Habib Zargarpour
Virtual Production Supervisor, Visual Effects Supervisor
(Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania, Greyhound, Bladerunner 2049, The Perfect Storm)
The Georges Méliès Endowed Chair in Visual Effects at USC School of Cinematic Arts
Habib invented the Virtual Production System used by Jon Favreau on The Jungle Book and by Spielberg on Ready Player One. He deploys real-time techniques for film making and combines his experience in film and real time engines to bring their benefits to Virtual Production. Habib has been nominated for two Academy Awards and won two BAFTAs for his work on Twister and The Perfect Storm. His visual effects career included developing groundbreaking effects while at Industrial Light & Magic, Electronic Arts, and as Director of Visuals for XBox Publishing at Microsoft. His film credits include Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania, Greyhound, Blade Runner 2049, and The Jungle Book where he pioneered Virtual Production using a Real-Time Engine. Other credits are Signs, The Bourne Identity, Star Wars: Episode I- The Phantom Menace, Spawn, Jumanji, Star Trek: Generations, and The Mask. He has also been Senior Art Director on hit video games such as: RYSE: Son of Rome – a launch title for Xbox One, and Need for Speed Most Wanted/ Underground for which he received a VES Award.
He is on the executive board of the VFX Branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, BAFTA, and a founding member of the Visual Effects Society and the 5D-Conference. Habib is also a Visiting Professor in Virtual Production at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.
PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS
Kundert-Gibbs, John. “Maya: Secret of the Pros” 1st Edition. Chapter on The visual effects of The Perfect Storm by Habib Zargarpour. SYBEX Publishing. (July 2002).
Okun, Jeffrey A., Zwerman, Susan. “The VES Handbook of Visual Effects” 1st Edition. Chapter 8 on Real Time Rendering by Habib Zargarpour. Focal Press (July 2010).
Okun, Jeffrey A., Zwerman, Susan. “The VES Handbook of Virtual Production” 1st Edition. Chapter 25 - Unity Software - Overview/Aspects of Virtual Production by Habib Zargarpour and Ron Martin. Focal Press (October 2023).
SIGGRAPH 1999, Maya User Group Meeting (1000 attendees), presented work on Star Wars Episode I and The Perfect Storm
SIGGRAPH 2000, “Industrial Light + Magic: The Making of The Perfect Storm”, (2000 attendees) Presenters: Stefen Fangmeier, Habib Zargarpour, Tim Alexander (July 2000).
IMAGINA 2005, Monaco, “Worlds in Collision? Story vs. Graphics in Cinematic Gaming”, Moderator Geoff Foulds (Feb 4th, 2005).
GDC 2006, San Jose Convention Center, San Jose CA, “Marc Petit & Chris Young invite you to a conversation with Habib Zargarpour”, (March 22nd, 2006)
GDC 2006, San Jose Convention Center, San Jose CA, “Next Generation Challenges for Need for Speed Most Wanted on Xbox 360, Habib Zargarpour: Senior Art Director, Electronic Arts. (March 23, 2006)
ANIMFX NZ 2008, Wellington, New Zealand. Moderated by Carolyn Giardina, Habib Zargarpour, Senior Art Director EALA (Nov 14th, 2008)
GDC 2010, Vancouver, Canada. Habib Zargarpour “Stereo-3D Gaming: What are we Waiting For?”, (May 6th 2010)
FMX 2012, Stuttgart, Germany. Habib Zargarpour, Senior Art Director, Microsoft Game Studios “Virtual Production in Games”, (May 11th, 2012)
FMX 2013, Stuttgart, Germany. Joint Technology Subcommittee on Virtual Production: Habib Zargarpour (Microsoft Studios) “What Is Broken, And What Can Games Do to Fix It?” (April 23rd, 2013)
FMX 2014, Stuttgart, Germany. Habib Zargarpour (Microsoft Studios) “RYSE Son of Rome” Xbox One Launch Title
https://www.awn.com/blog/awn-professional-spotlight-fmx-2014-microsoft-xbox-s-habib-zargarpour
