Meet the Crew

Jason Villemarette

Founder & Director Jason is a native New Orleanian, a graduate of the University of New Orleans and a 22 – year veteran of the production industry.  Starting as a video editor and animator in 1998, Jason possesses many creative disciplines, from editing to animation, to cinematography and sound design to name a few.  In 2006 Jason started Fire on the Bayou Productions located in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Fire on the Bayou now has grown to 5 edit and animation bays, a sound stage, grip truck, sound design room, and a stable of directorial talent. ​ For more than 20 years Jason has been the go-to production person for clients such as Aucoin Hart Jewelry, The New Orleans Convention Center, The Home Depot, Red Bull, Reily Foods, Tobacco Free Living, City Park, and many other respected organizations both public and private. ​ Jason was named one of the Innovators of the year in 2009 by City Business Magazine, he has won national, district, and local advertising awards, and is also a member of Loyola’s Institute of Politics.

Simon Blake

Director

Originally from London and now residing in New Orleans, Simon Blake takes a multi-disciplinary approach to creative projects through a mixture of fine art, graphic design, model making, theater, music, sound design, mixed-media and animation for installation projects, social media, branding, award winning short films and commercials. Simon takes these jobs from initial conception through to final vision. He studied graphic design, collage, illustration and mixed-media film in London, England. His work has been shown nationally and internationally. He is the recipient of two AICP awards and his work is in the permanent collection at MOMA, New York. Clients have included Fortune 500 companies, British and European publications and private clients.

Reel Website

Louis Koerner

Director

Louis Koerner is a Director/DP who is most comfortable with a camera in his hands and plenty of happy clients in his wake.  He always thought that was plenty enough to manage, but now the commercial and digital worlds are asking for so much more and has never been happier or felt more challenged. You could re classify him as a content and image capture specialist splitting time with digital media campaigns for TV and web.  Telling stories from 30 seconds to 3 minutes, mostly based on real people who he feels very comfortable with.  Great at working in virtually every condition and in some of the more interesting places on the globe. Louis brings a wealth of experience and high energy to every project. When not shooting he can be found at his home in New Orleans or at his ranch in Costa Rica.

Kevin Althans

Director

Kevin has been working as a director, DP and visual effects supervisor for 20 years, plying his trade in commercials, features and virtual reality experiences. In the course of his career he has kept his feet firmly planted on both the live action and effects sides of the industry.

Kevin got his start shooting classical special effects and miniatures with motion control at Morrison Productions / Coliseum Pictures. He quickly became an early adopter of digital composting and visual effects, eventually working on hundreds of national and international projects at Reel FX Creative Studios in Dallas.

He uses this blend of experiences to interface with clients at a very high level, guiding the creative and logistics simultaneously to make sure the messages are both compelling and efficient.  When he is not shooting he is usually making something, getting dusty at Burning Man or walking his dog Stanley.

Reel Website

David Reece

Director of Photography

As an award winning director of photography with over 15 years of experience in the film industry David has had the privilege of working with great directors and production teams working for renowned clients such as Coca-Cola, D.C. Comics, ESPN, Bluerunner, Sperry Topsiders, NFL, Terminix, and Rouses Market, etc. Understanding the power of colors, framing, and movement has been a passion of his. While he utilizes top-of-the-line cameras, optics, and lighting in his work, he believes that cinematography goes beyond mere technical proficiency, striving to create visuals that resonate deeply, weaving emotions into each frame, evoking laughter, tears, and wonder. The technical aspects serve as tools to bring the artistic visions to life, it is the storytelling and emotional impact that truly makes a cinematographer exceptional. That being said, he is forever seeking new knowledge and honing his skills, staying up to date with the latest advancements in camera technology and lighting techniques. He is so grateful to be able to work in this craft. His aim will always be to capture the client’s vision in an inspiring way, in order to curate a legacy of visuals of authentic storytelling that inspires generations to come.

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Michael Sanchez

Post Production Supervisor

Michael Sanchez has been working at Fire on the Bayou his entire professional career after serving our country in the Army for 4 years and then attending college.  He received his Bachelor’s degree and MFA from UNO.

Michael has 12 years of experience in production and post-production.  Today he is our Post-Production Supervisor.  He has many skillsets in editing, animation and sound design and on set as an assistant director, camera operator and sound mixer.

Kathy Hirsch

Producer

As a past agency producer of 25 years, Kathy knows how to manage production budgets of all sizes.  She loves a challenge and figures out the best way to give her clients the most creative bang for their buck.  Kathy was head of Broadcast Production at Peter Mayer Advertising for 23 years producing all TV, social and radio at the agency and managing a group of freelance producers.  She has brought those skills to our video production company and has been the producer there for the last 4 years. Besides the day to day scheduling with clients and preparing estimates, she also manages the post production flow with the editors on staff keeping all jobs on time and budget. Kathy is as local as it comes to New Orleans and is a graduate of UNO and is also a Silver Medal winner from the New Orleans Ad Club.

Mylo Percle

Editor

Mylo Percle brings more than 25 years of video production and editing experience to Fire on the Bayou. During that time, he has been recognized for his creative contributions to projects for many local businesses, regional companies, and national brands.
A resident of Houma, Louisiana, Mylo earned a BA in Mass Communication from Nicholls State University. He is also an accomplished visual effects artist, motion graphic animator, and web designer.

Mylo prides himself on consistency and versatility, striving to produce creative, engaging, and effective content that delivers results.

Max Villemarette

Editor

Max is the Swiss army knife at Fire on the Bayou.  He operates our grip truck, works as a sound man and a grip on set and is one of our staff editors.  He has worked at FOTB for 7 years.

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