Matte Painter at Rodeo FX in 2007 at the early stage of the studio
Hey there! I’m Frederic St-Arnaud, a visual effects artist and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience under my belt. My journey has mainly revolved around digital matte painting, set extensions, and concept art, primarily in the film industry. Since the beginning of my career, I’ve had the privilege of building a remarcamable reputation in the VFX community, and it’s been an incredible ride!
I started my career in 1998, at this time when there were only a handful of digital matte painters in the world. I was inspired by the pioneers who were transforming the industry, moving from traditional methods to digital techniques. Back then, powerful computers and advanced 3D software were just emerging, and matte painting was one of the few ways to create stunning, photorealistic environments. It was a time of challenges and innovations, and I was lucky enough to help pave the way for what we see today.
In 2015, I incorporated my artist name STARNO (www.starno.net) to create a VFX Studio that quickly got success across multiple industries. After six amazing years, I got this interesting offer to sell the workforce of STARNO to Rodeo FX in 2021. This merger brought together two talented teams at a pivotal moment for the industry. Before the merger, we had just wrapped up a project with a major Montreal film studio and had several exciting virtual production projects underway. Now, I lead the matte painting department at Rodeo FX, where we’ve seamlessly integrated STARNO’s talented team and ongoing projects.
Throughout my career, I’ve had the pleasure of working on over 100 feature films, including The Amazing Spider-Man, Sin City, Elysium, The Lone Ranger, Pacific Rim, Resident Evil, Terminator Salvation, Babel, and Silent Hill and so on. If you’d like to dive deeper into my journey and achievements, feel free to check out my [IMDB Frederic Profile] and [Linkedin Frederic Profile]
Role: Freelancer
Starno.net (Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Motion Pictures and Film industry)
November 2024 to Present - Montreal, Canada Area
Role: Head of Matte Painting Department
Rodeo FX (Privately Held; 1-800 employees; Motion Pictures and Film industry)
April 2021 to November 2024 - Montreal, Canada Area
¤ VENOM: The Last Dance (Sony Pictures Film 2024)
¤ SMILE 2 (Paramount Pictures Film 2024)
¤ RED ONE (Amazon, MGM, WB Pictures Film 2024)
¤ EXPATS (Amazon TV Series 2024 starring Nicole Kidman)
¤ TIME BANDITS (Apple TV Serie 2024)
¤ DAMSEL (Netflix film 2024)
¤ KRAVEN THE HUNTER (Sony Pictures film 2024)
¤ MONARCH: Legacy of Monsters (AppleTV Series 2023)
¤ THE WALKING DEAD: Daryl Dixon (AMC Serie 2023)
¤ REBEL MOON (Zack Snyder Netflix Film 2023)
¤ THE LORD OF THE RINGS: The Rings of Power (Amazon Prime 2024)
¤ THE LITTLE MERMAID (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 2023)
¤ THE WITCHER Season 3 (Neflix TV Series 2023)
¤ 1923 Season 1 (Paramount+ TV Series 2022)
¤ ARGYLLE (Film 2022 Directed by Matthew Vaughn)
¤ STRANGER THINGS SEASON 4 (Netflix 2022) Created by Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer
¤ SLUMBERLAND (Netflix 2022) Directed by Francis Lawrence
¤ BLACK ADAM (Warner Brother 2022) Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
Role: Owner & VFX Supervisor
Starno.net VFX Studio (Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Motion Pictures and Film industry)
April 2014 to September 2021 - Montreal, Canada Area
¤ XMEN DARK PHOENIX
¤ TOM CLANCY'S JACK RYAN (from Amazon Prime)
¤ DEATH AND LIFE OF JOHN F. DONOVAN (directed by Xavier Dolan)
¤ ALIAS GRACE NETFLIX SEASON 1
¤ PIEDS NUS DANS L'AUBE (directed by Francis Leclerc)
¤ ASSASSIN'S CREED (directed by Justin Kurzel)
¤ BLACK SAILS SEASON 3
¤ THE GET DOWN NETFLIX SEASON 1
¤ INTO THE BADLANDS SEASON 2
¤ VERSAILLES CANAL + SEASON 2
¤ A DOG'S PURPOSE (Directed by Lasse Hallstrom)
¤ QUANTICO SEASON 1 (Created by Joshua Safran)
¤ MY BIG GREEK FAT WEDDING 2 (directed by Kirk Jones)
¤ TOM CLANCY'S THE DIVISION (The Fall of Canada by Ubisoft)
¤ THE KNICK SEASON 2 (Directed by Steven Soderbergh)
¤ RACE (Directed by Stephen Hopkins)
¤ GODS OF EGYPT (Directed by Alex Proyas)
¤ UNDISCLOSED (Industrial Light & Magic/Lucas Films Project)
¤ WILD (Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée)
¤ THE BEST OF ME (Directed by Michael Hoffman)
