Scott Billups' PixelMonger is the oldest independent digital production company in Hollywood. "When I opened my doors, George Lucas was still working out of a garage in the San Fernando Valley". Unlike George, Scott intentionally stayed small and independent. While he may not be able to boast the enormous capital worth of his more famous cohort, he is renowned as one of the most casual and low key, movers and shakers in the industry. "It's a lot more rewarding to live a comfortable lifestyle than it is to live an extravagant one" he muses as he rocks back in his patio chair.

Scott's first paycheck in the film industry came from ski movie mogul Warren Miller at the ripe old age of 16.

Scott put himself through college with his camera, shooting for documentary legends such as MacGillivray/Freeman, Wolper Productions and National Geographic. After graduation, and with a substantial body of work under his belt, Scott moved to Los Angeles and started knocking on doors.

Oscar-winning cinematographer James Wong Howe hired him on the spot, not because of his impressive body of work (which Mr. Howe never did look at) but rather because he could lift and carry a massive Mitchell BNC camera from the garage up to the second floor of Mr. Howe's home without breaking anything.

His arduous internship with the Oscar winning Cinematographer lasted until Mr. Howe's death. Scott continued to work with several of Mr. Howe's commercial accounts and subsequently formed a small production company, which rapidly grew to an 85-person advertising and production company with offices in three states.

After a long history of successful campaigns, Scott Billups sold his agency and retired. It lasted almost four months. Since then (still officially retired) Scott has written, produced, directed or shot more than a hundred motion pictures and television shows.

The endless string of commercials that Scott has created have won nearly every award given in their categories. Scott also personally creates numerous on-air promos for ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, Discovery and History Channels as well as many television show openings and bumpers.

Widely regarded as one of Hollywood's premier visual effects artists, Scott creates thousands of visual effect sequences for a diverse client roster that includes motion pictures, commercials and television shows of all budgets.

Scott's award winning work has secured him a reputation in both the entertainment and technology communities as a knowledgeable and leading innovator. Along with his friend Michael Backes he co-founded the AFI Media Lab in Los Angeles and is a sought-after consultant for companies such as Kodak, Apple, Sony, Mattel, Universal Studios, The Artist's Rights Foundation and The National Science Highway to the White House. He consults on imaging to both NASA and the ESA (European Space Agency).

Scott serves as technology consultant to Universal Studios' Phoenix project which is rebuilding the famous back lot after the July, 2008 fire. He also designed and supervised the installation of the Universal Smart Stage which is helping to usher in a new era of cost-effective broadcast and motion picture production.

A popular international speaker, Scott is a regular at many events around the world. Scott's keynote addresses include NAB, Seybold Seminars, MacWorld (twice), Sundance Film Festival, NBC/Universal World Summit, Digital World, NOB, DVExpo and this year's Digital Day at the DGA.

Scott has designed dozens of venues and visualizations for theme parks as well as the initial design of four parks from the ground up. His clients include Universal Studios, Landmark Entertainment Group, Disney Imagineering, Iwerks Entertainment and Namco.

With more than twenty years of leading-edge work in 3D stereo imaging, Scott's vast experience base has become a valued commodity in today's resurgence of 3D movies. In addition to his work with several of the top equipment manufacturers, Scott is an actively involved in a number of 3D motion picture productions.

Scott's work with synthetic characters (more than 200 to date including Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando) and virtual sets has gained him international regard as a leader in the field of advanced digital film making. In addition to numerous award-winning motion picture and broadcast visual effects, Scott created the original visualizations for Jurassic Park.

Scott was in development on a fifty million dollar motion picture project at Phoenix Pictures (which he was slated to direct) when he suffered a severe ice climbing accident. The ice wall he was on broke loose and fell (with Scott attached) 165 feet into a crevasse. Since he was climbing above 14,000 feet, rescue attempts couldn't begin until the next day.

While recuperating from 44 broken bones, Scott wrote three screenplays, four episodes of a television series and a book. The scripts have all been produced or optioned and the book (Digital Moviemaking) is in its third edition and is used in more than 70% of the film schools world wide.

Scott is now fully recovered and back at work - at least when he's not ice climbing.

Since his recovery, Scott has shot more than a dozen commercials (including the international roll-out for the Sony PlayStation which David Lynch directed) and the latest Wii (Pirates of the Caribbean) commercial for ILM. He has shot seven motion pictures; five of them digitally. Except for two that were studio projects, all were featured at major festivals such as Sundance / Slamdance, Toronto, CineFest and the HBO Comedy festival in Aspen. All have won awards, gone into distribution and made money.

In that same time period Scott also worked on more than twenty award winning shows for Discovery Channel, History Channel, PBS and HBO and contributed to both of last year's non-fiction, Prime-Time Emmy winners. He has also managed to take a concept, through scripting and all the way to the pilot stage for a major network sale.

Often referred to as "The only Amish kid in Hollywood", Scott reflects his Amish/Quaker upbringing in his active involvement in projects that promote individual rights and equality.

In addition to the main industry organizations such as DGA, WGA, Producers Guild, International Cinematographers Guild, Digital Cinema Society, Local 600, SMPTE and the VFX Society, some of the organizations that Scott is currently working with include: National Educators Association, National Urban League and The Twenty-First Century Foundation.

Scott's Emmy-acknowledged "A Day In The Life of Melrose Ave" was the first TV show entirely shot, edited & broadcast from a computer, leading Scott to design & co-develop the first direct-to-disk camcorder - the Ikegami HL-57/AVID CamCutter. Among his many contributions to the production industry is the widely regarded Billups VF/X Chart, which has become a staple of the visual effects industry.

Scott holds the highest rating in Hang Gliding, is a world class skier, ice climber and scuba diver. An accomplished RC HeliCam pilot, Scott is currently in development on an enclosed blade camera lifting platform called the SkyJib.

With a lifetime of international production experience, Scott has quite literally been everywhere in the world - at least twice. Understandably, his international production contacts are infamously unrivaled.