CAUGHT STEALING
OUR WORK
For Darren Aronofsky’s feature film Caught Stealing, FOLKS was brought on board as one of the primary VFX partners, contributing to the creation of period-accurate environments and high-energy action sequences. Over five months, from February to July 2025, the team delivered a wide range of visual effects that blended seamlessly into the film’s gritty and dynamic aesthetic.
One of the main challenges was recreating 1990s New York with absolute precision. “We had a couple of set extensions to make the city more period-accurate,” explains VFX Supervisor Kevin Yuille. “Shea Stadium was the biggest one. Since it doesn’t exist anymore, we sourced archival material and used a 2.5D projection to rebuild it digitally.” Every detail, from graffiti to Mets flags, was carefully added to match the period. Across the city, modern elements like LED lighting and updated crosswalk signs were removed to achieve authenticity. At Aronofsky’s request, the Empire State Building was even rendered in blue light, a subtle historical reference to Frank Sinatra’s passing in the late ’90s.
Another major sequence took place at the Hermitage nightclub, featuring a large-scale explosion. “The building itself wasn’t symmetrical, so we had to fake a perfect archway digitally,” says Yuille. Practical effects, such as blown-out glass and smoke, were combined with CG enhancements to amplify the destruction. The aftermath was equally detailed, requiring additional elements like ambulances, duplicated crowds, and fire hose spray to give the scene a sense of chaos and scale.
The film’s more visceral moments required equally careful attention. Some injury shots involved enhancing practical prosthetics with digital effects, while others, like a high-speed windshield ejection, demanded fully CG simulations of organic materials. “We started with matte-painted gore for one sequence,” recalls Yuille, “but as soon as we saw the camera move, it didn’t work. We had to switch to full CG to make it believable.”
One of the most technically complex moments came during a high-intensity car chase shot across multiple locations and lighting conditions. “We had to unify the skies to create continuity,” Yuille explains. The chase also included intricate vehicle interactions, CG barriers, debris simulations, and the crash of an SUV into a Mr. Softee ice cream truck. “The truck existed on set, but we animated it in CG to make the impact feel more dynamic,” adds Yuille. The team also reconstructed missing frames where stunt vehicles destroyed cameras, blending tracked geometry with reprojections for a seamless result.
The project relied on a strong collaboration between FOLKS’ Los Angeles compositing team and the Bogotá CG department. “We had some of our best compositors in LA on this show,” says VFX Producer Eliza Roberts. “Bogotá handled a lot of the assets, modeling, and lighting, and they were fantastic.” CG supervisor Antonio Mendoza, lead asset artist Mauricio Canon, and 3D artist Raul Pacheco were instrumental in delivering photorealistic results, allowing the two sites to work seamlessly together.
Despite the shot count nearly doubling during production, FOLKS delivered the work on time and within budget. Working closely with Sony and Darren Aronofsky’s creative team, the studio helped define the visual identity of Caught Stealing. “The goal was to make this work exceptional,” Yuille concludes. “We wanted to nail every shot, build trust with the director, and set ourselves up for future collaborations. I think we succeeded.”
OUR TEAM
The visual effects in 'Caught Stealing' were made possible by the talent and dedication of our team at FOLKS, led by:
Kevin Yuille | VFX Supervisor
Eliza Roberts | VFX Producer
TRAILER
Burned-out ex-baseball player Hank Thompson unexpectedly finds himself embroiled in a dangerous struggle for survival amidst the criminal underbelly of 1990s New York City, forced to navigate a treacherous underworld he never imagined.
