tnt nickelodeon nbc cbs dateline entertainment tonight and the long running hbo feature presentation . still under the banner of computer caf jeff and david moved into motion picture effects by first tackling clive barker s 1995 feature lord of illusion . yet even then notes jeff everything we made we put back into the company . in the late 90 s jeff and david were in a position to expand their operations . interest in a los angeles outlet for their cg feature film work together with a plan to expand stronger commercially led them to first open their first la location inside in virgin entertainments 525 post in hollywood . a year later they expanded into their own space in santa monica where they opened a boutique cg and compositing studio which housed a staff of 8 . in early 2002 they purchased santa monica based telecine company then own by neil feldmen called pacific data post added cg effects and compositing and renamed the company the syndicate . the syndicate quickly become an award winning short form visual effects company providing flame finishing suites full cg services and one of the industries top telecine studios led by the management team of kenny solomon leslie sorrentino and beau leon . in 2005 jeff and david also launched sentenia entertainment a live action production company . 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 . 2 their first project with sententia was as associate producers for guillermo del toro s academany award winning pans labryinth . the following film was danika starring marisa tomei which david and jeff served as executive producers for the film . in 2006 after the success of sin city the santa maria office park they had called home for eleven years soon became cramped leading to the 2005 purchase of the new 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 caf 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 . . notes jeff . out of business edit closed 2010 . filmography edit complete list edit 2010 love ranch 2010 harry potter and the forbidden journey short 2010 alice in wonderland 2010 shutter island 2009 whiteout 2009 the final destination 2009 g.i. joe the rise of cobra 2009 dragonball evolution 2008 seven pounds 2008 red cliff 2008 the happening 2008 speed racer 2008 iron man 2008 john adams tv mini series 2008 pathology 2008 street kings 2008 nim s island 2007 the mist 2007 the kite runner 2007 evan almighty 2007 fantastic 4 rise of the silver surfer 2007 spider man 3 2007 ghost rider 2006 eragon 2006 the good shepherd 2006 the departed 2006 snakes on a plane 2006 the fast and the furious tokyo drift 2006 pan s labyrinth 2006 scary movie 4 2006 art school confidential 2006 underworld evolution 2005 king kong 2005 memoirs of a geisha 2005 zathura a space adventure 2005 shopgirl 2005 bad news bears 2005 the adventures of sharkboy and lavagirl 3 d 2005 mr. & mrs. smith 2005 sin city 2005 are we there yet 2004 flight of the phoenix 2004 the aviator 2004 blade trinity 2004 the dust factory 2004 sky captain and the world of tomorrow 2004 the terminal 2004 hellboy 2003 master and commander the far side of the world 2003 gothika 2003 spy kids 3 d game over 2003 the league of extraordinary gentlemen 2003 identity 2003 the core 2002 spy kids 2 island of lost dreams 2002 halloween resurrection 2002 panic room 2001 impostor 2001 the one 2001 megiddo the omega code 2 2000 dracula 2000 2000 battlefield earth 2000 the crow salvation 2000 waking the dead 1999 fever 1998 armageddon 1998 barney s great adventure 1998 chairman of the board 1997 flubber 1997 star kid 1997 wishmaster 1997 sprung 1995 lord of illusions extra information edit cafefx was also the sole provider of visual effects for seven pounds a sony pictures entertainment film starring will smith which opens on december 19 2008 . 3 cafefx completed work on approximately 100 shots for the film adaptation of the classic comic book ghost rider 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 . 4 snakes on a plane as the lead visual effects studio cafefx created more than half of the 500 vfx shots including some 100 photoreal snake shots 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 . 5 pan s labyrinth 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 s visions to life . the production had very detailed storyboards and the team stuck to those designs religiously . 6 2009 releases edit dragonball evolution 20th century fox release date april 8 2009 night at the museum battle of the smithsonian 20th century fox release date may 22 2009 land of the lost universal pictures release date june 5 2009 public enemies universal pictures release date july 1 2009 g.i. joe the rise of cobra paramount pictures release date august 7 2009 the final destination new line cinema release date august 21 2009 whiteout warner bros. release date september 11 2009 shutter island paramount pictures release date october 2 2009 3 theme park attraction edit 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 . 3 references edit cafefx swims with the fish for evan almighty fxguide web page under construction a b c cafefx announces 2009 production slate art department expansion cafefx contributes to ghost rider levent ozler . cafefx unleashes snakes on a plane . dexigner . a vfx labyrinth external links edit http www.cafefx.com cafefx creates snakes on a plane http www.fxguide.com article395.html http findarticles.com p articles mi m0hnn is 2 22 ai n18646394 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title cafe fx & oldid 744224025 categories visual effects companiesprivately held companies based in 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