Raising Dion follows the story of Nicole (Alisha Wainwright) and her son Dion (Ja’Siah Young) after Dion starts to manifest several mysterious, superhero-like abilities. Two years after defeating the Crooked Man (Jason Ritter), Season Two follows Dion as he continues honing his powers with the support of his mom and Tevin (Rome Flynn), his Biona trainer who catches Nicole’s eye. After befriending new student Brayden (Griffin Robert Faulkner) – a fellow powered kid – a series of alarming events unfold, and Dion learns that danger is still looming. Navigating twists, turns, and surprise visitors, Dion and Nicole must prevail again — not just to save themselves, but the entire city of Atlanta.
We spoke with the CoSA VFX Raising Dion team of CoSA VFX Producer Karina Slater, VFX Supervisor Nick Lund-Ulrich, and Compositing Supervisor Mark Davis about the new season of Raising Dion, now available on Netflix.
This project reunites CoSA with show VFX Supervisor Mark Kolpack, VFX Producer Sabrina Arnold, VFX Production Manager Briana Aeby, and VFX Editor Ryan R. Moos, all of whom we worked with previously on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and other projects, with Mark Kolpack going back for a over a decade. When they came on for Raising Dion Season 2, they reached out to CoSA to offer us the opportunity to work on some key sequences throughout the season.
For Raising Dion, CoSA was able to revisit superheroics like we had done on S.H.I.E.L.D., but we were also able to employ techniques used in Swamp Thing to animate vines. A good portion of the work assigned to CoSA VFX involved Season 2’s antagonist character, and we were tasked with creating a look that goes beyond what we saw from Dion’s powers in Season 1. This was one of the many opportunities we were given to create things that don’t exist in the real world. “Mark Kolpack is a great person to do that with, because he’s so passionate about the material and can really come up with good ideas to share with the team,” CoSA VFX Supervisor Nick Lund-Ulrich enthuses.
Beyond the visual effects, one appeal of Raising Dion is that it is a series where members of the audience can see themselves. “I think of my nephew who is an 11-year-old Black kid,” CoSA VFX Producer Karina Slater recalls. “He looks at something like this, and he has a little young superhero to look up to. That’s something cool for him to watch.” This reinforces the importance of diversity for film and television, and we at CoSA are proud to be a part of that.
Raising Dion was a global project for CoSA VFX, using talent from all three of our facilities between Los Angeles, Vancouver, and Atlanta. With its heartfelt stories complimented by outstanding VFX, the series is slated to be another visual success. “When you work with a team that’s truly invested in doing exceptional work and fantastic clients, that’s the best thing you could have,” Karina adds.
Come back to CoSAVFX.com in the coming weeks for a more in-depth look at the VFX of Raising Dion. All of Season 2 is now available!
ABOUT CoSA VFX
Founded in 2009, CoSA VFX has grown from a small boutique into a thriving visual effects studio with offices in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Vancouver. The CoSA VFX team has received Emmy nominations and wins for their work on TV series including Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Almost Human, Revolution, and Gotham, and currently provides visual effects for multiple studios, networks and streaming television services.
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