A person lying on a textured red surface, wearing a pink shirt and black pants. The background is a vibrant red with small dark shapes scattered.

Tomato Warfare: Milk VFX on Heads of State

Milk VFX Supervisor David Sadler-Coppard on how the team built thousands of CG tomatoes, exploding doors, and digital crowds for Heads of State.

Milk VFX’s work on Heads of State opens with a high‑octane "La Tomatina" sequence dominated by CG mayhem. VFX Supervisor David Sadler‑Coppard – IMDb | LinkedIn led his team through a shoot‑interruption due to strikes, transforming a modest placeholder‑tomato setup into an extensive, fully digital fruit fight.

In this interview, Sadler‑Coppard walks us through every detail: from roto challenges and wetness shaders to full‑scale simulations, crowd integration, and the demanding safe‑house claymore explosion—all the way to his personal favourite moment. Originally planned for July to November, the sequence delivered 239 tomato‑fuelled shots by January, involving around 30 specialists at peak.

DP: So, I heard there was a Food Fight at Milk VFX …  David Sadler-Coppard: I was assigned as VFX Supervisor for Heads of State at Milk when we were first awarded the show. Initially, we were bidding on several sequences, with the La Tomatina Festival scene...


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