Nikola is a 3D generalist with 15 years of versatile experience. He made baby-steps in the industry making animations and effects for music videos and movies. Eventually, he found his happy place as a Game Artist at Nordeus. Nikola invests a lot of time in exploring proceduralism, generative art bridging tech-art gaps, and making stunning interactive art installations. He collaborates with Substance, SideFX, Adobe, etc.
Jonah Friedman is the Bifröst Product Owner at Autodesk. In his fifteen years in the animation industry, he has been a software engineer, photographer, and 3D artist in a wide range of sub-disciplines. He also co-authored Cryptomatte and remains active in its development and standardization.
Will Telford is an alumnus of Rhythm & Hues Studios, Blackthorn Media, and Blizzard Entertainment. As a former Visual Effects Supervisor, Digital Effects Supervisor, Creature Supervisor, Rigging Supervisor, and Rigging TD he has worked on dozens of films, commercials, VR experiences, themed attractions, and cinematic shorts. Currently he is a Senior Product Owner at Autodesk for USD and Rigging technology.
After obtaining a Master’s Degree in Architecture, Ivan reassigned his pen from designing buildings to designing games. As one of the original members of Mad Head Games, he was the lead artist when the studio had just five members. As the studio grew, he became the Executive Producer of their casual games and, later, Art Director on their first core game. Currently Ivan is the Game Director of one of their biggest titles in development, and part of Mad Head Games leadership. Even today, he still likes to grab his pen and draw a few sketches here and there. Also, he plays a lot of games. A lot. He tells people it’s part of his job. Ivan relies on his amazing wife, loyal friends that he’s fortunate to work with, best parents in the universe and his awesome team.
Over the past 20 years, Jeff Campbell developed his creativity in visual effects as an animator, compositor and VFX Supervisor. His unique artistic vision and technical expertise evolved in working with esteemed Directors such as David Fincher on Fight Club (Fox 2000) and Tarsem Singh on The Cell (New Line).
At SpinVFX he has been intimately involved in creature development and animation, supervising over 600 shots on Outlander (Weinstein Company). Working closely with director Scott Stewart on Legion and later, Priest (Screen Gems), Jeff shepherded the team to deliver feathered metallic wing animation and environments; and the vampire animation in the latter. Working in tandem with VFX Supervisor Everett Burrell on Max Payne (20th Century Fox) and Jonathan Liebesman on Battle: Los Angeles (Columbia Pictures), he is also credited with supervising CG effects and environments for Mans Marlind’s Underworld: Awakening (Screen Gems). Jeff Supervised SPIN’s blockbuster work on The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part One and Two (Summit/Lionsgate), M. Night Shyamalan’s After Earth (Columbia Pictures), John Wick (Summit), and HBO’s Lovecraft Country.
In 2019, Jeff’s VFX supervision on the fan-favourite Netflix Original series, The Umbrella Academy led to an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Special Visual Effects, and an HPA Award nomination for Outstanding Visual Effects. He returned as VFX Supervisor for The Umbrella Academy S2 in 2020.
After attending university in England for Software Engineering, Simon had a successful career in corporate IT before making the leap to visual effects in 2005. He specialized in the technical areas of VFX, such as motion capture and crowd simulations. He is a Pixar Certified RenderMan Tutor, having authored and taught official RenderMan courses for VFX students. Simon has lived in multiple countries around the world, working for VFX studios as a Crowd Supervisor and Render TD, before settling in Toronto in 2013, where he now lives with his family, and eventually joining SpinVFX as a CG Supervisor. Simon has worked on large and small projects for both film and television. In 2016, he was part of the team that delivered the “To the Gates” episode of Vikings (History Channel), which received the VES Award for Best Visual Effects that year. His work can also be seen in the Guillermo del Toro film, The Shape Of Water, which won the 2018 Oscar for Best Picture.
Since joining SpinVFX, Simon has been a core part of the teams that delivered Vincenzo Natali’s adaptation of the Stephen King and Joe Hill novel, In The Tall Grass (2019), Raising Dion (Netflix), Zombieland 2: Double Tap (2019), and The Umbrella Academy S2.
As a founding Partner, President and Executive Producer of SPIN VFX Neishaw Ali has been working in the film and television industry for over 30 years. Neishaw’s creativity and leadership has produced an expansive body of work including over 150 feature films and 32 television series. Her television credits include the Emmy award-winning series Game of Thrones (HBO) and The Umbrella Academy (Netflix), and film credits such as the Academy Award winning biopic Spotlight (First Look), Zombieland 2: Double Tap (Columbia Pictures), and In the Tall Grass (Copperheart Entertainment).
Neishaw represents the local film and animation industry as the Co-Chair for the Computer Animation Studios of Ontario (CASO), and continues to serve the greater community as a member of various film Boards, including the Visual Effects Society and the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Neishaw is also a founding Partner and President of sister companies SPINVR, dedicated to virtual and augmented reality technology, and advertising post-production studio, JAXX.
Nick denBoer is a director, animator and video artist based in Toronto, Canada. He has developed a unique brand of VFX comedy, combining video remix and animation techniques to create surreal and often absurd videos. Nick honed his skills working as a writer and bit creator for Conan O’Brien producing and remixing popular culture segments for the show. His groundbreaking short film “The Chickening” (a poultry-infused remix of Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”) graced the screens of over 100 film festivals around the world including TIFF and Sundance. Nick’s unmistakable style has found a home in many productions. He has directed and produced ads for Old Spice and KFC, music videos and tour visuals for deadmau5 & Flying Lotus, countless TV shows, films, web and VR projects. Nick has carved out a career through remixing and repurposing existing footage to produce new and sometimes ridiculous creations.
Arsenije Savić is a software developer and community fire starter operating on the intersection of technology and art. He is combining two worlds, in order to explore the possibilities of new technologies: to understand how they affect society and build alternative futures. As a founder of DACIDA, he is trying to explore ideas, practices, tools, and mindsets on what it means to be creative today to empower creative professionals on their journey of learning and improvement. Believes in community and peer sharing as a way to spark change.