
Based in Zurich, Chris Blaser built his expertise navigating the worlds of live broadcast, 3D animation, and film. As VFX Supervisor on the cult Swissploitation film Mad Heidi, he demonstrated his ability to manage complex visual effects with limited resources. Now focused on digitizing reality for VR, AR, and Metaverse applications, he reflects on his career, his work on Mad Heidi, and his vision for the future of post-production in Switzerland.
What first inspired you to work in visual effects, and how did your passion for this field begin?
I think my first encounter with this world happened when I was around six years old—the first time I watched “Star Wars” with my best friend Daniel from kindergarten. He had all the cool movies on VHS: “Star Wars”, “Indiana Jones“, “Tron“, “Critters“, and “Alien“… well, “Alien” we probably watched a bit later, maybe when we were eight or nine.
It was then that I realized moviemaking—and especially VFX—was a real thing: models and actors shot on blue screens, or analog compositing using painted glass to create entire new worlds on the silver screen.
We were both very creative from a young age, and his mother Susanna was an art teacher. Since we both spent hours painting and drawing, she started to teach us all the essential techniques of perspective and form. That was especially helpful for me. You see, I’ve always had strong three-dimensional thinking since I was little, but I struggled to put on paper what I saw in my head. It was frustrating—you can fully visualize an object in your mind, rotate and move it, but if you can’t “print” it or draw it, it becomes limiting. So I spent hours drawing.
When I got my first PC at the age of 12, I also got my first 3D software: POV-Ray, a text-based 3D renderer running on DOS 6. During my apprenticeship as a vehicle locksmith, I spent more and more time doing 3D animations and stills on the side.
At 21, I founded my own company for interactive media and 3D visualization, while studying for my Bachelor’s degree in Multimedia Production at SAE. My plan back then was to earn money with my company and then go study VFX at FH Baden-Württemberg or FH Nürnberg. I made the money—but didn’t have the time. Still, I ended up working in the VFX business in Central Europe.

Did you follow a specific training path to become a VFX Artist, or did you learn mostly through hands-on experience?
Most of my knowledge comes from making-ofs, books, and—more importantly—learning from experienced people. I’ve always believed in doing everything across departments to fully understand each element: lighting, grip, camera work, set building, makeup, and special effects. The only thing I didn’t really enjoy was directing. However, I worked extensively as a DoP on commercials, which also gave me a lot of insight into directing.
Since I didn’t have time to complete a full Master’s in VFX or something similar, I knew that if I wanted to become a VFX Supervisor, I would need to understand every department I would eventually have to collaborate with. Not just to know what they’re capable of—but to avoid being that annoying person who doesn’t understand the work, yet still directs or mentors teams.
Ironically, especially in Switzerland, the biggest initial hurdles came from DoPs and producers. That’s actually why I became a DoP myself—mainly shooting on RED cameras—so I could handle all the VFX-related shots myself.

Your career spans online video streaming, broadcasting, and film. What led you to shift your focus more toward film and post-production in recent years?
The main reason for this broad career path—from live streaming and virtual studios in 2001, to broadcasting in 2010, and finally becoming a VFX Supervisor in film around 2020—was both practical and rooted in curiosity. I got into video streaming through a partner company while working on 3D animations with my own firm. We did a lot of video integration for websites. In 2002, I integrated my company into the partner company as its multimedia department. Since the team was small and only two of us truly understood the tech, I naturally took on a technical lead role. It was a great chance to learn a bit of everything.
Around 2010, the real estate crisis hit Central Europe, and the fashion industry significantly cut budgets. Where we once had budgets of 30–40k for high-end 3D visualizations for fashion weeks in Cannes, Paris, and New York, we suddenly had 3–4k—totally unrealistic. I scaled down my company and looked for freelance contracts. This led to a position as Art Director at a broadcast company, which I helped transition into HD.
In the years that followed, I moved between broadcasting, film, and software development for HP and Microsoft. By 2014, I was more and more involved on-set as a VFX Supervisor for commercials and films.

How did you first become involved in “Mad Heidi”, and what was your role on the project?
As I usually do, I reached out to the people behind the project and started a conversation. Regarding “Mad Heidi“—originally called “Heidiland”—I believe this was around late 2016. I contacted the two directors,
Johannes Hartmann and Sandro Klopfstein, and asked if they needed a VFX Supervisor. We met and had a great conversation.
Things went so well that I got involved in creating the first teaser. I worked on storyboards and concept design with them, and I coordinated all VFX shots and the people working on them. It was a fantastic opportunity to join from such an early stage. Even better, I was able to plan my time closely with both directors and all departments during preproduction. Despite only having three months for prep, everything went relatively smoothly.
What were the biggest visual effects challenges on “Mad Heidi”, and how did you and your team overcome them?
The biggest challenge? Probably convincing the producer to allocate a reasonable VFX budget. We had planned around 150–200 VFX shots. The most complex ones were the opening shot, the explosion of the cheese factory, and the waterfall scene.
To address the budget issue, I worked with a friend—an experienced VFX Producer who does budgeting for Netflix and other international productions. We created a reliable cost estimate. After several discussions with the production team, we eventually secured a budget—though still below our estimate—thanks in part to the directors, who fully understood the workload.
On set, we made sure to gather as much data as possible and keep the shots as simple as we could.

