Stephen Gifford

Got to meet the one and only James Gunn! What a cool and talented guy. A superb storyteller with the ability to create the most likable characters that tug at your heartstrings. We need more fun at the movies. Thanks James Gunn for bringing the fun back. And thanks to my friends @original_joez and @pixprods for the SUPER bday gift I won't soon forget. #jamesgunn #movies

Together with our friends at PIX PRODUCTIONS and Adobe, we crafted this beautiful opening film for MAX 2025 which played across massive screens at the Peacock Theater in DTLA. The success of immersive media is measured not only by the beauty of the art, but also by the feeling it has for the audience. Blending a variety of techniques from our talented artists, we set out to create a spectacle of light and sound that broke the bounds of typical presentation media to create a multi-screen immersive theatrical experience. We absolutely love working on these shows. Thanks to PIX and Adobe for another amazing collaboration. CREDITS Client: Adobe Production Company: PIX PRODUCTIONS Creative Studio: Pretty Damn Sweet Director, Keynotes and Events, Adobe: Joe Buchwald Creative Director, Adobe: Michael Powell Director: Stephen Gifford Technical Director: Rick Sebeck Designers: David Dura, Jon Mayes, Rory McLean, Everton Rios Marques, Lamek Felix Motion Artists: Jon Mayes, Rory McLean, Everton Rios Marques, Rick Sebeck Hieu Vu Animation Producer: Kevin Nguyen Sound Design & Mix: Dan LaPorta Editor: Stephen Gifford Song “Best Is Yet To Come” by Ønders” #prettydamnsweet #pixproductions #adobe #adobemax #3d #motion

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there trying their best. Even in the toughest moments remember nobody is perfect and you can't always nail it. Just keep showing up and make the time you have together count. In my 10 years as a dad, I've learned it's the small moments that make the biggest memories, like wrestling on the floor with your older 2 while trying to grab your phone back from the baby who had the camera on so you grabbed a quick snapshot amid the chaos. These are the perfect moments you can't plan for. These are the good times. #fathersday

With the Stanley Cup Final in full swing, here's a look back at our emotional anthem film from the 2022 series. Still one of our most rewarding and favorite projects of all time. Thank you all who were a part of it. “Be authentic” - the words we kept saying to ourselves when we set out to make an opening Tease unlike any other. Imagine the opportunity to borrow the Stanley Cup for a few days and bring it to a frozen lake town in Northern Minnesota full of devout hockey fans known literally as Hockeytown USA. The smiles on their faces, the tears in their eyes, that once in a lifetime opportunity. That’s what “Our Time” afforded us the opportunity of doing. A love letter to the grit and sheer determination it takes to get to the Stanley Cup Final. This film featured dozens of real people playing for a vast assortment of leagues. Love of the game runs incredibly deep all across this country, from the people of the frozen tundra of Minnesota to the urbanites in cities like NYC and Philadelphia. Our singular goal was to capture that devotion. The content captured for this anthem film also supported an entire campaign of short promos that opening each game in the playoffs and the final conference. @benorisich_director @john_taggartdp @giffogram @jon_applebaum @ricksebeck @dp_joe_hennigan @gibbysmallsss @patrick_m_mason @danielbowenmusic @drexelhockey @bluesuedehues @ginovarisano @pattymcgoo @nhl @espn #stanleycup #nhl #hockey #anthems #prettydamnsweet

Another unforgettable Vegas experience is in the books—this time with a hypnotic twist! At Adobe Summit 2025, top innovators in marketing, digital experience, and customer engagement gathered to explore the future of the industry. In collaboration with our incredible partners at PIX PRODUCTIONS and Adobe, Pretty Damn Sweet created a visual narrative for the event through bold CGI design, mesmerizing motion graphics, and high-impact digital artistry. Inspired by vibrant color palettes, geometric patterns, and the striking aesthetics of Op Art, our team helped to craft a fully immersive experience—from dynamic keynote screen visuals to a large-scale, photo-worthy LED wall installation in the Creative Park. It was a true celebration of creativity, technology, and visual storytelling. CREDITS Client: @adobe Production Company: @pixprods Creative Studio: Pretty Damn Sweet Adobe Head of Events: Nicole Williams Adobe Executive Creative Producer: Joe Buchwald Adobe Creative Director: Michael Powell Design and Animation Director: Stephen Gifford Technical Director: Rick Sebeck Producer: Kevin Nguyen Artists: Chris Lee, Everton Rios Marques, Damir Morpurgo, Neil Verhavert #cgidesign #immersive #eventdesign #digitalart #adobe #prettydamnsweet

