Fred Tepper Class of 1982

The first film-related work done by Mr. Tepper was in the sixth grade at Frank Antonides School for a class assignment given by Mrs. Lippel. Fred made a small, animated flipbook cartoon featuring a bouncing basketball and some flying arrows. This simple beginning fueled an interest in movie special effects, primarily stop-motion animation. Watching movies such as the original King Kong and Mighty Joe Young enabled Fred to study stop-motion animation technique. When the film Stars Wars was released, Fred found his interest in visual effects cemented. Throughout high school, Fred made short animated films, either solo or with school friends. Upon graduation from Shore Regional, Fred attended college at the State University of New York at Purchase, Westchester County, and then at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, where he graduated in 1987 with a degree in film. Post-graduation work included work as a production assistant on several low-budget films, as well as on films that were never released. Uncredited work on two films shot in the area includes: Homeboy, starring Mickey Rourke, and The Lemon Sisters starring Diane Keaton and Carol Kane. A move to saw Mr. Tepper learning digital visual effects. Mr. Tepper began working for Amblin Imaging, an effects facility started by one of his friends from high school days, Joe Conti. Work done by Mr. Tepper at Amblin Imaging, and also in a freelance capacity, included: SeaQuest DSV for , M.A.N.T.I.S., Space: Above and Beyond, Encounters, Unsolved Mxsteries, VR-5, The Fugitive {with Harrison Ford), : Voyager (for which he won an Emmy), and the video game, Steven Spielberg’s Director’s Chair. Mr. Tepper moved to a new company, Digital Domain, where he worked on James Cameron’s Titanic, serving as “Digital Ship Lead.” After completion of work on Titanic. Mr. Tepper helped to found Station X Studios, which does animation for commercials, TV movies, and feature films. His recently developed software, Project: Messiah, is a full-featured animation program in use at studios around the world, as well as being affordable to today’s home hobbyist.