Kelly Christophers
Visual effects, Illustration, Gaming, Travelling, Geek.
I've had a great desire to create from a young age. Coming from a creative family, it's something that's been a natural part of life for me.
At the age of twelve, 3D animation was on the rise, and I was just floored by how much it sparked my imagination. I knew then that I was adamant on working in the film industry as a visual effects artist, and I've spent nearly all my life gearing up to move in that direction.
I grew up in South Africa, and started off my studies at a film school called AFDA, in which I achieved my bachelors degree in Animation and film. The Animation curriculum was mainly based in traditional routes, and after a few 2d and stopmotion short films, I decided to expand my knowledge further, and transferred to the Witwatersrand University to complete my Honours and Masters degree in digital animation.
I've been fortunate enough to have experienced a unique journey that allowed me to dabble in a few different fields of film-making and animation, including scriptwriting, directing, editing, production design, and set building/painting.
I moved to New Zealand and started up working on the Hobbit set as a set and props painter, and then worked my way into the visual effects industry as an artist at Weta Digital. After 4 years, I moved to Canada and worked as a Lighting TD at Sony Imageworks, which is where I've been since. There has never been a dull moment in my career, and I am grateful for everything I went through to get here, all the people I've had the privilege of meeting, and all the support I've gotten from people from all over the globe.
Life is busy and unpredictable, but no matter what happens, I try to keep my art alive.