Andrew Bly grew up in Milton, PA, and moved to New York City at 19 years old. His first freelance gig landed him on the set of Beastie Boys “Ch-Check It Out” and solidified the next year working directly with Adam Yauch at the beginning of Oscilloscope Films. In 2005, Andrew was one of the founding members of VFX house The Molecule, eventually becoming CEO. The Molecule merged with Crafty Apes in 2022, and Andrew is now Head of Studio for the NYC Crafty office.
Andrew is also an active member of the VFX and Post-Production communities, serving as both a board member for the Post New York Alliance and Visual Effects Society. He has become one of these communities’ strongest advocates, and has worked with everyone from lawmakers to local non-profits in New York and LA to make sure that artists have the resources they need to be successful.
Luke DiTommaso is the Creative Director and a Senior VFX Supervisor for Crafty Apes New York. He is a Brooklyn native, who attended and later taught at the School of Visual Arts NYC. Luke got his start as an artist, first as a compositor and later as an on set supervisor. After nearly 20 years as a VFX supervisor with his own company, he joined forces with Crafty Apes. For the last two years he has found a home here working on features like The Exorcist: Believer, and TV series such as Only Murders in the Building and The Equalizer.
Leslie’s dreams of being an artist began when she was three years old, drawing on the walls and furniture of her childhood home in New York City. In time, her artistic pursuits led her to the School of Visual Arts, where she majored in computer art before landing in the professional world of VFX.
Now a 13 year veteran of the industry, Leslie has worked on films and TV shows as both a distinguished supervisor and producer, with credits including all seasons of Star Trek Discovery, Manifest Season 3, The Nighthouse, Marvel’s Runaways, Deadpool 2, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and more. Leslie’s tireless work ethic, fine attention to detail, and commitment to her clients and colleagues has been instrumental in the growth of the talent and culture of Crafty Apes NY and to the NY VFX industry in general. In addition to all her efforts at Crafty, she is also the (two time) current chair of the NY VES board. However, she still makes time for her artistic passions, including illustration, painting, and photography, along with spoiling her two adorable pet rats.
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Opal Fleischmann is an East Coast-West Coast hybrid who completed her undergraduate studies in Spain and spent the beginning of her professional career working as a Spanish translator in the Arts and Education.
After pivoting to the film industry she started out as a post coordinator and some of her first credits were on Manifest S1, Billions, and Little Women. As a post producer she worked on P-Valley S1 and A24’s After Yang. Opal’s official move to VFX came through her work on the Paramount+ series Evil, a supernatural drama with complex creature builds.
As a VFX producer, Opal is credited on notable projects such as The Bear S1 and S2 and the Apple+ series The Last Thing He Told Me. Some of her favorite films are Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Prestige, Interview with the Vampire, and Ratatouille.
Growing up outside of Boston, Sarah’s interest in film was sparked directing elaborate horror films in her basement with a cast of her friends and neighbors. Realizing all this fun could actually become a career, she attended Emerson College to cultivate her interest in film. After finding her feet as a PA, Sarah entered the world of VFX just as the NYC industry took off. Sarah’s VFX producing credits include True Detective, Manhunt: Unabomber, Wu-Tang: An American Saga and Ray Donovan. Sarah is excited to be a part of the Crafty Apes team and continue their incredible work in film and television. In her precious spare time, you can find Sarah trying out new recipes, headed to the movies with friends, or running as far as she can.
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Born and raised in NYC, John’s original aspiration was to play professional basketball for the New York Knicks. Once he realized the limitations of being well under 6 feet tall, John transitioned to his passion of TV and film production. His introduction to the industry was as a Construction Set PA for the NBC series “Kidnapped,” which enabled a path into the Production office. Providing countless adventures, some of the most memorable experiences were between working on set with the Coen Brothers and an all star cast on “Burn After Reading,” to being flown (Business Class) to Paris with “Julie & Julia’s” France Unit. John continued as a Production Coordinator for close to a decade, but it was on the set of USA Networks’ “Royal Pains” where he established a life-long relationship with Luke DiTommaso, who was the VFX Supervisor during the show’s 8 season run. John later joined Luke and Andrew Bly as a Bid Producer and eventually Head of Production for their company, Molecule VFX until 2020. After spending two seasons as the Post Supervisor for the Paramount+ series “Evil“, John reunited with Andrew and Luke as a Senior Producer for Crafty Apes’ NY office, where he continues his career in VFX.
John spends his free time taking his 5-year-old on as many city adventures as possible, searching for the best NYC slice (which he currently holds Prince Street’s margarita slice as #1), and he still roots hard for the New York Knicks.
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Born and raised in small-town Ontario, Matt moved to the big city to attend the University of Toronto. After graduating he began his career at Mr. X as an assistant VFX producer, contributing to a wide range of projects, including Penny Dreadful, American Made, and the Academy Award-winning Roma and The Shape of Water.
Matt became the studio’s bidding producer in 2017, relocating to Los Angeles and helping bring in projects including Ad Astra, Creed II and Da 5 Bloods. He moved back to Toronto in 2020 to work on the first season of Vikings: Valhalla. In 2021, Matt joined the team at The Molecule in New York, and then on to Crafty Apes, where he has worked as the studio’s VFX producer on Outer Range, Only Murders in the Building and most recently, Tulsa King.