PROFILE
ARTEMIS OIKONOMOPOULOU: CINESITE SUPERVISOR IS EXACTLY WHERE SHE SHOULD BE – LIVING VFX
By TREVOR HOGG
Images courtesy of Cinesite and Artemis Oikonomopoulou except where noted. TOP LEFT: Artemis Oikonomopoulou TOP RIGHT: Artemis Oikonomopoulou on set filming Death on the Nile in Egypt. OPPOSITE TOP: Look development of Yellowjacket in Ant-Man. (Image courtesy of Marvel Studios and DNEG)
The ability of the visual effects industry to quickly adapt to the pandemic-inspired, work-at-home mandate was a pleasant surprise for Cinesite Visual Effects Supervisor Artemis Oikonomopoulou. “For everyone and other people I have spoken to, we were all surprised how all of the visual effects companies managed to sort it all out in a matter of one or two weeks. It’s opened the doors now for a new way of working, which was something that was going to happen eventually, but this forced the issue. Since our industry is based a lot on tax breaks, the next step would be for governments to go, ‘Can you work for a London facility but be in France?’ It will be interesting to see how they resolve that. But I will certainly be happy when I’m back in an office again. I’ve never thought I’d say that!” Growing up in Athens during the early 1980s, Oikonomopoulou was a fan of Batteries Not Included, Ghostbusters, and anything by Steven Spielberg. “My parents encouraged us to go to the cinema a lot. It was the golden age of family movies,” she says. The ancient buildings and artifacts were simply part of the landscape. “As a child you spend lots of time being dragged around museums looking at stones and pots from an era which at the time means nothing to you. But when you grow up and think about it, it takes on a different perspective. My mom was an archaeologist.” The first personal computer introduced into the family household was by Amstrad. “There was a lot of Pac-Man and Donkey Kong! It was a different time growing up as there was no Internet. I was subscribing to cinema magazines. It was also a golden age
64 • VFXVOICE.COM SUMMER 2021
PG 64-67 ARTEMIS.indd 64
5/12/21 3:15 PM
