mark benard

Founder & VFX Supervisor of Lost Boys

Watch Land of Movie Magic >>

Bridging the Gap - Education & Industry

A pioneer of Vancouver’s VFX Industry, Benard brings over 20 years of studio, on-set, and supervisory experience from projects across the globe and applies this knowledge to advancing the field of Visual Effects education. Along with shaping the direction of the school, Benard provides instruction, supervision and personal mentoring within all of Lost Boys | School of Visual Effects Programs. As a veteran in his field, Benard was nominated Education & Technology chair for the Visual Effects Society Vancouver section from 2011-2015. In 2013, listening closely to industry feedback, Lost Boys made the switch from general Visual Effects studies to pioneer highly specialized programs more reflective of modern Studio Pipelines. Benard considers specialized craft/trade based, industry certified training, to be the future of visual effects education and will continue to push development in this direction.

History

In 1996, Mark Bénard began his career as an independent visual effects (VFX) artist in Vancouver’s newly developing industry. News of his innovative and pioneering work attracted the attention of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Digital Studios. Together they created the internationally acclaimed Lost Boys Studios – one of Canada’s top 3D animation and visual effects boutiques. While operating Lost Boys Studios, Bénard was known for his hands on approach to management, working alongside his team as a Visual Effects Supervisor, Producer and Artist on hundreds of award-winning film, television, game cinematic and commercial productions.

After 10 years of running an award-winning studio, Bénard transitioned the business towards visual effects training. A direction chosen after noticing the failure of standard education models in producing job ready VFX artists. Traditionally, young artists would compete for limited studio entry level positions, slowly mastering their craft over several years under the guidance of senior artists. Bénard developed a curriculum that embraced mentor driven project based learning carefully designed to reduce the lengthy development time down to one year. This method produced an accelerated pathway to grasping the complex skill requirements of VFX Production and have resulted in his graduates enjoying an unprecedented 98% placement rate.

TV & Film Production Credits - iMDB Credits

*Follow through to the Internet Movie Database

"Project based learning is the key to learning a complex craft such as Visual Effects. Emphasis must stay on the creative problem solving process with fundamental technical skill development in strong support."

"Career training requires a close partnership between education and industry. Our near perfect placement rate is a testament to our commitment to stay on the cusp of relevance."

"Practical training in the field of visual effects has eluded traditional education models. With the visual effects industry, innovation and adaptation is key. Boutique training institutions such as Lost Boys allow for the constant evolution and nimbleness required to be the pre-eminent School of Visual Effects"

"An inspiring work space full of like minded and supportive fellow explorers creates a natural learning environment."

Select Media

Play

VFXforFilmakers-MarkBenard-2020

Play

Vancouver Land of Magic Documentary-2016

Business Recognition

Top 40 Under 40
2003

Business in Vancouver Magazine

Ernst & Young
2004

Entrepreneur of the Year Nomination

BC Export Awards Finalist
2002

New Media & Entertainment

Top 10 of BC's 50 Fastest Growing Companies
2002

Business in Vancouver Magazines

Rising Star of Animation
1997

Animation Magazine

Click Here

Previous slide

Next slide

Creative Awards

International Monitor Award
2000

Bacardi // Best Visual Effects

Emmy Nomination 2001

Outstanding Special Visual Effects (Stargate SG-1)

New York Festivals
2001

Best Animated Film

Leo Awards
2004

Best Visual Effects Feature Length Drama

FIAP Advertising Award
2000

GNP Insurance / Best Computer Animation Commercial

Gemini Nomination
2001

Best Visual Effects Series (Stargate SG-1)

Circulo Creativo Advertising Award
2000

GNP Insurance / Best 3D Animation

Northwest International Film Festival
2001

Best Animated Film

Mobius Advertising Award
2001

GNP Insurance / Best Computer Animation

3D Festival Nomination
2003

Best Gaming Cinematic // Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2

Crystal Screen Awards
2003

Coca-Cola Beat "Tornado"

Vancouver Island Short Film Festival
2006

Best Technical Production // The Orchid & The Rose

Houston Worldfest Gold Award
2006

Animation // The Orchid & The Rose

Leo Nomination
2007

Best Visual Effects Feature Length Drama

Mistics
2008

Science, Technology, & Innovation Nomination

Previous slide

Next slide

A VFX Supervisor Supporting Your Projects

Industry Testimonials

Mark's years of experience, both as an instructor and as a member of the VFX Industry truly help to elevate his students to their greatest potential. Anyone looking to be professionally prepared for a career in visual effects would be hard pressed to find anywhere better than Lost Boys Studios with Mark Bénard.

Gavin Templer

Head of FX Pipeline TD | ICON Creative Studio

I had the pleasure of being one of Mark's students at Lost Boys Learning. During that time, I have come to respect Mark not only for his creative approach to teaching but for his commitment to his students. He is a very talented visual effects artist with years of production experience that his students greatly benefit from. A resourceful, enthusiastic, and dedicated mentor. His diligence, energy and sense of humour is contagious. I highly recommend him as a teacher.

John Lipskie

CG Lead | Zoic Studios

Mark is an awesome mentor and also a stellar person. As anyone who has ever worked with him or studied at Lost Boys will tell you, he a great professional and, along with Gillian, has structured the best project based learning program that you could ever hope for.

Georgios Kyparissous

Lead FX TD | Industrial Light & Magic

Mark Bénard and I have worked together many times over the past 15 years, so when an opportunity came to speak to the students at Lost Boys I was there. The school’s in a great location, the students were very tight and co operative, and seemed like a social group. I think my talk at Lost Boys was the longest I ever did, the student’s asked intelligent questions so I was happy to spend the entire day with them. They understood all of the basic and most advanced concepts and had great artistic flare in their work, by far one of the best groups I’ve spoken to.

I recently had the privilege of giving a short lecture to the Lost Boys students, I also reviewed their demo reels which are very impressive. The class size is small and production based, the equipment is high end. The problems are real world and the instruction is from a proven professional in Mark Bénard, supplemented by industry speakers. The focus seems to be on getting each student production ready, and the demo reels reflected this.

Having worked for Mark Bénard at Lost Boys Studios, I was interested to see how he would impart his vast vfx wisdom at his school of visual effects. After seeing the program in action and meeting the students, I can see why their grads are snapped up so quickly — they are truly given the training they need to hit the ground running in production.

Lost Boys provides exactly the kind of curriculum the VFX industry needs; project-based studies that incorporate all aspects of today’s digital pipeline. The students are extremely fortunate to have in Mark Bénard a real, experienced VFX supervisor at the helm of the program, and we know that graduates from Lost Boys will be able to hit the ground running.

The work being produced by Lost Boys under the guidance of Mark Bénard is top notch. This is some of the best Visual Effects that I’ve seen coming out of a school in a long time.

LOST BOYS | SCHOOL OF VFX