Andrey Lebrov is Head of CG & VFX Production and founder of Lebrov Motion Imagery, working at the intersection of cinematic craft and pipeline engineering. Houdini-first workflows, Octane-centric assembly, and distributed/hybrid rendering pipelines that keep iteration fast and reliable under real deadlines - while exploring modern capture primitives like Gaussian splats for production use.

Leif Pedersen is a 3D and VFX artist with over 10 years of production experience and for the last decade he's been working at Pixar's RenderMan group to help showcase the advancements in rendering at Pixar and the greater Disney creative ecosystem, by creating artwork and engaging with amazing artists and engineers to make great tools that push creativity forward.  

Rassoul Edji is a Filmmaker and Entrepreneur with a background in Visual Effects dedicated to creating exceptional digital films with efficiency, leveraging cutting-edge workflows, innovative technologies, and a world-class team.

Tony Atherton is a Creative Director at Absolute post and has been working in the Visual Effects industry for 17 years and with Houdini for 20 years. He's worked across Film, TV and Advertising. His credits include famous franchises such as Marvel's Avengers and Harry Potter as well as advertising work for large companies such as Nike, Amazon and Mercedes. 

Bogdan Lazar has over 20 years in the film and games industry and has mastered character design and rigging using classic software like Alias Wavefront, LightWave, and Maya. Discovering Houdini revolutionized his workflow, and he has never looked back. 

David Schneider studied Computer Science at the University of Cape Town before relocating to the UK in 2007 to begin his career as a software developer. He soon transitioned into visual effects, spending a decade at MPC, where he moved from software development to FX TD during Guardians of the Galaxy. Since joining Union in 2020, David has balanced creative supervision with CG pipeline development. Most recently, he served as Senior DFX Supervisor on Black Mirror: USS Callister – Into Infinity, overseeing the episode’s complex, stylised visual effects. David’s work on the show earned him both BAFTA and Emmy nominations for Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Single Episode. David won a VES award for his work on The Jungle Book and was nominated at the VES, the RTS Craft & Design Awards and the Broadcast Tech Innovation Awards for The Tattooist of Auschwitz.

Magnus Pettersson joined Storm Studios as a CG Generalist in 2008, but it didn’t take long for him to discover his passion for FX work. Determined to pursue this path, he introduced Houdini to the studio, laying the foundation for the FX department and its pipeline development. With a talent for finding elegant solutions to complex problems, Magnus thrives on building tools that simplify artists' workflows. Now serving as Head of FX, he balances hands-on shot work with leading the department, overseeing pipeline improvements, ensuring high-quality output, and managing recruitment.

Joachim Henriksen has nine years of experience in film and television and has contributed to major productions across leading studios. After working at DNEG and Framestore, he joined Storm Studios in 2022 as an FX TD. His credits include Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, His Dark Materials, and Star Trek. His work emphasizes practical, efficient problem-solving, focusing on keeping solutions clear and effective in fast-paced production environments.

Fabian Nowak is a leading FX Supervisor, with over 15 years of experience, known for his expertise in large-scale simulations, from water and fire to smoke and particles. After starting his career at Ubisoft, he moved into film VFX, contributing to major productions at MPC and ILM, including the Academy Award-winner The Jungle Book, which earned him a VES Award. Fabian combines technical innovation with creative leadership, and is passionate about mentoring through teaching. Since joining The Yard as Head of FX, he has played a key role in elevating the studio’s simulation capabilities on its most ambitious projects.

Jeremy TAN is a Pipeline TD at Gear Productions, a studio specialised in automotive advertising, where he has spent the past 3 years developing and maintaining Houdini, OpenUSD and MaterialX-based workflows for high-end CGI production for clients such as Citroën. Previously, he worked for 7 years as Pipeline TD at Onyxlux, an animation studio focused on lighting, rendering and compositing. A true enthusiast of the craft, Jeremy is driven by a deep curiosity for every technical layer of the CGI world — from pipeline architecture and procedural systems to rendering theory and real-time workflows. He thrives at the intersection of artistry and engineering, constantly exploring how emerging technologies, and in particular AI, can be harnessed to elevate both the quality and efficiency of production pipelines.

Ilyas Dizdar is the Founder and CEO of Gear Productions, a studio he has been building and leading for the past 11 years, specialised in high-end automotive advertising. With 14 years of experience in the advertising industry, he drives the studio's creative and technical vision as Head of CG, VFX Supervisor and Parametric Design lead. Beyond production, Ilyas has dedicated 8 years to training the next generation of CG artists as a Houdini, Maya and Nuke instructor, sharing his expertise and passion for the craft. Always eager to explore new possibilities, he has developed a growing interest in parametric workflows and their potential to bring a new dimension to both production and product design.

Mohamed Oumoumad is a creative technologist working at the intersection of generative AI, industrial design, and visual effects. With a background in 3D FX and cinematic visualization, he began his career in motion graphics and high-end CGI before transitioning into technology leadership. He is now Managing Director and CTO of Gear Productions, where he focuses on integrating generative AI into real-world design and visualization workflows. His work bridges cutting-edge AI capabilities with the practical needs of production, enabling creative teams to adopt advanced tools in a meaningful and usable way. 

Ahmed Gharraph is a Visual Effects Supervisor at Important Looking Pirates in London, with nearly two decades of experience in VFX spanning film, television, and commercials. His credits include The Sandman, Fallout, The Mandalorian, Watchmen, and The Crown. With a background as a CG generalist, he has been using Houdini as a core creative tool since 2013.  

Niklas Asmus is a Lighting Principal at Important Looking Pirates with over 15 years of experience in VFX. His work focuses on lighting and look-development for episodic and streaming series. He is based in Stockholm, Sweden.

Jakob Klauenberg is an all-rounder CG generalist and shading wizard at bEpic Studio Berlin, specialized in environment and creature work for advertisement, film, and episodic formats. He is a graduate of PixlVisn with many years of experience in texturing, shading, and lighting on assets like bears, sloths, plastic figurines, dragons, birds, snowy mountains, and the Mars surface. Driven by curiosity, he constantly explores new techniques, with a growing focus on graphics programming and technical problem-solving.

Bogdan Amidzic has been in VFX industry from 2006, working both in 2d and 3d departments, mainly in Crater studio. His art background experience and programming skills lead to finally diving into Houdini ecosystem. Over several projects he has been responsible first for adopting Houdini as a main tool, then adopting USD/Solaris pipeline. Recently he started teaching as Houdini instructor in Crater VFX training center, and has organized several Houdini user group events.