Inches from the computer screen, he watches the film clip again and again, noting the way the raccoon opens and shuts its mouth, the subtle interplay of its paws as it picks something up, eats and grooms itself, all the while its eyes alert and alive.
He’s got to get this right. A raccoon is one of the main characters in Guardians of the Galaxy, a film he’s working on, and if his visual effects (VFX) team doesn’t get it quite right, that raccoon will not be believable—its actions, decisions and dialogue won’t work—and the movie will fail. So it all comes down to that Discovery Channel raccoon on the monitor (now busily licking something best left unspecified).
“I was nowhere in my career, far from where I wanted to be.”
As it turns out, the team does get the raccoon (along with a talking tree creature) right, and the film earns two Oscar nominations—including for VFX. The cinematic sorcery conjured by Christoph and company is so believable, in fact, that the film’s closing credits contain this statement: “No raccoons or tree creatures were harmed during the making of this film.”
Christoph is a man at the top of a profession that specializes in the summoning of improbable things out of thin air. With a raft of blockbusters on his résumé—The Lion King, Guardians of the Galaxy, Transformers 5 and Bardo, Emmy Award-winning TV episodes for Game of Thrones, as well as Disney Studios’ remake of The Little Mermaid—Christoph sometimes works with as many as 1,200 people scattered all over the world to weave a seamless garment of silver-screen wonder.
Take one three-year-long Disney project, for example. Christoph had to keep everyone coordinated, in touch and on the same page regarding the director’s vision. It was a marathon and a challenge and the VFX wizard relished every moment.
It would appear, given the ease with which Christoph Roth handles his profession, his confidence in his abilities and his leadership qualities, that the road to the top would be a breeze for the one-time kid from a small town who always knew what he wanted to do in life.
Because there was never any doubt of Christoph’s talent, his ability to think on his feet, his drive and his passion—even at the start of his career. These landed him a plum, long-term VFX project: the first German-made computer-generated animated series. It would have opened the gates to a grand and brilliant future.
But it was not to be.
“The biggest jump in my career happened right after I did my Scientology training, hands down.”
After toiling for two years, the plug was suddenly pulled on the project (a victim of the internet bubble bursting in the early 2000s) and he found himself with no job, no college degree, no prospects and a dead-end future.
In spite of what at first looked like a potential big break, “I was nowhere in my career, far from where I wanted to be,” he told Freedom.
With time on his hands, Christoph reflected on his own life. Yes, he had talent to spare and a boundless imagination with energy to match. Yet they were not enough. In his 20s and adrift, he realized he was missing something. There was a deep and personal gap—a vacuum in his knowledge of life and how to live with himself and others—wide enough to fit a football field. And unless he handled that missing element and handled it now, his dream of success would be stillborn.
It was then that he came across Scientology. The religion’s courses allowed Christoph to pinpoint and solve the exact problem he was running into.
That was when things began to happen in earnest for him—when the offers and opportunities began to pour in. “The biggest jump in my career happened right after I did my Scientology training, hands down,” he says.
Now responsible for the fate of epic movies and the coordination of armies of VFX specialists, Christoph oversees the creation of mermaids, talking trees, raccoons, dinosaurs and lions, as well as explosions, medieval battles, upheavals of nature, melting mirrors, and sundry other miracles and impossibilities.
According to Christoph, Scientology has not only helped him become a success at his life’s calling, but also made him a better artist and a better friend.
Sometimes, the true supervillain in one’s personal Marvel movie is oneself, and in order to save the galaxy, one must first learn to stop tripping over one’s own feet. With the help of Scientology, Christoph Roth confronted and conquered the personal landmines that exploded in his face when he reached for the brass ring. With the path cleared, even Optimus Prime—fully armed with Sword and Matrix—might only gaze in awe at the dizzying heights Christoph has achieved, thanks to his talents, his persistence and Scientology.
