The Animal Logic Academy leaders are all highly experienced industry professionals, with decades of experience producing award winning work for major production studios such as Animal Logic, ILM, Method Studios, Luma Pictures, Double Negative, Fuel VFX, Dr D Studios, Rising Sun Pictures, Flying Bark, Plastic Wax and many more.
Learn from industry professionals
Alex Weight
Creative Lead
Alex's international career spans two decades as a writer, director, animator, and script consultant in senior roles across the animation and VFX industries, working at companies including Rising Sun Pictures, Animal Logic, Flying Bark and Script Central.
Raphaël Gadot
CG Lead (FX)
Raphaël has over 12 years’ experience in the VFX industry in animated features, live action films and TVCs, most recently as FX Supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic where he focused on mentorship and artists’ growth.
Ross Anderson
CG Lead (3D)
Ross has over 20 years’ experience working in a range of roles from character animation, direction to senior lighting and compositing TD. He has held leading roles at Animal Logic, Plastic Wax, Flying Bark and Liquid Animation.
Jonah Newton
Pipeline TD
After completing the Diploma in Innovation and the Bachelor of Science in Games Development, Jonah discovered his fascination with coding and complex software related problem-solving. He has also worked as an IT Support Engineer at Animal Logic.
Ian Thomson
Head of UTS Animal Logic Academy
Ian has over 30 years of international experience as an award-winning media designer, filmmaker, author, and educator. Most recently Ian has been key member of the newly formed Visualisation Institute at UTS.
Andrew Johnston
Director of Research
Andrew Johnston is Professor at the University of Technology Sydney, where he works as the Research and Course Director of the UTS Animal Logic Academy. He is also the Co-Director of the new UTS Visualisation Institute.
Andrew Lai
Head of Production Technology
Andrew has worked with many areas across UTS supporting their specialised needs, with a focus on architecting cloud solutions for data science. At the Academy Andrew oversees the technologies within the studio, based on the industry standards of large studios.
Seng Venly Ung
Production Technology Support Officer
Seng supports all the technology used at the Academy, including workstation computers, cinema projection, mixed and virtual reality. His background combines video, photo production and computer systems administration.
Sarah Giddy
Studio Coordinator
Sarah provides administrative and operational assistance for the department and students. Her focus at the Academy is to support in the delivery of its award-winning program and to help produce the next generation of animation and visualisation professionals.