With over 15 years in the Visual Effects industry, Alana has seamlessly transitioned from artist to executive leadership. From her early days as a compositor in LA to a decade-long stint in Australia, progressing from comp lead to production & operations management, her focus has consistently centered on enhancing the artist and client experience. Motivated by a desire to create better work environments, Alana made a strategic move into the business side, leveraging an MBA to sharpen her acumen. Returning state-side, she assumed the role of COO at Crafty Apes and, after three impactful years, confidently stepped into the CEO position during a pivotal moment in Crafty’s and the industry’s history. Alana finds balance through artistic pursuits, indulging in oil painting and various crafts. Her passion extends to the intellectual challenge of competitive games, especially chess and strategic board games, often engaging in spirited matches with her husband.
Leo Dencik is a finance leader focused on scaling high-growth organizations with discipline and long-term sustainability. He began his career supporting fast-paced, data-driven companies, including CPO Commerce, Sonic Electronix, and India Hicks, where he led financial planning, operational efficiency, and growth initiatives through periods of expansion. These experiences shaped his strategic approach to building organizations that are both high-performing and resilient.
At Crafty Apes, Leo oversees global finance and plays a key role in guiding the company’s continued growth across its international studio network. Partnering closely with executive leadership, he helps ensure the business remains agile and well-positioned in an evolving entertainment landscape—balancing financial rigor with a deep respect for the creative process.
Based in Los Angeles, Leo enjoys playing tennis and cooking, and is embracing life as an empty nester. He brings a thoughtful, steady perspective to both his work and life outside of it.
Brandon hails from the sticky, gator ridden lands of the Southeast and grew up on a steady diet of 80s movies from his father’s masking-tape-labeled VHS film library. That early understanding of the importance of the visual arts led him to eventually pursue a higher education in the field at Savannah College of Art and Design.
Today Brandon is an accomplished artist and supervisor; an alumnus of Rhythm and Hues and Method Studios. He cites the movie Hackers and the pink and teal Solo Jazz pattern as chief amongst his artistic influences. His list of credits include Fast & Furious, Life of Pi, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and too many talking animal movies and product launches to name.
Brandon loves a challenge and pursues all his interests to their logical extreme, whether that be building motorcycles, hot-tubbing, or making computer pictures. He may never become as strong as The Rock, but he’s not going to stop trying.
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Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Alex ironically developed his love for film when his father took him to the drive-in to see The Shining when he was 5-years old. He began his craft as a filmmaker at thirteen when his parents purchased their first Hi8 camcorder and he started to write, direct, edit and act in his own short films. Alex went on to study acting at USC and Shakespeare & Co. before getting his first job in post production in 2004. While working as a vault manager, Alex would start his own production company, Gantry Productions, in 2006, where he would go on to write, direct, edit (and sometimes act in) two features and four short films. He also developed a love for directing and editing music videos, working with such notable artists at Jurassic 5 and solo members Marc 7 and Soup. Working simultaneously behind the camera and in post, Alex’s appreciation for Visual Effects blossomed, leading him to become a VFX Producer in 2012. His passion for that world took over, and he’s never looked back, eventually becoming a VFX Supervisor in 2016. Alex is proud to have worked as a supervisor on films such as Avengers: Endgame, The Revenant, and The Flash, as well as acclaimed television shows True Detective, Veep, 1883 and What We Do in the Shadows.
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After graduating from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan for Visual Effects, Nico began working as an on set supervisor and an artist in CG/Compositing for episodic TV. He’s now a Visual Effects Supervisor with Crafty Apes and moved to L.A. just a few years ago. Some of his highlight experiences include working with the Sesame Street Workshop puppets, fighting off bad guys with CG creatures in Happy!, and expanding film in the sports world with Lebron James’ The Springhill Company as the overall supervisor on Fantasy Football, in which he partnered with director Anton Cropper from conception through completion. He also served as the overall VFX Supervisor on-set through post on Shawn Levy’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day for Walt Disney Pictures, and Sony’s Karate Kid Legends (Summer 2025). In his spare time, Nico is always composing music, spending quality time with his family in the Northeast, and hiking the treacherous mountains on the Pacific Coast.
Growing up in San Diego, California, John’s favorite class in school was always video/film. Whether dressed as a detective solving mysteries, or popping out of trash cans to the beat of The Proclaimers, John’s love of all things film was solidified. Although his grand oeuvre is yet unrealized, he is filling that creative urge in the realm of visual effects.
