Jacques Cousteau Fan Splashes Down at Sea Level VFX

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When Steve Reiss attended UC San Diego he immersed himself in communications, visual arts and biology with the objective of literally submerging himself in a future career.

“My dream back then was to follow in the footsteps of Jacques Cousteau,” said Reiss, an admirer of the French sea explorer.

It was his production classes that put Reiss on a career path, albeit a landlocked one, that would eventually bring him to the coincidentally named Sea Level VFX, a boutique postproduction company for music videos and commercials.

Reiss recently joined the Venice firm as executive producer, serving in a managerial position that he says covers budgeting and financial issues, hiring and firing, and client relations. “Commercials come in and we do the fine-tuning, the visual aspects,” Reiss explained.

Prior to his position at Sea Level, Reiss amassed a long and eclectic resume in the music and postproduction sectors, including stints at NBC and Glen Larson Productions. At the latter company, which produced shows such as “Magnum P.I.” and “Knight Rider,” he worked in the early to mid ’90s as vice president of creative affairs, charged with adapting Larson properties into feature film projects. But Reiss said there was little interest in the film projects or new TV properties.

“Glen was rooted in the ’80s, and it was hard to get his new shows sold,” he recalled.

Reiss has notched almost two decades as a freelance producer working for more than 30 companies including Universal. The position at Sea Level came about after he encountered company executive David Glean while working on a Chevy commercial in December.

“At first I wasn’t fully interested,” said Reiss, “I had the choice between this and two other companies.”

But he signed on after deciding he liked the Sea Level staff and its Venice location. “Architecturally, it’s beautiful,” Reiss said.

In his spare time, Reiss likes to hike in Malibu, surf and visit art galleries and museums. He also is a published author with two books on the art of music videos: “Thirty Frames Per Second: The Visionary Art of the Music Video” and “Mark Romanek: Music Video Stills.”

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