Talent

Phil co-founded Jellyfish Pictures in 2001 and has overseen it's growth to become one of the most respected independent companies in the industry. During his career he has worked in all genres of content creation including film, commercials, animation, games and broadcast TV, winning multiple BAFTA, VES, RTS and EMMY awards.

Running Jellyfish has given Phil a unique insight into the industry and the variety of qualities needed to enable the company to compete and thrive on a global scale. He has helped the company work on brands such as Star Wars in film, Black Mirror in TV, and Floogals and Dennis and Gnasher Unleashed in episodic animation. Recognising the importance of future trends and the requirements of an ever evolving industry, he has overseen the development of pioneering cloud technology, resulting in seamless hybrid rendering solutions and the imminent virtualisation of all Jellyfish studios, a first for the industry.

Phil is also a BAFTA, RTS and VES judge and a member of the VFX/digital effects and Animation chapter of BAFTA. He sits on the board of UK Screen Alliance, Animation UK and the council of the Creative Industries Federation. He is a passionate supporter of the UK's Creative Industry, in particular ensuring the VFX and Animation industry maintains its position in the heart of Europe. He was selected in the RTS Broadcast HOT 100 most influential people in Broadcast Media in 2012/13.

With an impressive career spanning over 20 years, Matthew has overseen hundreds of productions with an enviable roster of credits under his belt including; Aladdin(Disney), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (LucasFilm/Disney), Avengers: Age Of Ultron (Marvel) Guardians Of The Galaxy (Marvel) and in 2014 was honoured with the Advanced Imaging Society’s Lumiere™ Award for his work on Alfonso Cuarón’s Academy Award-winning Gravity. In other award-winning turns, Matthew led the One Of Us VFX team to success in the category of Best Visual and Graphic Effects at the BAFTA’s and Best Digital Effects at the Royal Television Society Awards for The Crown Season 1 and a further RTS award and BAFTA nomination in 2018 for The Crown Season 2.

As Jellyfish Pictures' Managing Director, Matthew uses his many years of experience to bring together creativity and management, balancing maximum productivity whilst growing revenue across Jellyfish’s VFX, Art Department and feature animation businesses.

Prior to working with Technicolor and One of Us, Matt held senior positions at MPC and Prime Focus.

As Managing Director of Jellyfish Originals, Natalie drives the development and strategy of our original animated children’s content, curating long-form animated series, serials and family features with global commercial appeal.

Bringing over 20 years’ experience to the role, Natalie has extensive knowledge of original IP development, TV production, international sales and character licensing having successfully brought many children’s productions to market.

Before joining Jellyfish Pictures, Natalie spent five years with independent children’s production company, Platinum Films, as Head of Global Strategy. During this time Natalie managed the international TV distribution, rights negotiation and consumer products roll out of children’s content, including, Matt Hatter Chronicles (CiTV/Nick).

Prior to this, Natalie enjoyed a four-year stint as Assistant Producer & Head of Creative Approvals on Everything’s Rosie (CBeebies) at independent children’s TV production and distribution company, V&S Entertainment.

Before working in children’s TV, Natalie worked for ten years in live action drama for independent production company, Bentley Productions as Series Script Editor and Associate Producer on Midsomer Murders (ITV) and Producer on SAS drama series, Ultimate Force (ITV). During this period, she also headed up the TV Drama division for talent agency ARG Talent, developing and packaging event dramas such as The Crooked Man with Ross Kemp and BAFTA award winning, Ahead of the Class with Julie Walters.

Luke is an experienced VFX supervisor, with a career spanning 20 years. During his time at Jellyfish Pictures he has been instrumental in contributing to the company’s rapid growth, bringing in Jellyfish’s biggest projects, including Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Captive State.

A talented supervisor, Luke has spearheaded some of Jellyfish’s most complex work to date and oversees all major projects, having lead the team to a win at the Annies 2020 for DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming, as well as on the company’s episodic animation projects including, Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed, Floogals and Bitz & Bob. Luke is currently overseeing the production of a DreamWorks Animation feature in-house at the studio.

Luke has also been shortlisted for a British Independent Film Award (BIFA) in the Best Effects category for his work on Journeyman. Now overseeing the smooth running of all Jellyfish Pictures’ animation and VFX projects, Luke teams his strong leadership capabilities with a hands-on approach, understanding the needs of both client and artist.

Luca heads up Jellyfish Pictures’ large animation team consisting of over 80 animators, with over 30 years of experience as a lead animator, animation supervisor and story artist on many creature-heavy and animated feature films. Luca started his career as an animator, storyboard artist and character designer in Milan. Moving to Munich, Luca progressed to animation supervisor working on feature films such as Chinatown, Tobias Tod and Help I’m a Fish. Always striving for excellence, Luca further honed his talent working on an array of illustrious productions including, Sinbad Legend of the Seven Seas, Sherlock Gnome, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Man of Steel, John Carter, Chronicles of Narnia, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and the Huntsman and Watership Down.

A master of storytelling, body dynamics and animated performance, Luca is passionate about working closely with each of his animators, having developed into an artistic and collaborative animation director, adept at leading large teams and delivering consistently excellent work across long productions.

Manuel is an experienced VFX supervisor with over 10 years industry experience. With both a technical and artistic background, Manuel has a second to none knowledge of the production pipeline. Manuel joined Jellyfish Pictures in 2016 as CG Supervisor on CBeebies animated pre-school show Bitz & Bob and now oversees all CG on Jellyfish’s original content pipeline.

Starting his career as a 3D artist working specifically on commercials, Manuel progressed to work as a lead 3D generalist on Hiroku: Defenders of Gaia, a fully CG 90 minute feature film, which went on to be nominated for the Spanish Film Academy Goya Awards

Shortly after this Manuel began work as CG and On Set Supervisor for CBeebies animated preschool show, Messy Goes to Okido. During this time Manuel also directed, produced and supervised his own short entitled Nouvelle Cuisine. To date the film has garnered 11 international awards including, Best Animation Short film at Sacramento Underground Film & Arts Festival and Best Animation Short Film for Children at ANIMA2017.

Jonathan is a highly adept VFX Supervisor and Senior VFX Artist, with a career spanning over 23 years. Jonathan’s extensive experience ranges from VFX Supervision, Compositing Supervision, Creative Team Leadership, Compositing and Graphic Design.

Starting out in the industry as a runner for London based VFX house Rushes, Jonathan soon rose through the ranks holding senior positions at a number of high-profile outfits including First Post Productions, Motion FX, uFX and Method Studios, working as 2D and VFX Supervisor on titles such as, The Hateful Eight, Ant Man, Terminator Genisys and The Fifth Estate.

Since joining Jellyfish Pictures in 2016, Jonathan has headed up the 2D team, overseeing all 2D work on the company’s VFX portfolio, with TV credits including Watchmen (HBO), The Innocents (Netflix), Black Mirror – Hated in the Nation (Netflix) and feature film credits including Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.