FMX 2018, Stuttgart, Germany, Habib Zargarpour (CCO und Co-Founder von Digital Monarch Media), “Virtual Cinematography on Bladerunner 2049”
SIGGRAPH 2018, Vancouver, Canada. Habib Zargarpour (CCO und Co-Founder von Digital Monarch Media), “Using a Real-Time Engine in Movie Production” (Sept 21st, 2018)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_NG7WfoI7s
UNITY UNITE 2019, Vancouver, Canada. Habib Zargarpour (CCO und Co-Founder von Digital Monarch Media), Collaborative Virtual Production
https://unity.com/event/siggraph-2019
STAR WARS: “All Films Are Personal”: An Oral History of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, John Knoll (May 24th, 2019)
https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-oral-history
SIGGRAPH 2019, Los Angeles, CA. Habib Zargarpour (Head of Film Production, Unity Technologies) & DP David Stump “Expozure Virtual Production” (July 29th, 2019)
https://digitalmonarchmediasiggraph.splashthat.com/
VFX Voice Article: Habib Zargarpour (Head of Film Production, Unity Technologies) & DP David Stump “Instant Feedback: Expozure Expands its Virtual Toolset” (Feb 26th, 2020)
https://www.vfxvoice.com/instant-feedback-expozure-expands-its-virtual-toolset/
Visual Effect Society American Society of Cinematographers Panel and Demo of Expozure with VFX Supervisor Rob Legato and DP Caleb Deschanel, Habib Zargarpour (Head of Film Production, Unity Technologies), (Nov 20th, 2020)
SPARK FX, Vancouver, Canada. Habib Zargarpour (Head of Film Production, Unity Technologies) “Directing a Virtual Real-Time Scene” (2022)
AMPAS Academy Panel on AI. Academy Samuel Godwyn Theater. Habib Zargarpour (Virtual Production Supervisor) (Dec 9th, 2023)
Academy Twister Panel: Screening and Panel. Habib Zargarpour (Visual Effects Supervisor), Daniel Swain (Climate Scientist), moderated by K.J. Relth-Miller (Jan 4th, 2024)
https://www.academymuseum.org/en/programs/detail/twister-018b0235-72d0-f766-559d-499031274259
Presentation at USC on Virtual Production, guest speaker at class taught by Visual Effects Producer and Author Susan Zwerman (Jan 31st, 2024)
VIEW Conference 2024, Turin Italy. Habib Zargarpour (Virtual Production Supervisor) and Setareh Samandari (CEO, Interdimensional VFX. “Real Time Final Pixel and Virtual Production” (Oct 17th, 2024)
USC School of Cinematic Arts Georges Melies Endowed Chair in Visual Effects
https://cinema.usc.edu/faculty/endowedchairs.cfm
Befores and Afters Magazine: No 21 on Virtual Production
https://beforesandafters.com/magazine/
YALE CCAM Presentation 2024. Habib Zargarpour (Visual Effects Supervisor) and Setareh Samandari (CEO, Interdimensional VFX. “Panel/Demo: Bladerunner 2049: Effecting the Future with Setareh Samandari and Habib Zargarpour”. (April 5th, 2024)
YALE CCAM Presentation 2025. Habib Zargarpour (Virtual Production Supervisor, Co-head of Virtual Production at USC School of Cinematic Arts) and Setareh Samandari (CEO, Interdimensional VFX. “Demo & Discussion of a documentary virtual recreation using Simulcam and stylization”. (Feb 19th, 2025)
https://ccam.yale.edu/event/ccam-symposium-illuminations-day-1
MEDIA INTERVIEWS
American Cinematographer (July 2000), “The Perfect Storm Slams Movie Screens”, pg. 50
The New York Times (June 20th, 2000), “Down to the Sea in Chips”, pg: B1
The New York Times (June 30th, 2000), “Instant Calamity (Just Add Water)”, pg: B1
CG Garage Podcast, Habib Zargarpour – Head of Film Development, Digital Monarch Media
Youtube Channel: ChaosTV (241K subscribers) (Feb 1st, 2021)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIFXnhnzoEk
Hugo’s Desk – VFX Notes Podcast, “The Perfect Storm with Habib Zargarpour”
BEFORES AND AFTERS PodCast. Habib Zargarpour (Virtual Production Supervisor) (Apr 6th, 2023)