John’s VFX journey began doing night-shift rotoscoping for Jason Sanford, where he lived on Trader Joes frozen dinners and RadioLab podcasts. His skills were further forged at Pixomondo, working late nights on the VFX Oscar winning “Hugo,” and making himself sick on Ralphs fried chicken and potato wedges. Occasionally he ate vegetables; sometimes it went poorly. John is also an alumnus of Scanline VFX and Kelvin Optical, where he worked on great teams and also started eating like an adult and competing in triathlons.
John joined the amazing team at Crafty Apes in 2017 and hasn’t looked back, supervising shows such as The Batman, Mulan, Cry Macho, and Spider-Man No Way Home.
When not being attacked by his two small children, which is most times, John’s passions include photography, Padres baseball, US soccer, and travel. If John were an animal he’d be an orange cat.
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A North Carolina native, Tim knew from childhood he wanted to merge his love of art and technology – passions that led him to filmmaking in high school. Shooting short films on an old Sony camcorder and doing his first VFX on his beloved PowerMac, he was hooked. VFX opened a world of possibilities for bringing anything imaginable to life.
Tim began his visual effects career in 2006 as a compositor at Frantic Films (later Prime Focus), working on films like G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra and Avatar. He has since worked at MPC, Technicolor, and Ghost VFX before joining Crafty Apes in 2021. Since joining the Crafty team, Tim has served as compositing supervisor (Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Last of Us, Wizard of Oz at Sphere) and visual effects supervisor (John Wick 4, The Mother, Foundation, Lenovo Tech World at Sphere). Tim still loves getting his hands dirty compositing in Nuke whenever he can.
He lives in Burbank, CA with his wife, dog, and a giant collection of nerdy things.
Andrew’s path began much like many others — with a clear idea of who he thought he wanted to become. That certainty shifted after taking a cinema class with Timothy Callahan at Drury High School, where his passion for storytelling and film truly took shape. He went on to attend Ithaca College in upstate New York, enrolling in the Park School of Communications, before relocating to Los Angeles after graduation to pursue a career in entertainment. Andrew began his professional journey as a ghostwriter for Perez Hilton, before transitioning into the film industry as a runner at Trailer Park. He later moved into editing, and eventually pivoted into visual effects, joining Luma Pictures as a Technical Coordinator. Following a successful tenure there, he joined Crafty Apes, where he started as a Senior Coordinator and ultimately rose to Producer. His credits include all three Tom Holland–led Spider-Man films, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Batman, Jojo Rabbit, Black Panther, and The Wizard of Oz at Sphere Las Vegas. Outside of work, Andrew enjoys bouldering, brewing and appreciating craft beer, and spending time walking his dog.
Caprice VanArsdale developed an early appreciation for film through her love of Studio Ghibli, a passion that led her to study Animation at the Academy for Creative Media at the University of Hawai‘i.
She began her career in stereoscopic conversion, quickly transitioning into production and expanding her expertise across post-production over the past 13 years. With a strong foundation in both creative and technical workflows, Caprice brings a thoughtful, detail-oriented approach to every project she supports.
Throughout her career, she has contributed to a wide range of high-profile work, including blockbuster films, VR experiences, LED volume productions, and theme park attractions. Today, her focus is on delivering high-end visual effects for both theatrical and streaming releases, helping guide projects from concept through final delivery.
Caprice joined Crafty Apes in 2025. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, baking, caring for her ever-growing collection of plants, spending time with her rescue dog, and embracing life in sunny San Diego with her husband.
Reid has over 40 years experience as an artist, producer, supervisor, and manager of visual effects for television, feature film, and special venue production. He is currently a Senior Bidding Producer in the Los Angeles office of Crafty Apes. Reid has traveled extensively to train crews, manage productions, and learn new things including 3D Filmmaking and Virtual Production. Active in the Visual Effects Society, he has been a Co-Chair of the LA Chapter and a member of the Awards Committee since 2003 and Co-Chair from 2019-2024.
Alicia Garibaldi is a global marketing and communications leader with 15+ years of experience spanning brand strategy, content, and growth marketing. At Crafty Apes, she partners closely with studio leadership and creative teams to elevate brand presence, awards campaigns, and client storytelling across film, episodic, immersive, and real-time projects.
Previously, Alicia held senior marketing roles at Glassdoor and Lever and is the author of multiple For Dummies titles. Outside of work, she loves skiing with her family, sunset walks on the beach, cheering from the sidelines, and squeezing in tennis with friends.