Meet Paul DeNigris | Visual Effects Artist & CEO of Foxtrot X-Ray

We had the good fortune of connecting with Paul DeNigris and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Paul, every day, we are about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
In a way, VFX has always been part of my journey in the film industry. I’m a child of the Spielberg-Lucas blockbuster era which means Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind were the one-two punch that sparked my love of movies and my interest in being a filmmaker. My earliest movies were Lego stop-motion sci-fi shorts. The stories I wrote growing up were all giant sci-fi epics filled with robots and spaceships and alien worlds. But then I went to film school and was introduced to film noir and the French New Wave and all of cinema history. I graduated right in the middle of the 90’s indie film movement that gave us Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. So suddenly I went from wanting to be the next Spielberg to wanting to be one of those guys, making cool indie crime movies. But VFX was always still in the forefront of my mind and my first gig out of college was selling computer systems for digital animation and having to train clients on how to use software like LightWave 3D, which at the time was being used to make VFX for shows like The X-Files and Star Trek. So I dove deep into LightWave and it was that skill set that moved me out west from New York and really got me into the game.

But parallel to that I was writing what would become my indie crime feature The Falls, which a few years later I scraped some money together to produce. My two worlds – VFX artist and filmmaker – really gelled on that film, which ended up having almost 250 VFX shots because I knew I had that set of tools in my toolbox to help stretch my budget. We shot that film in 2001 – and no indie films were really using VFX at that time, much less having 200+ VFX shots in them. From that point on, every film I made had visual effects as part of its inherent design. I’d write material that I specifically knew I’d need VFX to accomplish, sometimes even writing stuff where I wasn’t quite sure if we had the VFX skill to make it happen. So the urge to tell the stories I wanted to tell drove my growth as a VFX artist and also established my reputation among my indie film community as “the VFX guy.”

Flash-forward some years and indie film burnout was real. I felt like I no longer had anything in the tank, or anything left that I wanted to say as a filmmaker. But visual effects continued to have a hold on me, and I had done a very successful stint at a VFX house in Los Angeles that really helped me hone my skills and gave me the confidence to run my own shop. So that’s when I decided to hang up my spurs as a director, open Foxtrot X-Ray, and focus on helping other filmmakers use VFX the way I had, as a tool to help better tell their stories.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
What sets Foxtrot X-Ray apart from other VFX companies is that I’m still an indie filmmaker at heart. I don’t want to just be a hired hand who comes in to push pixels around. I want to be a creative partner with the filmmakers who choose us to be on their team. I want to help them problem-solve and find creative solutions that advance their stories first and foremost. I never want to do visual effects for the sake of eye candy or spectacle. It always needs to be centered on the storytelling. And by having that indie filmmaker mindset, I can help my clients find the solutions that get them there most efficiently and cost-effectively. And because I had a 20-year career in education I can mentor filmmakers who’ve never used VFX in their films before and help them feel comfortable with the process.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My favorite spot to eat and drink in Phoenix is my own house! I love cooking and hosting – I’m Italian, it’s my love language. So first stop would be my backyard for homemade pizzas and some signature cocktails. I make a mean Old Fashioned and a cocktail called “Fox on the Run” – bourbon, lemonade, and peach juice – in honor of my company.

After that, we’d hit some sushi spots like Roka Akor, Uchi, and Harumi, and my favorite Italian places that AREN’T my house, Fratelli La Bufala and The Americano. Then my favorite speakeasy Gin and Reel for cocktails and conversation.

If it happens to be April – which is the best month to visit, in my opinion – we’d spend the week at Phoenix Film Festival, watch a couple of dozen movies and go to the best parties in the Valley.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
In July 2022, just weeks after celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary, I lost my wife Laura to a rare form of liver cancer. For the 28 years we were together, she never stopped believing in me. She read my scripts before anyone else, produced my movies alongside me, and supported my decision to stop directing and focus instead on visual effects. She was my biggest cheerleader but also kept me realistic and grounded. If I have any success at all in business and in life, it’s because being married to Laura made me a better man, a better partner, a better father, a better artist, and a better human.

Website: https://foxtrotxray.com/

Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pdenigris/

Linkedin: https://www.instagram.com/foxtrotxrayvfx

Twitter: https://x.com/foxtrotxrayvfx

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foxtrotxrayvfx/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@foxtrotx-ray5095

Image Credits
1. Still from “The Faceless Lady” (Meta / CryptTV)
2. Still from “Inner Demons” (director: Jasmine J. Johnson)
3. Still from “Future48” (Arizona Commerce Authority / Ideas Collide)
4. Still from “Forever Home” (director: Sean Oliver)
5. Still from “Bruja” (director: Steven DeGennaro)
6. Still from Phoenix Film Festival 2023 Opener
7. Still from an internal project, animating our fox mascot
8. Still from “Future48” (Arizona Commerce Authority / Ideas Collide)