Rodrigo Lopez
Rodrigo Lopez
Title: Chief Creative Officer, Neoscape
Age: 43
Experience: 20 years
Neoscape connects real estate developers, architects and landlords with prospective clients. The South Boston-based company uses computer animation programs to generate visualizations of properties that can be viewed on the web and mobile devices. Headquartered in the Innovation and Design Building, the company has over 60 employees in Boston and just expanded and relocated its New York studio to accommodate 20 employees.
Q:Who are your biggest clients in Greater Boston from the development community?
A:We continue to do work with Federal Realty on their Assembly Row project. We were working with Skanska on 101 Seaport (in South Boston). We did the positioning campaign, the go-to-market campaign for them. We did branding, we produced a website and the focal point was a leasing app, an iPad application to market the building. We have been working behind the curtains a little bit, but we’re getting ready to unveil some stuff on Seaport Square. We’re working with W/S Development, helping brand the entire project but there will be a focus on One Seaport Square as their anchor. Initially what’s going to get rolled out is the whole environmental graphics aspect of it, introducing the new brand around all the construction signage. There is a web component and there are tactical leasing materials we’ll be working on as well. We continue to work with a number of architects around town, notably Elkus Manfredi.
Q:What adaptive reuse projects are you working on?
A:This building we’re in right now is an adaptive reuse and we have a good relationship with (landlord) Jamestown. A big part of their portfolio is repositioning buildings such as this one, typically large in scale. They have a number of interesting projects, mainly in New York and Atlanta, and we’ve been in talks with them about doing things here and there, primarily tactical stuff. When they purchased this building we did some film work for them to help promote the location story. At the time, and still, it remains a bit of an obstacle. The location of this building in particular was challenging. So we did a short video they’ve been promoting. There’s this perception that it’s sort of like at the end of the earth. That perception is going away. Autodesk just announced their big deal (leasing 70,000 square feet in the IDB) and Elkus (Manfredi Architects) just moved a few months ago.
Q:How are you using advances in technology to improve your products?
A:One exciting thing we’re working with on the technology side is real-time visualization. We’ve had our hands in that for years now, using gaming environments to visualize archicture and design. We’ve been beta-testing the Oculist Rift (virtual reality headset) for a while now and we’re working on a real-time platform using both Unity and Unreal, which are the two primary engines for real-time visualization, immersive environments for use in leasing conversations. It’s something a lot of our architecture clients and even developers have been asking about. It’s been a little bit like talking about black magic with people. There’s the intrigue about the fact that it’s new and exciting. There’s an educational process as well getting people to understand where it’s useful.
Q: How are clients are using it?
A:Architects are using it, the big shops that can afford the infrastructure, to get design approvals and present designs in a very immersive way. On the development side, there’s the drama factor, getting somebody to feel like they’re in a space. That’s the holy grail of what we do. The Oculis Rift has been challenging to that end, because it’s this device that you put on and it can be a little off-putting and take some getting used to. It’s not conducive to having group conversations because people feel awkward and disconnected when they put this on. What we’re representing is something you could view on any screen. You could program some interactivity to get people to envision different types of environments within the space, particular for retail opportunities.
Q:What job positions are you recruiting for?
A:We staff a pretty diverse group of people here, from computer animation and visual effects artists to editors and post-production people. All the work is produced in-house. Our design department has grown exponentially so that’s something we’re always actively looking for, plus iOS development. We’re doing a lot of app work.
Q:What workplace perks do you offer to help recruit and retain employees?
A:Culture is by far the most important thing to the company. The owners are here every day in the trenches with us. Culturally we provide an environment where people feel like they’re always able to contribute. We have flexible hours, ping-pong tables, we have multiple beers on tap, we keep people well-fed and provide good, nutritious food. We have a makeshift but pretty good fitness facility next door. We’re using the raw space next door for a CrossFit gym so people can work out anytime.
Last 5 Movies Watched
- “Ex Machina”
- “Birdman”
- “Ida”
- “The Double”
- “Grand Budapest Hotel”
