Mitchell S. Drain

Mitchell “Mitch” Drain’s expertise in the visual effects industry spans over 30 years. He is an inventive, adaptable VFX Supervisor with an impressive résumé in features, episodics, and limited series long-form entertainment and commercials. Mitch has successfully led visual effects teams on some of the biggest feature films like “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” and “Master and Commander” as well as several award-winning episodics for HBO, Netflix, TNT, NBC, ABC, and Sony Pictures Television.

Most recently, Mitch served as the Digital Domain VFX Supervisor for HBO’s upcoming horror series “IT: Welcome to Derry,” based on Stephen King’s “It.” Prior to that, he led visual effects for the third-highest-grossing Hindi film of all time “Stree 2.” Mitchell also played a key role as Digital Domain VFX Supervisor on HBO’s award-winning series “The Last of Us,” where he oversaw the creation of a hauntingly beautiful post-apocalyptic environment.

His past projects also include supervising VFX for “Children of the Corn,” crafting environments and creatures for the Netflix film “Chupa,” and leading a major creature sequence as Digital Domain VFX Supervisor on Lionsgate’s “Chaos Walking.” Additionally, Mitch supervised Marvel's “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” where Digital Domain delivered work across six episodes of the final season—including digi-doubles, set extensions, explosions, and a flying helicarrier. Other projects on Mitchell’s credits include HBO’s first season of “Perry Mason” and season two of CBS’s “The Twilight Zone.”

Mitchell previously worked on HBO’s hit series “Westworld,” where he lent his expertise across multiple seasons and episodes, leading effects, robots, and set environments alongside VFX Producer Elizabeth Castro and VFX Supervisor Jay Worth. Mitchell was also on set for Marvel’s “Jessica Jones: A Netflix Original,” where he led effects work alongside showrunner Melissa Rosenberg. During the course of his episodics career, Mitchell also supervised visual effects, including environments, explosions, and pyrotechnics for additional Netflix shows, such as “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” and “Sense8,” and HBO’s acclaimed series “True Detective.”

Mitchell’s specialty is real-world visual effects with a focus on work relatable to global audiences everywhere. When on set, he is a true partner to the director and studio with a keen eye for detail to ensure that the work is both photorealistic and grounded in reality. An excellent problem-solver, he loves the challenge of synthesizing abstract concepts into fully-realized, well-structured visual effects. Mitchell’s mastery and command of the visual effects craft won him an Emmy award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects on “Westworld” in 2017. Other notable work includes “Independence Day,” “Minority Report,” and “Black Hawk Down

Additionally, Mitchell worked on HBO’s hit series “Westworld,” where he lent his expertise across multiple seasons and episodes, leading effects, robots, and set environments alongside VFX Producer Elizabeth Castro and VFX Supervisor Jay Worth. Mitchell was also on set for Marvel’s “Jessica Jones: A Netflix Original,” where he led effects work alongside showrunner Melissa Rosenberg. During the course of his career, Mitchell also supervised visual effects, including environments, explosions, and pyrotechnics for additional Netflix shows, such as “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” and “Sense8,” and HBO’s acclaimed series “True Detective.”

Mitchell’s specialty is real-world visual effects with a focus on work relatable to global audiences everywhere. When on set, he is a true partner to the director and studio with a keen eye for detail to ensure that the work is both photorealistic and grounded in reality. An excellent problem-solver, he loves the challenge of synthesizing abstract concepts into fully-realized, well-structured visual effects. Mitchell’s mastery and command of the visual effects craft won him an Emmy award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects on “Westworld” in 2017. Other notable work includes “Independence Day,” “Minority Report,” and “Black Hawk Down.”