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Tribute Award to Marc Bourbonnais

Each year, the NAD Centre presents a Tribute Award to a graduate that shines with an exceptional career and who inspires the next generation of digital content artists. The 2010 recipient is Marc Bourbonnais, a graduate of the 3D and Visual Effects for Film and Television program in 1996.

Career Path

en/alumni/awards/tribute_prize/images/Prix HommageMarcBourbonnais2.jpg Marc Bourbonnais has been working in the field of visual effects for more than 10 years, and has worked on more than forty feature films, television series and ads. He contracted the 3D bug while studying at the École Polytechnique de Montréal and, more specifically, while producing several short animations for shows, interviews and student projects for the central television "Poly TV". It is thanks to these videos that Marc was accepted at the NAD Centre, where he completes a specialized program in 3D design.

At the end of his studies, Marc starts working for Société Radio-Canada on "Branché", a show dealing with new technologies. He leaves Radio-Canada in 1997 to go work at Hybride, while teaching effects and animation to students of the Film/Television program at the NAD Centre. At Hybride, he first worked as a 3D generalist artist to then become, as of 2001, the lead technical director of the 3D department: "I started off as a generalist but as the structures were being put in place, departments were also being created. It's precisely at that moment that I took on the role of lead technical director. In 10 years, we went from 20 to 100 employees", explains Marc during an interview. He also remembers his first advertising contracts for Labatt Blue, as well as his first feature film, The Faculty, released in theatres on December 25, 1997.

During the 10 years he spent at Hybride, Marc participated in several major film and television productions such as: Snakes on a Plane, Maurice Richard, Sin City, Nouvelle France, la Grande séduction or even Spy Kids. "One of the projects I enjoyed most was 300; I am very proud of the production and Zack Snyder's artistic vision was very interesting", tells Marc.

Always looking ahead…

In July 2007, Marc founds Modus FX, a digital production company in a 1200 sq. ft. building, located in Sainte-Thérèse. As president, Marc manages the administration and the financing of the company and assumes the role of executive producer on ongoing projects. "I decided to start my own company because I needed new challenges in terms of management and administration. And, there was also work that couldn't be completed yet in Montreal, which meant that there was still room for more", comments Marc.

Modus FX started off with three projects: Screamers II, the TV series for TF1: les Corbeaux and the feature film Mr. Nobody, recipient of a "Gold Osella" at the Venice film festival. Since its beginnings, Modus FX has been extremely busy and has completed twenty or so film and television projects such as: Dinolab II, Atlas 4D, America: History of the US, etc. "We created Modus FX to be a multi-project platform. At the beginning of the year, we had about 8 or 9 ongoing projects", explains Marc. Indeed, Modus works on very diverse productions: a project on wide screen, IMAX format in 3D stereoscopy for Shanghai universal expo, British documentaries for the History Channel, Discovery and BBC, several films such as The American, Super and a feature film, March of the Dinosaurs, entirely produced in CGI on dinosaurs to be released worldwide, etc.

Beyond being a manager, Marc Bourbonnais is a visionary as illustrated in his words:"Modus FX still has many dreams to accomplish. Looking ahead, we would like to define ourselves as a major hub for visual effects related to film production. This is achieved through research and development, a division, which we are currently putting on place."

The NAD Centre wishes to warmly thank, Marc, for the model and inspiration he represents for the next generation of 3D artists who dream of pursuing a career in the fascinating world of the digital arts.