Mr Pi (seaniepie)
Sean Cole, musician and video engineer, was born July 6th 1973 and grew up in the small village of Cliffe Woods on the Hoo Peninsular. There, when he was 9 years old, he fixed firmly in mind what he wanted to do once he left school. This was in direct response to the effect the films 'Return of the Jedi' and 'Superman III' had on him, wanting to make music and films.
Ignoring the advice of his careers advisors he followed this up upon leaving school. He avoided the usual routes of University and in 1989 found work with a small video production company in Rochester making college and corporate training videos, mainly in the area of electronic and electrical engineering. There he began learning skills in editing, camera operation, lighting as well as electronic engineering. This was also the early years of computer animation and Sean eagerly taught himself all he could find out about 2d & 3d animation applying what he learnt to the videos being made.
6 years later he moved on to an AV company that used non-linear editing systems and an early version of After Effects (COSA as it was then) to produce corporate drama productions. Soon thereafter he applied what he had learned and went freelancing in and around London as an Avid and Media100 editor with 2d & 3d skills.
In 1997 he was employed full-time with a Maidstone based production company involved in producing training videos for the airline, HM Forces, and avionics industries. The MD, a senior editor for the BBC, trained him further in the skills of camera work, editing and sound up to the BBCs high standards as Sean continued to learn more compositing and 3d skills. During this time he also edited several broadcast adverts and a 12x 15min series for BBC Choice called 'Coastguard', his first full broadcast editing job.
He was then, in 2001, taken on full-time by another Maidstone based production company that made corporate drama, motivational and training videos for Pfizer, the world no1 pharmaceutical company. There he utilised all his skills in production, editing and visual effects/compositing on these and several music videos, local council media and adverts as well as his abilities on live events for vision and sound engineering.
During a decline in the work there he took the opportunity to go it alone again to set up his own company, Pi Digital Productions Ltd, and steer his interest in what he loved most, Film. He collaborated with several young artists and directors passing on his knowledge and skills as a VFX Supervisor and DOP/lighting director helping them to take their projects to another level. He was also senior editor/animator for a 15x 24min series for UKtv Style, edited and graded more music videos and graded 2 feature films.
He then got called to work with Ragdoll as compositor on their new series, 'In The Night Garden', a 100 episode 24min programme for preschool children. His initial tasks were to remove hundreds of wires in front of live trees, from tracking wide angled shots lasting up to 30 seconds. His Photoshop skills were put to use creating clean plates of forests, perspective interiors and designing entire set layouts for interiors of the 'Tombliboo Bush'. In addition his acquired knowledge in computer programming helped him in creating software for specific tasks to assist the editors, compositors and animators integration. Early on he was also given Smoke and Flint training and was later on given the opportunity to online composite and grade two entire episodes.
After completing production on In The Night Garden he moved on to work along with Pineapple Squared Ent Ltd - comprising David Mitton (Thunderbirds, Thomas the Tank Engine), David Lane (Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Superman Movies) and Michele Fabian Jones (Muppet Treasure Island, New Captain Scarlet) - on the show 'Adventures on Orsum Island' as senior VFX artist. Following Mitton's death however in 2008 production ceased and Sean went back to build up his own business, Pi Digital, working on yet more music promos, films, shorts, adverts and corporate productions.
In recent years he has built up a reputation of being able to complete work at an extraordinary rate and on tasks that others would shy away from. While the company specialises in online edit, VFX and finishing, Sean has also been able to show his skills in camera work for numerous adverts for toy companies like Flair (Sylvanian Families, Gormitti, etc) and VTech, direction on music promos and DOP on many short films.
In 2010 production started on 'Jack The Ripper: The Definitive Story' with Sean working in the role of DIT and Visual Effects Supervisor and his brother, Jey, as 2nd AD. The 2x 45min show was broadcast in early 2011 on Channel 5 and The History Channel and has gone on to sell across the world (including a cinema tour of the USA).
In the meantime Pi Digital has gone on to assist in many TV Commercials, Music Videos, Short films and now a great deal of iPhone, mobile device and desktop applications.
All the while he has continued to compose music for his own pleasure and relaxation and for others. Find out more at soundfarmUK.
In the pipeline Pi Digital have a tv animation series in pre-production, a Charles Dickens based short film, FCPX enhancement software, several commissioned mobile apps and a heap more tv ads.
