BAFTA and multi-award-winning VFX and animation studio Jellyfish Pictures has expanded its senior creative team with the appointment of Kevin Hoppe and Nicolas Hernandez. Both hires bring invaluable experience and knowledge to the company and will be integral in Jellyfish Pictures’ continued growth.
“The past year has seen immense growth for Jellyfish Pictures. The investment in our new facilities and tech has greatly opened opportunities of the types of work we can take on, requiring the very best talent to take the helm,” commented Phil Dobree, CEO of Jellyfish Pictures. “Both Nicolas and Kevin hold an incredibly high level of experience, bringing inspiration to their teams and the very best expertise to every project they touch. Our talent and the care we take when handling our clients’ work has always been at the heart of Jellyfish Pictures. Both Nicolas and Kevin embody these values and I am extremely proud for them to join the Jellyfish Pictures family.”
With a career spanning nearly 20 years, award-winning VFX supervisor Nicolas Hernandez joins Jellyfish Pictures after six years at multi-award-winning London-based studio Milk Visual Effects, of which he was also a co-founder. Hernandez’s VFX and CG supervisor credits include feature films Four Kids and It, Annihilation, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Snow White and the Huntsman, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, VFX Oscar winners Ex-Machina, High-Rise and 47 Ronin; and television series Altered Carbon, 24: Live Another Day and BBC One’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which earned Hernandez and his team a BAFTA Television Craft Award for Visual Effects and Graphic Design in 2016.
Before co-founding Milk, Hernandez enjoyed an eight-year stint at London VFX powerhouse The Mill. During this time at The Mill, he led his team on many high-profile television dramas earning him five VES nominations.
In his new appointment to VFX Supervisor, Hernandez will bring his deep understanding of the entire VFX workflow to every project and encourage the very best out of his team.
“I am very excited to have joined Jellyfish Pictures. It is a refreshing prospect to be working in an impressive new studio on diverse and unique projects with an abundance of genuine and collaborative talented artists,” said Hernandez. “I am looking forward to mixing my experience in with the company’s exciting future.”
Kevin Hoppe joins Jellyfish Pictures from U.S. outfit Crafty Apes VFX, where he worked as CG supervisor on season three of Netflix’s award-winning Stranger Things. Before his time at Crafty Apes, Hoppe held senior positions at DNEG and DreamWorks Animation, racking up an impressive list of credits, including Home, Turbo, How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda 2.
Hoppe’s responsibilities at Jellyfish Pictures will see him utilise his skills of managing and developing teams, overseeing the evolution of Jellyfish Pictures’ feature animation pipeline, ensuring artists can be as efficient and empowered as possible to deliver the highest quality of work.
“The creative and positive energy of Jellyfish Pictures is a rare find. The people are so friendly, the work is brilliant, and the projects are challenging and engaging. I knew right away that Jellyfish was going to be my new home,” said Hoppe. “I take great joy in managing teams and finding the best solution to any challenge, be it creative or in a team, and look forward to integrating these skills into the great talent at Jellyfish.”
Founded in 2001, Jellyfish Pictures has grown from a “two-man band” into an internationally recognized operation with more than 300 employees working across four London studios and one in Sheffield. Jellyfish has provided VFX for blockbusters like Lucasfilm’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Last Jedi and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story; and TV dramas including HBO’s Watchmen, Netflix’s The Innocents and Black Mirror: Hated in the Nation; as well as Jellyfish Animation (2014) producing CG for top kids’ shows like Dennis and Gnasher: Unleashed (CBBC), Floogals (Universal Kids) and Bitz & Bob (CBeebies) — and recently, developing and producing original children’s content.
Jellyfish has won an Emmy, a BAFTA for Best Visual Effects, two Royal Television Society Awards, two highly sought after VES Awards, as well as many other accolades including two Primetime Emmy nominations. In October, Jellyfish won the Broadcast Technical Innovation award for the virtualisation work they have done with their studios in the broadcast and VFX sector.
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