¤ PAWN SACRIFICE (Directed by Edward Zwick)
¤ CIVILIZATION: BEYOND EARTH (Sid Meier's Civilization Video Game)
¤ ELYSIUM (Directed by Neill Blomkamp)
¤ OUTCAST (Directed by Nick Powell)
¤ CHRONICLE OF RIDDICK: DEAD MAN STALKING (Directed by David Twohy)
¤ DISHONORED (Video Game by Bethesda Softworks LLC)
¤ ASTERIX & OBELIX: GOD SAVE BRITANNIA (Directed by Laurent Tirard)
Role: Art Director
MELS (Privately Held; 500 employees; Motion Pictures and Film industry)
May 2013 to February 2014 - Montreal, Canada Area
¤ MIDNIGHT SUN (Directed by Roger Spottiswoode)
¤ BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Directed by Christophe Gans)
¤ BRICK MANSIONS (Directed by Camille Delamarre)
¤ MIRACULUM (Directed by Daniel Grou)
¤ IL ETAIT UNE FOIS LES BOYS (Directed by Richard Goudreau)
Role: Digimatte Artist, Generalist Artist
ILM - Industrial Light and Magic / Lucas Arts (Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Motion Pictures and Film industry)
September 2012 to April 2013 - Vancouver, Canada Area
¤ THE LONE RANGER (Directed by Gore Verbinski)
¤ PACIFIC RIM (Directed by Guillermo del Toro)
Role: Matte Painting Supervisor
Rodeo FX (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Motion Pictures and Film industry)
January 2010 to March 2012 (2 years 3 months) Montreal, Canada Area
¤ THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN (Directed by Marc Webb)
¤ ABRAHAM LINCOLN - VAMPIRE HUNTER (Directed by Timur Bekmambetov)
¤ JACK THE GIANT KILLER (Directed by Bryan Singer)
¤ SNOW WHITE MIRROR MIRROR (Directed by Tarsem Singh)
¤ RED TAILS (Directed by George Lucas)
¤ THE THREE MUSKETEERS (Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson)
¤ IMMORTALS (Directed by Tarsem Singh)
¤ INDUSTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC UNDISCLOSED PROJECT
¤ RESIDENT EVIL 4: AFTER LIFE (Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson)
¤ JONAH HEX (Directed by Jimmy Hayward)
Role: Concept Art Teacher - Environment Design Teacher
Centre NAD - UQAC (Educational Institution; 11-50 employees; Animation industry)
January 2011 - Present (11 months) Montreal, Canada Area
Role: Digital Matte Painter
Rodeo FX (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Motion Pictures and Film industry)
July 2007 to December 2009 (2 years 6 months) Montreal, Canada Area
¤ RANGO (Directed by Gore Verbinski)
¤ TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE (Directed by David Slade)
¤ AMELIA (Directed by Mira Nair)
¤ TERMINATOR SALVATION (Directed by McG)
¤ MR. NOBODY (Directed by Jaco Van Dormael)
¤ REPOSSESSION MAMBO (Directed by Miguel Sapochnik)
¤ JOURNEY TO MECCA (Directed by Bruce Neibaur)
¤ THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (Directed by Scott Derrickson)
¤ INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (Directed by Steven Spielberg)
¤ DEATH RACE (Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson)
¤ THE GREATEST JOURNEY TO MECCA IMAX (Directed by Bruce Neibaur)
¤ THE GOLDEN COMPASS (Directed by Chris Weitz)
¤ JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D (Directed by Eric Brevig)
¤ BBH BARCLAYS LONDON (prints)
Role: Matte Painting Teacher
UQAT University (Educational Institution; 1-10 employees; Education Management industry)
November 2009 to December 2009 (2 months)
Mokko Studio (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)
March 2007 to December 2007 (10 months)
Meteor Studios (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Motion Pictures and Film industry)
July 2007 to August 2007 (2 months)
Digital Dimension (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Motion Pictures and Film industry)
November 2005 to July 2007 (1 year 9 months)
¤ RACE TO MARS (Directed by George Mihalka)
¤ THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS (Directed by Rachel Talalay)
¤ THE COVENANT (Directed by Renny Harlin)
¤ THE LEGEND OF SECRET PASS (Directed by Steve Trenbirth)
Alpha-Vision(Public Company; 51-200 employees; Animation industry)
June 2005 to October 2006 (1 year 5 months)
FX Cartel (Public Company; 1-20 employees; Animation industry)
August 2006 to September 2006 (2 months)
Intelligent Creatures (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Motion Pictures and Film industry)
March 2006 to April 2006 (2 months)
Role: Digital Matte Painter & Concept Artist
