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Fluxx

Team Architecture

Fluxx runs on a core team (in-house, equity-bearing) plus an outsourced vendor model (per-module RFPs, scoped engagements). Y5 projection: 15 named roles at full scale (8 to 10 of those are engineering-architecture core; the rest are founders, creative supervisors, on-set ops, sales). The core / outsourced split is structural, not transitional.

Compensation note: Salary figures on this page are TBD pending Kevin’s financial model. Equity percentages are current. Vendor costs are tracked separately from comp.

Architectural locks (S123)

  • Ari Jampolsky title: CPO (Chief Production Officer) & Co-Founder. Supersedes the S126 “Executive Director” lock (which had reverted the S123 “Director of Set Operations” lock), per Kevin 2026-06-01. Ari is leveled as a C-level peer and ranked above the COO in the team order. Cascade to Team_Bios.md, the company/team page, dev plan v0.3, financial model v2.0, and Q-G entries still pending (manual, outside Cowork scope).
  • No third-party at the core of the stack. Production tracking built in-house under Fluxx Automate (Cat 3, see Build Categories), not via ftrack or ShotGrid integration at the runtime layer.
  • Norman / GlassBox is vendor only. Not partner, not co-founder, not deferred-comp. The v1.4 JV-shaped financial model had a “CTO (Norman)” headcount line with cash plus deferred comp; v2.0 (Fluxx-standalone, Q-G89) removes that line and treats Norman as Cat 3 vendor spend ($406K V7 remaining in Y1).

Current team

Kevin Walter, CEO and Co-Founder

25 years film. VFX Producer credits: Aquaman, Halo, Dark Season 3, Locke & Key, Tribes of Europa, Sonic, Ad Astra, Fifty Shades Freed, Skyscraper, Raised by Wolves (on-set). Vendor history: MPC 2015-2018, Cinesite Montreal 2019-2020. Director of Virtual Production at Versatile Media. Currently also serves as Acting CTO and VP Producer / Supervisor.

Equity: 2.65M shares (26.5 percent), Class A Voting. Comp: TBD.

Ari Jampolsky, CPO (Chief Production Officer) and Co-Founder

30+ years production. Co-founder Monitor (Vancouver studio services). Founder Jampolsky & Sons, Big Antenna. Founding member CPAC. Owns set and production operations as a C-level peer.

Equity: 2.65M shares (26.5 percent), Class A Voting. Comp: TBD.

Nicolas (Nick) Poppell, COO and Co-Founder

20+ years facilities and operations. Established 44,000 sq ft VP facility at Versatile Media, $5M/$20M LED Volume buildout.

Equity: 1.5M shares (15 percent), Class A Voting. Comp: TBD.

Eric, On-Set Tech Supervisor

Carry from v1.4 model. Listed as “Head of Set Ops” in some surfaces. Comp: TBD.

Creative Supervisor 1, Creative Supervisor 2

Both start M4 Y1 per v1.4 carry. Comp: TBD. Not yet named; placeholder roles.

Y2 hires (Jan 2027, Series A close)

Per dev plan §4 plus v2.0 Headcount tab, the Series A hire cohort all start Y2 M1 unless noted:

CTO (TBD, NEW Y2 hire)

Per Kevin 2026-05-20. Base comp: TBD pending founder-market data for Series A CTO hires. Open call: founder-market comp benchmark.

Pipeline architect

Owns Cat 1 plus Cat 4 architecture. Signs off on DCC plugin specs and integration tests. Comp: TBD.

Cloud architect

Owns Cat 2 architecture. VPC topology, security envelope, VM lifecycle. Comp: TBD.

Automate product owner / engineering lead

Owns Cat 3 architecture. Entity model, automation workflows, ftrack-pattern Port decisions. Comp: TBD.

Senior Pipeline TD #1, Senior Pipeline TD #2

Cat 4 dedicated TDs per Kevin’s “2-3 Dedicated TDs” 2026-05-20 directive. These two start Y2. Comp: TBD.

Integration engineer

Cross-category integration, end-to-end testing, plugin / module wiring. Comp: TBD.

Y3 additions (2028)

  • Senior Pipeline TD #3. Third TD added. Comp: TBD.
  • Sales / BD lead. Sales rep, carry from v1.4 logic. Comp: TBD.

