Whilst studying on one of our NCCA courses, you'll have the opportunity to network, be mentored by and learn from a range of practitioners, preparing you for a career in the industry. You can find some examples of previous visiting practitioners on this page.
Sam Taylor
With 10+ years experience in the industry, Sam started his career at REALTIME working on a range of game trailers, cinematics, and advertising projects. A passion for technical problem solving and knowledge sharing led him to join the lecturing team at the University of Bolton to help establish the technical areas of their VFX and Animation degree course and bring Houdini into their pipeline. During his seven years at Bolton, he continued to work as a freelance Generalist, most often for Screenclay FX on some of their film and TV projects.
Liting Qiao
Liting is currently a PhD candidate at NCCA, Bournemouth University. Her main research area focuses on cultural soft power in animation documentaries and critical disclosure analysis and is also interested in 3D computer animation, character models and cloth simulation.
Outside of work, Liting likes to travel and explore new cultures, photography, and high-altitude skydiving!
Gianpietro Fabre
Gianpietro is a Generalist TD, specialising in high-end asset creation for films and videogames with a main focus on the texturing process.
Having worked for various companies during his career including Weta Digital, Moving Picture Company and Framestore, Gianpietro has worked on various projects including Avengers Endgame, Fantastic Beast, The Hobbit Trilogy, The Martian, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman and The Dark Tower.
Gianpietro also hosts asset creation and texturing workshops for several schools across Europe in addition to mentoring students, and delivering talks to schools and VFX conventions.
Alfonso Espeso Calvo
My journey in the world of visual effects began with a passion for video games and movies. Born in Madrid, Spain, I was introduced to video games and movies at a very young age and since I was really young, I knew I wanted to work in the video games industry. When the time for going to university came, I first chose a degree in video game design and development. After studying for a Video Game Design and Development degree, I realised my true calling lay in the animation industry. I embarked on a degree in Digital Animation, and during my studies, I had the opportunity to intern at Ilion Animation Studios (now SkyDance Animation). While working on "Wonder Park," I discovered my passion for Character Effects (CFX). This led me to delve into the world of CFX and solidified my career path. Joining Animal Logic as the CFX Supervisor in 2019, I've had the privilege of contributing to various projects, including the upcoming Netflix film "Leo," produced by Adam Sandler.
My hobbies outside of work are: Videogames, surfing, downhill bike riding, and scuba diving.
Arran Baker
Arran Baker is an animator at Sony Pictures Imageworks, producers of movies such as Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs and Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse.
Most of Arran's six years in industry has been spent working in Children's TV and Netflix series on titles Digby Dragon: Season 1&2, Go Jetters, Floogals and Happy!: Season 1&2.
Most recently Arran had been working for Jellyfish Pictures in collaboration with DreamWorks Animation. Working in the holiday special How to Train your Dragon: Homecoming and the Feature Film Sprit Untamed.
Alongside his primary roles, Arran hosts private mentorship programs and features in online courses, Animdojo, Frame by Frame, Griffin Animation Academy to name a few.
Jessica Lennox
Jessica currently works as a CG Generalist at the VFX studio One of Us. Having come from a lighting background, she has worked at studios such as BlueZoo, DNEG and MPC on various shows including The Lion King.
She is also the secretary and board member of the organisation London ACM Siggraph. This organisation provides free to attend industry events for both professional artists and students. Recently these events have been taking places online and easy to access, check them out.
Boyan Georgiev
Boyan is a creative professional working in the VFX and Animation industry primarily as a Lighting Artist based in London. He's worked on iconic feature films such as The Lion King (2019) and TV shows like Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal.
Currently, Boyan is focusing on feature animation films at London's top studios. He is also heavily involved in utilising real-time graphics with Unreal Engine, as those are redefining the way the industry works.
Another passion of Boyan's is photography. He's an avid photographer who takes many cityscapes and portraits of London and its people and his travels, which also informs his lighting work and makes him better at his job.
Cristiana Covone
Houdini FX & CFX Artist, Mentor, Annie Awards Nominee
Cristiana is an experienced Effects and Creature Effects Artist, with a history of working in both VFX and Feature Animation. In 2016, she concluded the Master's Degree in Digital Effects at Bournemouth University, and immediately after, she started working as an Effects Artist at Jellyfish Pictures in London.
In 2020, she obtained a nomination for the 47th Annie Awards for the "Best FX for TV/Media" on How To Train Your Dragon: Homecoming, produced by Dreamworks Animation. Now, she works in Germany at Pixomondo, an Academy and Emmy award-winning international visual effects company, and virtual production facility with studios all over the world.
Debbie Wilson
Debbie has acted as a visiting life model for 21 years in a variety of settings including universities, colleges, adult education art classes and schools.
Beyond this, Debbie has worked with students on their solo projects involving filming.
Elena Fiorin
Elena is a Lighting and Compositing Artist, with 10 years of experience in TV series and Feature Animation.
In London and Dublin, she worked as a Lead on TV series like Dennis and Gnasher: Unleashed! (season 1), Floogals (season 2) and Go Jetters (seasons 1 and 3).
At the end of 2019 she moved to Montreal to work on Feature Animation as a Masterlighter. She is about to finish to work on her third movie, Blazing Samurai, and previously she worked on Riverdance and Extinct. All the three titles still have to be released to the public.