Hybride Technologies (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Motion Pictures and Film industry)
December 2001 to May 2005 (3 years 6 months)
¤ SIN CITY (Directed by Robert Rodriguez)
¤ SHARKBOY AND LAVAGIRL (Directed by Robert Rodriguez)
¤ RACING STRIPES (Directed by Frederik Du Chau)
¤ SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW (Directed by Kerry Conran)
¤ A DIFFERENT LOYALTY (Directed by Marek Kanievska)
¤ THE LAST SIGN (Directed by Douglas Law)
¤ NOUVELLE-FRANCE (Directed by Jean Beaudin)
¤ SPY KIDS 3 (Directed by Robert Rodriguez)
¤ SPY KIDS 2 (Directed by Robert Rodriguez)
¤ NAPOLEON - TV Series (Directed by Yves Simoneau)
Role: Character AnimatorFly Studio (Privately Held; 15-40 employees; TV Commercial Industry) September 1999 to December 2001 (2 years 4 months)
Enzyme (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Management Consulting industry)
September 1999 to September 1999 (1 month)
Klik Animation (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Motion Pictures and Film industry)
August 1998 to August 1999 (1 year 1 month)
Tube Image (Privately Held; 20-100 employees; Motion Pictures and Film industry)
July 1998 to August 1998 (2 months)
Jules Verne Production
August 1997 to December 1997 (5 months)
Cinar Animation (Privately Held; 250-500 employees; Motion Pictures and Film industry)
January 1997 to February 1997 (2 months)
2006: Matte painting Master Class by Yanick Dusseault (NAD Center - UQAC, Montreal, Canada)
1997: Cartoon Animation and 3D intensive program at ICARI (Montreal, Canada)
1996: One year of Communication Arts at Universite Laval (Quebec City, Canada)
1995: College of Fine Arts at Cegep de Sainte-Foy (Quebec City, Canada)
1992-94: Polyvalente Le Boise (Victoriaville, Canada)
2012: The movie Rango won the VES Awards 2012 for Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Motion Picture in which I participated
2011: Keynote Speaker at NSCC Nova Scotia Animedia Festival April 2011
2009: Silver Honour at Campaign's Big Awards 2009 for the illustration Finantial Times -St-Bernard
2009: Silver Honour at The Creative Circle 2009 for the illustration Finantial Times -St-Bernard
2009: Conference Speaker at School Design of UQAM University for the program Graphic Design and Culture
2008: the movie The Golden Compass won an Academy Award in 2008 for Best Visual Effects in which I participated
2008: BAFTA 2008 Award (British Academy Film Awards) for Special Visual Effects in the movie The Golden Compass
2008: Speaker at the ADAPT Montreal Conference 2008
2008: Coverpage artist of the book D'artiste Matte Painting II from Ballistic Publishing
2007: Award Winner at Pixel Theory 3D with the artworks "Decline of Babel myth" and "bear vs. hiker"
2007: Excellence Award at 3Dtotal with the artwork "Decline of Babel myth"
2006: Excellence Nomination Award for the book EXPOSE 4 with the artworks "Tourism on Venus" and "Time Square"
2005: CG Elite on www.CGchannel.com
2005: Award Winner in the book EXPOSE 3
2003: Award Winner at CGsociety with the artwork "Waterfall Castle"
2002: Award Winner of the Graphika Awards Contest 2002 with the Fly Studio team
1997: Canada's Teletoon Animation Scholarship Award Finalist
(United Kingdom)
Les Editions Oracom, September 2011 (France)
Self publication (Canada)
Issue #8 2010 (Netherlands)
Issue 01, April 2010 (Brazil)
March 2010 (United Kingdom)
April 2009 (France)
(Germany)
November 2008 (Canada)
(Australia)
August 2008 (Canada)
Issue 32 (UK)
Learning Book by youngjin.com inc. 2008 (South Korea)
Article Interview and Cover. Janvier 2009 (Canada)
(Australia)
2008 (France)
Magazine number 32, 2007 (Taiwan)
August 2007 (UK)
August 2007 (United States)
(Australia)
January 2006 (United Kingdom)
APAG Editions (France)
Issue 26 (United States)
(Australia)
Delta VII (Germany)
August 2000 (United States)
STARNO headquaters in Montreal, Canada in 2021
STARNO headquaters in Montreal, Canada in 2021
Photoshoot for a gaming project in 2015 at STARNO Joseph on the right was disapointed to get the smaller gun props!
Some STARNO team parties and gatherings between 2018 and 2021
If you would like to connect with me, I kindly request that you utilize the private messaging feature on LinkedIn.com. Here is the link to my Linkedin profile. This ensures the highest level of privacy and professionalism in all communications. I appreciate your consideration and look forward to hearing from you.