Y5 projection (full scale)

Per v2.0 Headcount tab, the 15 named roles at full Y5 scale:

RoleComp Y5
Kevin Walter, CEOTBD
Ari Jampolsky, CPOTBD
Nick Poppell, COOTBD
CTO (Y2 hire, TBD)TBD
Pipeline architectTBD
Cloud architectTBD
Automate product ownerTBD
Senior Pipeline TD #1TBD
Senior Pipeline TD #2TBD
Senior Pipeline TD #3TBD
Integration engineerTBD
Eric, On-Set Tech SupervisorTBD
Creative Supervisor 1TBD
Creative Supervisor 2TBD
Sales / BD leadTBD

Three different headcount numbers across the dev plan and financial model reconcile as follows: 8 to 10 FTE engineering-architecture core (dev plan §4), 14 dev-team-size used for AI token calc (Assumptions tab), 15 named roles total at Y5 (Headcount tab including founders, creative supervisors, Eric, Ari, sales).

Mentor / Advisor layer

  • Jeff Brown, Studio Relations (Class B Non-Voting). Point person with the studios; part-time, not a core FTE. 1.2M shares (12 percent) equity. 26-year Warner Bros veteran. Former EVP, Warner Bros Home Entertainment. Content distribution across WBTV, HBO, Turner. Comp: TBD. Prior external title “Mentor” (Q-G9) superseded per Kevin 2026-06-01; validation quote on file (S109 Sofia v2).
  • Brian Connor, VFX Supervisor (Advisor). Academy Award winner for Dune. 20+ years VFX. Validation quote on file. Equity TBD; not in cap table per Team_Bios.md; advisor framing.
  • Bill Polson (Q-G10 credibility). Listed in Q-G10 canon. Not yet detailed in Team_Bios.md. Open: needs Team_Bios.md entry.
  • Dan Gilroy (External Validator). Oscar-nominated for Nightcrawler, Emmy-winning Star Wars: Andor writer. Committed to using Fluxx on two upcoming films. Validation slide only; not on cap table.
  • James Cameron (External, validator quote only). “The future of blockbuster filmmaking hinges on being able to cut the cost of VFX in half.” Variety / “Boz to the Future” podcast, April 9, 2025. Cold-audience problem-frame pull quote; not affiliated.

Mentor section on Headcount tab. Currently absent. Open call to add advisor / mentor section (per SESSION_BRIEF Standing item; equity-only or modest stipend plus equity).

Vendor relationships

  • GlassBox (Norman). Cat 3 Automate vendor. Norman V7 milestones M1-M5 in flight. Vendor only per Q-G89. Treated as Cat 3 outsourced spend in v2.0, not as headcount. Full M1-M5 timeline at Dev Plan v0.3 > Norman V7.
  • Cloud / GPU provider. Not yet picked. Parked at Q-G49 §7.
  • TPN auditor. Not yet picked. One-time engagement Y3 ($150K), re-audit Y5 ($80K).
  • Per-DCC specialist contractors. Pool to be RFP’d Y2 (Cat 1 plus Cat 4). Geography (local studios vs US-only vs global) is an open call.

Sibling research input (Q-G54 deferred)

From 02_Working/Strategy/Company_Overview/Perplexity_Output_Team_Architecture_2026_05_03.md: Shirogumi parallel is team size only (35 artists, Godzilla Minus One, Oscar 96th). Anti-pattern guardrail. Do not claim Fluxx mirrors Shirogumi’s methodology, only core team size. Ex Machina (DNEG plus 4 vendors, about 35-40 at DNEG) is the stronger structural analog because the 4-vendor reach-in maps to Fluxx’s Production-Controlled Pipeline plus Virtual Workstations plus outsourced module model. Industry-standard tier ladder Fluxx can adopt: Junior → Mid → Senior → Lead → Department Supervisor → CG Supervisor → VFX Supervisor.

Open team-architecture calls (S124)

Per dev plan §13:

  • Pipeline architect first or cloud architect first (sequencing call).
  • TD hiring profile (generalist senior vs specialist per DCC).
  • Outsourcing geography (local studios, US-only, global).
  • Vendor RFP process (formal small RFP per module, or relationship-based).
  • Norman / GlassBox retention beyond V7 (continue or transition to other vendors).
  • CTO 2027 founder-market comp benchmark for the placeholder confirmation.
  • Mentor section to add to Headcount tab.

Source dependencies

Audience visibility

investor, counsel.