LOS ANGELES and MUMBAI February 11, 2008: “The Golden Compass” was recognized with a BAFTA Award in the Special Visual Effects Category at the Orange British Academy of Film and Television Arts ceremony Sunday night in London. Rhythm & Hues’ Visual Effects Supervisor Bill Westenhofer was one of four recipients to receive BAFTA’s golden mask statue, along with fellow Compass supervisors Michael Fink, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood.

Westenhofer led a crew of 500 on two continents over a period of 18 months to produce nearly 400 shots featured in the movie. Rhythm & Hues’ work includes creation of the hero daemons, including Dakota Blue Richard's daemon Pan in all his incarnations; the Golden Monkey (Nicole Kidman’s daemon); Stelmaria, (Daniel Craig’s daemon), along with the spyflies and numerous other characters.

In addition, Rhythm & Hues’ Academy Award®-winning proprietary fluid simulation program was utilized for the creation of the mystical swarming dust clouds seen in the movie's Daemon Death and Battlefield sequences. This technology was recognized by the Academy earlier this month with a Scientific and Technical Academy Award. Recipients include Dr. Jerry Tessendorf, Michael Kowalski, Jonathan Cohen and UCLA Oceanographer and R&H Consultant Jeroen Molemaker.

THE BAFTA AWARDS:
http://www.bafta.org/awards/film/film-awards-
nominees-in-2008,224,BA.html

ABOUT RHYTHM & HUES
One of the world’s leading producers of visual effects and animation for movies and commercials, Rhythm & Hues, founded in 1987, has contributed to more than 115 feature films, including “Babe,” which won an Oscar in 1995 for Best Visual Effects. The studio is also the recipient of three Scientific and Technical Academy Awards. Recent productions include “Alvin & the Chipmunks,” “Evan Almighty“ and “Night at the Museum.” Currently in production at Rhythm & Hues are “The Incredible Hulk,” “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” ”They Came from Upstairs,” “Cirque du Freak,” “Land of the Lost,” “State of Play,” and “The Time Traveller’s Wife.”

For more info: http://www.rhythm.com