Krystyna Demkowicz

Krystyna Demkowicz, an American visual effects executive producer, entrepreneur, visual effects facility owner/manager and inspirational speaker began her film career as founder of the Marin County based Visual Effect Company, Matte World as it's executive in charge of production, and visual effects producer. In 1988, Demkowicz inspired the founding of Matte World when she suggested, then put into action, the opening of a visual effects studio with Craig Barron, a young talented ex-ILM visual effects matte painting cameraman. Against great odds, Demkowicz launched the company into being with her spirited tenacity and savvy business practices and worked on notable films including "Batman Returns", "Braum Stoker's Dracula", "Casino" and "Titanic". Matte World, one of the earliest U.S. effects studios was the 'David' competing with the 'Goliaths' of the industry, such as Industrial Light & Magic for visual effects film work of the major motion picture studios. Matte World began it's history by creating predominantly seamless 'reality based' matte painting effects and in camera miniature shots, serving clients throughout the motion picture, television, commercial industries and the National Park System. Later re-named Matte World Digital after making its transformation into use of digital technologies, the company added 2D and 3D computer graphics, IMAX large-format productions, electronic games, a project for New York American Museum of Natural History and commercial production to its roster of accomplishments as well as being the first company in the industry to apply radiosity rendering to film, in Martin Scorsese's "Casino". Demkowicz was the life force of the company sustaining it for nearly 20 years. Matte World Digital, with Demkowicz at the helm from it's inception in her capacity as visual effects producer, had completed work on numerous commercials, Michael Jackson's Black or White music video and on 84 feature films, with co-owner Barron receiving visual effects award Oscar nominations for excellence from the Academy of Motion Pictures and BAFTA and winning an Emmy for Outstanding Visual Effects for the HBO production "By Dawn's Early Light"in 1990, with Demkowicz receiving Emmy Honors for her work as Effects Production Manager. The company has taken the cinematic visions of their clientèle and such renowned filmmakers as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron, and David Fincher, and put them on the big screen. It's feature film work, under the management of Demkowicz,ranged from Oscar-nominated effects for Batman Returns to the production "Zodiac". Demkowicz married Barron in 1996, after a 9 year personal and business relationship and then continued to head Matte World Digital as his wife and co-owner for another 11 years. Demkowicz stepped down from the helm of the company in late 2007, with a deep love of the company and for the many men and woman who passed through it's doors and contributed to her life, her company and the effects work created. In addition to her management and production work at Matte World Digital, in 1994 Demkowicz produced the science-fiction short, "The Utilizer," which was broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel in 1996. "The Utilizer" won a number of film festival awards, including best visual effects at the Chicago International Film Festival. Demkowicz also participated and worked with Barron on numerous historical interviews and licensing aspects of a book Barron co-authored with Mark Cotta Vaz. The book, "The Invisible Art: The Legends of Movie Matte Painting," was published by Chronicle Books in 2002 and was the first comprehensive work on the history of matte painting, which paid homage to the artists and the secrets of the art. The book has won the Theatre Library Association of New York award for outstanding book on film, and the United States Institute for Theatre Technology's Golden Pen book award.