Looking back at “Mad Heidi”, what are you most proud of in terms of the VFX work?
What I’m most proud of is the close collaboration with Cloudscape, the company that did most of the VFX for the film, and the synergy between all departments involved in VFX-related shots. Also, the fact that nearly all VFX shots worked without missing data or extra post-fixes is something I’m really proud of.

Based on your experience as both a VFX Supervisor and Data Wrangler, how would you describe the current post-production landscape in Switzerland?
That’s not an easy question. From my limited direct experience on large international productions—but from talking with friends in Hollywood and well-known VFX Supervisors—I’d say there are two main hurdles: a general lack of understanding of VFX/postproduction, and the film financing system in Switzerland.
In Switzerland, filmmaking is often seen more as “supporting art” than as producing a marketable product. Productions often lack the experience to budget correctly, which leads to last-minute constraints. And VFX? Often underestimated. Instead of bringing in a VFX Producer or Supervisor to build a proper estimate, producers just guess a number. Internationally, and even on “Mad Heidi”, the VFX Producer is involved early on—alongside the director, producer, and line producer—to decide what’s best done in-camera versus VFX.
The budget gap between my professional estimate and what the production first proposed was 1:5. I literally laughed when I heard their number. Fortunately, the directors backed me up, and we got about half of the amount I initially calculated—with Cloudscape agreeing to the scope.
On set, most shots went smoothly. I had time to prep—3D scanning, reference plates, photos, measurements, markers. Still, sometimes it was frustrating: being ignored by the 1st AD or line producer despite standing 10 meters away. And last-minute budget fights—even when everything had been planned—are always a problem for VFX and post.
In contrast, working with Claudio Fäh on “Wilder” (also known as “Buried” on Netflix) was a dream. Claudio, known for heavy VFX in LA productions and as a VFX Producer for “Raised by Wolves“, involved me early, sent storyboards, and gave me time on set. That’s how it should be.
Another issue in Switzerland: many producers think complex VFX work can’t be done here, which simply isn’t true. We have excellent studios. The real problem is poor planning. Swiss companies will either refuse the work or quote high prices—because of missing data or poorly executed shots. The “we’ve done this for 20 years” mindset doesn’t apply to VFX if you don’t have experience.

What are the main strengths and weaknesses you see in the Swiss post-production ecosystem today?
As I mentioned, the main weakness is a lack of understanding about VFX—both on set and in planning. Some producers think hiring a VFX Supervisor is a waste of money or that proper storyboarding makes things more expensive. But the opposite is true: with clean plates and references, a shot might take one day to complete; without planning, it might take a week—or be abandoned.
One production thought post could be completed in four weeks. It took three editors and three months. Another gave a VFX vendor four lines of text for the opening shot. Ten people read those lines, and there were ten interpretations. I stopped the waste, asked the art director to produce one-page storyboards for each shot, and within a week, the shot was done and everyone was happy.
A key strength in Switzerland is flexibility. In Hollywood, you might have ten people doing one job. Here, people are resourceful and creative, often solving problems despite limited budgets or gear.
Do you think Switzerland offers enough opportunities and support for VFX professionals and film post-production in general?
Is there enough VFX work in Switzerland? I’d say yes—but with a caveat. The real problem is perception. Many production companies or clients think it can’t be done here, or that it’s too expensive. That’s false. We have amazing talent, but many left because there wasn’t enough work. Ironically, most Swiss VFX artists and studios work at or below international rates.
Sadly, around two-thirds of VFX work gets outsourced. Swiss public broadcasters even spend taxpayer money on foreign VFX—against regulations. Even big advertisers like Migros and Coop outsource their 3D animation abroad.
I really hope Helvetia Motion Arts can help change that perception—that we “do” have the talent and it “is” feasible to produce locally.

If you could work on any type of project, without limits, what would be your dream VFX or post-production assignment?
That’s a tough one—there’s so much great stuff out there. One dream would be to create a TV series spanning the entire “Dune” universe, based on all six books… You never know! For now, I’m developing a sci-fi movie or show with a friend, and I hope it becomes another amazing journey like “Mad Heidi”, where I was involved right from the start.
How do you envision the future of post-production in Switzerland, especially with the rise of virtual production, digital twins, and metaverse technologies?
I hope global production picks up again after two major slowdowns—first COVID, then the writers’ and actors’ strikes over AI concerns. These affected Switzerland too, though perhaps not as severely.
Virtual production will play a role, but it requires much more education—especially for producers. As long as detailed planning and preproduction remain lacking in Switzerland, virtual production will be difficult to implement effectively. We’re also still missing a proper LED volume stage—though that’s hopefully changing soon.
One frustration: the original idea behind NIFFF‘s “Imaging the Future” (now “NIFFF Extended”) was to educate Swiss producers on international VFX pipelines. While artists and fans love it, you rarely see producers attending these talks. That needs to change.