Pretty Damn Sweet had the amazing opportunity to create background visuals for a live performance by singer-songwriter Yoli Mayor at Adobe MAX in Miami Beach this year. Playing to a hall of 10,000 attendees, her beautifully delivered “Pretending” filled the space with hope and inspiration. Our team's designs aimed to support the performance using slow movement of tropical flowers blooming with digital patterns and textures. These visuals connected both to the music and the overall theme of the show, offering a stunning experience for an excited crowd at Adobe MAX 2024. CREDITS Client: Adobe Production Company: PIX PRODUCTIONS Motion Studio: Pretty Damn Sweet Head of Events, Adobe: Nicole Williams Director, Keynotes and Events Creative, Adobe: Joe Buchwald Creative Director Events, Adobe: Michael Powell Executive Creative Director: James Kern Creative Director: Stephen Gifford Director: Rick Sebeck Artists: Chris Lee, Rory McLean, Rick Sebeck, Hieu Vu Producer: Kevin Nguyen Music: “Pretending" by @yolimayor Check out our site or our LinkedIn for the full piece. Links in bio. #prettydamnsweet #yolimayor #adobemax #digitalart #liveperformance #music

Pretty Damn Sweet had the incredible opportunity to craft some of the most mind-bending visuals behind Adobe MAX 2024. Collaborating closely with our friends at Adobe and PIX PRODUCTIONS, we pushed the limits of our imaginations, creating stunning imagery that distorts perception and reality. CREDITS Client: @Adobe Production Company: PIX Productions Creative Studio: Pretty Damn Sweet Adobe Head of Events: Nicole Williams Adobe Executive Creative Producer: Joe Buchwald Adobe Creative Director: Michael Powell Design and Animation Director: Stephen Gifford Artists: Joe Buchwald, Serge Jespers, Chris Lee, Rory McLean, Damir Morpurgo, Hieu Vu Producer: Kevin Nguyen #prettydamnsweet #AdobeMax #adobe #motiondesign #design #cgi #aftereffects #mdcommunity #animation #events

Our team at Pretty Damn Sweet created a glowing visual experience to kick off Adobe Summit 2024. The visual language explores color and light blooming in the darkness in exciting new ways. This was incredibly powerful to experience on massive screens spanning over 23,000 pixels wide at The Venetian Expo in Las Vegas, marking another successful collaboration with our friends at PIX PRODUCTIONS and Adobe. CREDITS Client: @adobe Production Company: PIX PRODUCTIONS Motion Studio: Pretty Damn Sweet Head of Events, Adobe: Nicole Williams Director, Keynotes and Events Creative, Adobe: Joe Buchwald Creative Director, Events, Adobe: Michael Powell Director: Stephen Gifford Technical Director: Rick Sebeck Producer: Kevin Nguyen Design & Animation: Chris Lee, Damir Morpurgo, Alan Kichl, Adam Elder Show Styleguide: Oddfellows #prettydamnsweet #AdobeSummit #adobe #motiondesign #design #cgi #aftereffects #mdcommunity #animation

We had some fun making geometric shapes out of fog clouds. Director: Stephen Gifford Artist: Chris Lee #PrettyDamnSweet #adobe #design #cgi #redshift #c4d

Late posting but wanted to share these fun shots of our Halloween setup from this year. We had a blast letting the kids help create and direct the scenes. This is phase one. Then the spooky stuff comes down and the lights turn into warm lighting for Thanksgiving. Looking forward to getting our Chrismukah decorations up next! #halloweendecorations #falldecor

Is it Cake? Squishmallow Party for Claire's 10th birthday was a hit! We set up 3 tables with different themes and had the kids all guess from a distance. They had to collectively choose one item, so practicing good communication skills.... which they did amidst the shouting and screaming. It was a close call with the pumpkins and there was almost a ruined Squishmallow but in the end there was no fooling these smart kids. Shoutout to @cakeartistcafe for the amazing work on Cam the cat. Thank you for making our girl's party special! And tasty too. #isitcake #squishmallows #birthdaytheme

Pretty Damn Sweet had the opportunity to team up with Adobe and PIX Productions to create AI-enhanced content for Adobe MAX 2024 in Miami. This stunning sequence, presented on the massive LED wall in the Creative Park, leveraged the strength of traditional CGI animators with the power of generative AI. CREDITS Client: Adobe Production Company: @pixprods Motion Studio: Pretty Damn Sweet Adobe Head of Events: Nicole Williams Adobe Executive Creative Producer: Joe Buchwald Adobe Creative Director: Michael Powell Design & Animation Director: Stephen Gifford Editor: Grant Duff Artists: Joe Buchwald, Serge Jespers, Damir Morpurgo #adobe #aiart #design #animation