Bran Ferren

Quick Facts

Full Name	Bran Ferren
Occupation	Engineer
Date Of Birth	Jan 16, 1953(1953-01-16)
Age	71
Birthplace	New York
Country	United States
Horoscope	Capricorn

Bran Ferren Biography

Bran Ferren is one of the most popular and richest Engineer who was born on January 16, 1953 in New York, United States. For his involvement in the theater, Ferren also received two New York Drama Desk Awards as well as The Maharam Foundation Award, and the American Theater Wing, Hewes Design Award. Ferren has developed for the Special Effects and Sound for numerous Broadway productions and has been a long-time member of the Broadway stagehands union, IATSE Local #1. The theatrical special effects he designed work on The Broadway performances that included Frankenstein, Cats, and Sunday in the Park with George was widely praised for their innovative special effects. Frank Rich said in his New York Times review of Sunday in the Park with George: “What Mr. Lapine, his designers and the special-effects wizard Bran Ferren have arranged is simply gorgeous.” It was the first Broadway musical to utilize digitally-processed projection mapping (pre-processed, geometrically corrected 35mm film projection), a radio-controlled costume with a robotic endoskeleton, 20 kW xenon rotating-dichroic-filter light ray effects, and dazzling high powered lasers that broke the 4th wall, traveling throughout the audience. Frank Rich said of his work in Frankenstein, “Bran Ferren’s special audio-visual effects are also impressive by theatrical standards” and Carol Lawson, said in the New York Times, that “critics have remarked that Mr. Ferren’s work on this play, which included the spectacular destruction of Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory by his monster, had the lavishness that audiences have come to expect in films, but have never before seen in the theater.”

A well-known 1980s MTV Television bumper featured a version of the final transformation scene from Altered States, designed and art directed by Ferren.

He has been recognized for his unique approach working with directors in the design of special effects and visual effects across motion pictures, television, theater, concerts, and later in theme parks and architecture. This was featured in a New York Times profile on him by Stephen Farber, when Paul Mazursky’s film Tempest (1982) was released. In this article Farber quotes Mazursky as saying he is “a Renaissance man, a figure from another time… If you crossed Robert Oppenheimer and Monty Woolley, you might get Bran.”

In addition to their work in the entertainment sector, Associates & Ferren was responsible for developing many technologies for industrial and government customers in the areas of robotics, sound systems, vehicle systems, control systems, scientific research & experiment design, optical systems, and 3D machine vision, as well as moving lighting fixtures for Strand Lighting Inc. Mr. Ferren was responsible for the development of advanced lens and thin-film dichroic coating technologies for the Revo Sunglasses brand, and served in the role of Director of Research & Development for Revo, which established new performance standards for sunglasses including the first to incorporate Infrared blocking. He did the lighting design and interiors concept for Ian Schrager’s “White” variation of Studio 54 in NYC, as well as invented the what is believed to be the first multi-monitor video wall, which premiered at the opening of the Palladium Club, also in New York City, in 1985.

Ferren began his first engineering and design firm, Synchronetics while in high school. Ferren left high school at 16 to go to MIT however he left in 1970 to pursue the business of his dreams. Despite his brief stay at MIT the school, Ferren was asked back by the then school’s president Charles M. Vest to be the keynote speaker at MIT Technology Day 1996. Prior to his 21st birthday, Ferren was working in films, TV commercials and the regional theatre. He also invented visual effects for arena shows for groups like Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Laurie Anderson, Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, David Bowie, Paul McCartney , R.E.M, Depeche Mode and Foreigner with pyrotechnics, projection, audio, and innovative lighting techniques.

Bran Ferren Net Worth

Bran Ferren is one of the richest Engineer from United States. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Bran Ferren 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

Bran Ferren (born on the 16th of January, 1953) is an American artist, technologist and architect, as well as a engineer, vehicle designer design, sound and lighting engineer Visual effects artist, researcher as well as a photographer, lecturer Entrepreneur, and prolific inventor. Ferren was the former President of Research and Development of Walt Disney Imagineering and the creator of Associates & Ferren, a multidisciplinary design and engineering company that was acquired at the time of 1993 from Disney. He is the Chief Creative Officer at Applied Minds, which he co-founded in 2000 along with Danny Hillis. The Apple “pinch-to-zoom” patent, which is prominently mentioned in its legal battle against Samsung and Samsung, was invalidated in 2013 by the US Patent and Trademark Office in 2013, based on an invention in 2005 issued by Ferren as well as Hillis to allow multi-touch gestures.

He began his education at Hunter College Elementary School for gifted students in New York City, followed by a time studying at the American Community School, in Beirut Lebanon (1963-1964) while his father was the first artist-in residence for the U.S. Department of State cultural exchange program that introduced American abstract painting to the Middle East. After returning from his trip abroad He was a student in McBurney School. McBurney Academy located in New York City, and later, the final three years in high school East Hampton High School, located in East Hampton, New York.

The final scene in the 1980s music video “Take On Me” by A-ha was inspired by the similar scene designed by Ferren in Altered States.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Bran Ferren height Not available right now. Bran weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Bran Ferren Dating?

According to our records, Bran Ferren is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, Bran Ferren’s is not dating anyone.

Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for Bran Ferren. You may help us to build the dating records for Bran Ferren!

Ferren served as lead designer, engineer, and producer of the 50-state, 16-month tour of the Bill of Rights, which celebrated the document’s bicentennial. For the tour, he designed and built the Bill of Rights Secure Transit Vehicle, which transported the fragile parchment document, as well as a 15,000-square-foot travelling exhibit equipped with state-of-the-art lighting, A/V, security, and safety systems. He was the chief designer for the award winning Columbus Center Hall of Exploration, a science discovery center, located at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in 1997.

Facts & Trivia

Bran Ranked on the list of most popular Engineer. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in United States. Bran Ferren celebrates birthday on January 16 of every year.

He has delivered the commencement speeches to the California State University, Northridge – College of Arts, Media and Communication (2002)The University of Redlands- College of Arts and Sciences (2014), and the University of Irvine – Claire Trevor School of the Arts, the School of Education, and the School of Physical Sciences (2015).