PITCH BLACK LAUNCHES SQUARE ONE: A WORLD-CLASS VISUALIZATION STUDIO IN THE HEART OF BURBANK

Los Angeles, CA — Sep 4 — Pitch Black is proud to announce the launch of Square One, a new visualization studio located in the heart of Burbank. Designed from the ground up to support filmmakers and showrunners, Square One offers a comprehensive suite of pre-production services — including art direction, previz and playviz, virtual production techviz, and postviz.

Operating independently under the Pitch Black umbrella, Square One delivers bespoke, high-impact visualization solutions. Its fully integrated pipeline preserves creative intent and streamlines handoff as projects transition into  post-production and visual effects — helping teams save time, eliminate duplication, and avoid costly rework.

“Visualization is where key creative decisions are made — and those decisions deserve to carry forward, intact,” said Sébastien Bergeron, CEO of Pitch Black. “With Square One, we’ve built a process that lets our clients’ vision flow directly into the VFX pipeline. It saves time, reduces rework, and provides teams with a clear creative throughline from day one.”

Square One is led by two seasoned industry veterans. Patrick Smith, Head of Visualization, brings over 15 years of experience from MPC and The Third Floor. His teams have helped shape major productions including Prehistoric Planet Season1 and 2, Dune: Part Two, Nope, Spaceman Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, RRR, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Joining him is Léandre Lagrange, Art Director, whose two decades at MPC saw him contribute to visually iconic projects such as NOPE, the Alien franchise, Detective Pikachu, The Little Mermaid, HALO, and The Lion King.

“Our goal at Square One is to help filmmakers find their story early — visually, emotionally, and cinematically,” said Patrick Smith. “Visualization isn’t just about planning shots — it’s about shaping the cinematic language before a single frame is captured.”

“We empower filmmakers to make visual decisions with confidence — earlier, faster, and more collaboratively,” added Léandre Lagrange. “Great storytelling begins with clarity of vision, and that’s exactly what we bring to the table.”

From pitch to post, Square One offers a collaborative, production-focused approach that supports directors, producers, and creative teams at every step. By embedding early creative decisions directly into the workflow, it ensures smooth alignment across departments and safeguards the original vision from start to finish.

Find out more: squareone.la