VFX supervisor Armen Kevorkian has followed an unusual career path as both creative director at Encore VFX and a successful director of episodic television shows. He built Encore VFX from an adjunct to the post house (Encore’s post division is now part of Company 3) to the sole effects provider for a slate of TV episodes, including many from creator/producer Greg Berlanti for the CW, such as Supergirl and The Flash.
Armen Kevorkian
Kevorkian has received multiple awards and nominations for his VFX. Among them are six Primetime Emmy nominations and a win for the series Banshee; six VES Award nominations and a win for Banshee; and six HPA Award nominations.
He has concurrently served as director for multiple episodes of The Flash and Supergirl.
How did you first get into visual effects?
I started in the industry when I took an internship at Star Trek: Voyager. Then, just a month into my internship, there was a job opening in the post and visual effects department. They offered me the job. I worked on Voyager and then Enterprise for a total of five years. It was a great experience, and I learned an enormous amount, not only about post and visual effects but really about the whole process of making episodes of television.
Then I went out on my own and freelanced as a visual effects coordinator for several shows for the next several years until I started supervising. I was VFX supervisor on the TV movie Mammoth and a number of series, including Invasion, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Ghost Whisperer.
The Flash — “Rupture”
When did you join Encore, and what did you do for them initially?
I started at Encore in 2011 as a supervisor on many shows, including Banshee, The Newsroom and Ray Donovan. Then in 2014, I became the creative director, and then I was responsible for all of Encore VFX.
Did you have a particular vision about the kind of work you wanted the company to do when you took over?
At that time, most of the shows Encore did weren’t all that effects-intensive. We did work on Banshee, and I wanted to bring in more projects like that — shows with more effects, which required more challenging and intensive work.
When did you start to realize that goal?
When we started working on The Flash, we were able to really show what we could handle as a company. It’s a complex show that involves a significant number of effects shots week after week, and we were completely involved in the process from the start.
We began working with the show creatives at preproduction. We were very much involved in developing the looks: what Flash would look like when he’s flying, what the digital extensions and mattes would look like, what the vehicles and all those types of elements would look like. We successfully turned complex workarounds at the speed necessary for TV, which led to us doing more series.
Armen Kevorkian
How did you also become a director?
I started directing because The Flash and Supergirl needed a second unit director for effects sequences. I was the director for the live-action elements for flying sequences for both shows, and that evolved into directing pretty much all the second unit for Supergirl‘s first season. Then, if one of the shows didn’t make their day but had scenes that weren’t necessarily effects shots still to be shot and the director wasn’t available, I would do second unit directing for non-effects sequences.
After doing this for about a year, the producers approached me and asked if I’d like to direct an entire episode of The Flash. I said yes, of course! Later, I directed an episode of Supergirl. Since then, I’ve been able to direct one or two episodes a year, depending on my schedule.
Was directing something you’d wanted to do before the opportunity came up?
It was something that I absolutely wanted to do, but I didn’t make a big deal out of it to other people. I was very happy with visual effects supervision.
The Flash — “Magenta”
Did you feel confident directing your first episode?
I’ve spent a lot of time since my first job on set and in post. All that prepares you for what goes into making an episode of television and how strategy comes into place from the very beginning — it’s about how you’re executing all the different elements together in the correct order to achieve what you want. It’s not all about the effects and the action; it’s about telling a story. The scripts for the shows are outstanding, which is undoubtedly an excellent place to start. The most intimidating part was that I’d never worked with actors on a full episode. I wondered how they were going to react. Was I just the VFX guy who comes in just for action or effects sequences?
Were the actors skeptical?
No. All the actors were fully supportive. They were used to me directing the scenes I did and there was no resistance from them or the crew when I was directing whole episodes. In fact, on my first day, Tom Cavanagh (who played Harrison Wells on The Flash) came up to me and said, “I just want you to know that you have my full support.” That makes you feel at ease!
Has Encore also expanded into feature work recently?
Yes. We worked on several features, including Copshop and Boss Level for the director Joe Carnahan and Love Simon, which Greg Berlanti directed. And we have several other feature projects in the works.
Supergirl — “Welcome Back, Kara!” directed by Armen Kevorkian
Would you say visual effects for feature films is completely different from doing them for TV?
One of the biggest misconceptions in this industry is that doing TV visual effects isn’t as difficult or doesn’t require the same skill as features. I’ve always felt that the types of shows I’ve worked on can take at least as much planning as VFX work for some features or shows on the major streaming services — projects that sometimes have months to deliver what we have weeks, or days, to do for network TV.
What is the most significant way VFX work has evolved since you started?
The overall talent pool has definitely expanded since I started, and there’s more robust software. We can also give productions much more flexibility to shoot without some of the restrictions that used to be necessary [for the effects and composites to work]. That is helpful for everybody in the process.
In the future, would you like to focus more on directing, or do you enjoy going back and forth between effects and directing?
I’m torn, if I’m honest. I love what we’ve built here at Encore VFX. We’ve spent 10 years evolving a 10-person fix-it facility into a full-blown VFX house with over 300 employees spread out over three locations. It’s sort of been my baby in that way. And we’ve been working for the past year to make it even better — creating a new pipeline and moving everything up a notch. I love directing, but it would be tough for me to leave Encore and what we are building behind.
Photo Credits: Diyah Pera and Shane Harvey © 2021Warner Bros.
