Hotspring welcomes Andra Bard as EP

Joining Hotspring as Executive Producer, Andra Bard sits down with us to tell us about her extensive career in the VFX industry. Andra joins with a wealth of experience having spent the past 25 years in creative teams at Digital Domain, WETA, Trace VFX, Technicolor and Sony Imageworks.  We talk about her move to Hotspring and what excites her about the future of the industry. 

One of Andra’s key motivations to join the team was the alignment of her own values and Hotspring’s mission, to empower creatives around the world to thrive: “I am happy and proud to be involved in this network model, where artists are able to have a sense of ownership, agency, and have the option to create a work/life balance important to their and our success.”  

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself? What drove you to get started in production?

“My parents worked at ILM in the early years and I grew up surrounded by a lot of creative folks. Right out of college I started working at Digital Domain where I really fell in love with the business. I’ve been lucky to work at many great places, with some really great people on a wide range of projects.” 

Since Andra began working in the VFX industry, the industry has evolved tremendously. In the last two decades, Andra has seen both access to and desire for media increase exponentially. “I started at the beginning of the digital age and witnessed the shift from optical and miniatures. The demand and the volume for media have risen exponentially- streaming has further increased the demand,” said Andra. Hotspring’s platform solves the demand for more creative professionals in the visual effects industry. Hotspring, importantly, allows studios of all sizes to rise to the demand of inflowing VFX work without changing their infrastructure. 

Is there a particular moment or memory in your work history that really stands out?

“I remember the feeling of excitement when Jurassic Park was released, it shifted the ideas of what was possible. For me personally,” said Andra, “Lord of the Rings was beyond the scope at the time –  the sheer volume and multiple shooting units was overwhelming – yet, with the right team and shared enthusiasm for the work, everything became possible. Looking back, this project was really an indication of where the industry was heading.” 

What attracted you to the platform and where do you see Hotspring going in the future? 

“I was fortunate to work with Jon and Varun at their previous company, Trace VFX, and I’ve been following along with their rollout of Hotspring,” Andra shares “They had the foresight to develop a much-needed tool to service the unprecedented demand for content we’re seeing now, particularly with the wave of work-from-home requirements.” 

On the user interface of the platform, Andra commented, “I am continually impressed with the simplistic yet robust platform that tracks so much information in a user-friendly setup. With Hotspring’s agility, unrestricted by physical overheads, its scalability and growth have no limits.” The platform has a system to find the most skilled professionals based on the requirements of each job which ensures a high quality of work and a fast turnaround time for clients. 

Hotspring is democratizing VFX work and opening up doors to get work done faster and more efficiently on their platform. As the platform grows in number of clients and users, it is a great time to add expertise to the team. 

Andra will bring her enthusiasm, creativity and trusted personal touch to the role of Executive Producer. If you’d like to talk about your next project on West Coast time, get in touch with Andra directly. 

Congratulations on joining the team, Andra!