A.I.A. Productions operates from its offices in Tucson, Arizona, producing software for the motion picture industry, also offering original written, filmed and animated content, VFX and production services for independent feature motion pictures.

Founded in Manhattan in 1958, A.I.A. has created many technological innovations that have spanned nearly half a century. Alec, our founder, designed and built a variety of 35mm and 16mm animation cameras, programmable animation stands and optical benches for visual effects, titles and cartoons. Alec passed away in Burbank, California in 1997, leaving a legacy of excellence and innovation behind the motion picture company he literally built from scratch after resigning his post as the U.S.I.S. Art Director for the American Embassy in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

A.I.A. Productions has been producing animation and visual effects since the 1950's, researching and developing new techniques and technologies. Most notable, the development of CineMatrix Filmmaking Software in 2002. We also developed the first reflex/rotoscope capable F-35 and A-35 motion control/animation camera body in Super 35mm for use with the Panavision Primo lens system in the 1990's. We developed the EnterColor film colorization process in the 1980's. And we developed lip-sync animatics in the 1970's. We also developed the first operational and programmable multimedia system under contract to NASA for the 1964 New York Worlds Fair. In the late 1950's, we developed the first lightweight, eight foot tall column animation stand for use in commercial office space as well as the tabletop 16mm & 35mm optical bench with bipack magazines. How many visual effects providers have the sophistication to build their own cameras? Only two: A.I.A. Productions and Industrial Light & Magic; they serve the big studios, we serve independent filmmakers.

Concurrently, A.I.A. Productions has produced animated pilots, animation and effects for CBS television, Bob Kane (creator of Batman), and Fred Ladd (the creator of modern Anime) as well as many Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Manhattan and Los Angeles. Most recently, A.I.A. Productions produced the feature length series of multimedia films for the New York City Law Enforcement and Firefighter Memorials of September Eleventh that reached audiences of more than three million people worldwide. When the Mayor's Office of New York dedicated a school to P.O. Ramon Suarez, one of the WTC Heroes, they called A.I.A. Productions for their media requirements for both English and Spanish.

James Arnett and co-producer Ivette Segarra presented awards by NYSFOP President Frank Ferreyra at the State Conference 9-30-02 in New York for the Law Enforcement videos produced for the September 11th World Trade Center Memorial before Senator Schumer, Nassau County Police Commissioner Lawrence and Deputy Commissioner of public safety DeLapp.

 

After 23 years, A.I.A. Productions motion picture company moved from Manhattan to Sherman Oaks, California in 1981. Alec passed away in Burbank, California in the summer of 1997. A.I.A. Productions then regrouped and relocated to Arizona in January 2001 under the management of Alec's son and junior partner, James Arnett.

Today, James Arnett is the Creative Director of A.I.A. Productions, having a broad background in content development, software engineering, graphic design and project management that he brings to the table; an award winning writer, filmmaker, university instructor, and author, James has a unique technical capacity to express his creativity in several mediums with worldclass excellence recognized in both the commercial and public sectors. In 2001, James prototyped the transition of the NASA website for NASA Administrator Goldin's office to Macromedia Flash. Even the White House invited him to consult for Convergent Media applications in 2002.

A second generation filmmaker, he apprenticed at his father Alec's animation studio and produced his first multimedia program at a very early age. James is also an accomplished 3D modeler and animator, drawing upon old school animation and cine techniques to add depth to new school 3D animation, handling everything from the modeling and and animation to the cinematography and compositing. His models are used worldwide in everything from television commercials and feature films to military technical projects in the Defense Department. His visual effects work can be seen in independent feature films, in everything from DV to 35mm theatrical films.

With professional experience that goes back to the late 1970's inking & painting animation cels growing up in the family animation business, he also has served on projects as a Key Animator, Director, Director of Photography for 35mm and 16mm film, linear and non-linear Editor, Digital Effects Artist, Practical Effects involving Weapons and Effect Setups, as well as developing new processes and equipment for the entertainment industry. James is one of the few working film Directors with the creative and technical background to pull ambitious projects together, combining both traditional and digital methods seamlessly into a finished product. James produced the first feature-length Flash animation series to ever stream over the Web for dialup modem speeds with an audience of over three million viewers worldwide.

Also an award winning HWA writer (Horror Writers Association), James writes screenplays, narratives and also university textbooks, most notably, The Guide Book For Guerrilla Filmmakers read by over 350,000 people since 1993, listed by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) as an online educational reference work. James's first screenplay Valhalla won in the Sci-Fi category at Worldfest and got him into Paramount's Star Trek: The Next Generation as a treatment developer at the request of Executive Producer Geri Taylor. Since then, he has written several feature length and short subject screenplays: Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart, The Domain, Happy Trailers, Carmine Street, Apocalypso, Bikini Models Inc, Seven Spanish Angels, Doomsday, The Last Man, Mirage and Just Another Box.

 

Gabriele Andres is the Project Manager of A.I.A. Productions, having a broad background in motion picture production as a Producer and Public Relations Specialist with language skills covering both English and Spanish speaking/reading markets. Gabriele is a hands-on manager with experience in national media events in New York and regional film events in Tucson, Arizona.

Born in Nogales, Mexico, Gabriele remains fluent and literate in both Castilian Spanish and English with the cultural background to do business in both the North and South American continents.

In the past year, Gabriele arranged national broadcast media coverage for the Police Officer Ramon Suarez/September Eleventh dedication of NYC Public School 239 in Ridgewood, Queens, at the request of Mayor Bloomberg's Office, involving leaders in NYC Government and top figures in NYC Law Enforcement community, on behalf of the NYC Department of Education. Gabriele also planned, coordinated and hosted two film showcases in Tucson, Arizona, packed to capacity.

Last year, Gabriele also produced "Just Another Box" as well as producing "Take Me Somewhere Nice", the James Cypherface music video "Quite Obvious / Pour" and a football documentary with the help of the NFL, in addition to providing promotion and production services to several other motion pictures produced locally.

Gabriele acts as scheduler, coordinator and general expediter for all A.I.A. Production projects, including our English and Spanish language client projects, to maintain our reputation of fast, high quality delivery of services locally and worldwide.

 

Alec began his career working as an under-age camoflague painter for the British Army before the U.S. Army hired him away. Within two years of service, Alec was hired by the U.S. State Department as the Art Exhibition Director for the United States Iinformation Service and transferred to the U.S. Embassy in Saõ Paulo, Brazil. He was then promoted to the position of Art Director for the U.S. Embassy Cultural Office in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil while he was still in his 20's. Alec worked for the U.S. State Department throughout the 1950's until he resigned to open his own business in the United States, founding A.I.A. Productions in Manhattan in 1958.

Alec was also a prolific painter, illustrator, optics and electro-mechanical engineer as well as an incredible animator and innovator. At the time of his death in 1997 in Burbank, California, he had just completed the development project for the F series of our 35mm single frame animation camera for motion control applications. The motion picture company Alec founded remains in operation today. This is the official A.I.A. Productions motion picture company website at www.jamesarnett.com

Alec's painting Carnival On The Copacabana 50"x27" Rio De Janerio, Brazil 1956

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