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Last Updated: 7/13/2025


Mission

We believe that visual effects artists should be cast for their unique talents and style, just like actors.

This won't happen with yet another job board. What we're building instead is a searchable directory of artists, each with a showcase of their work, and a booking system that allows studios find and cast the right artists for their projects.

Kevin Todd Haug summed it up in his 'Manifxto' blog 20 years ago:

"You're a director; you go to a movie, let's say, WAR OF THE WORLDS. You see a cool shot; let's say, the impossible camera move in, out and around the minivan. You say to yourself, 'Hey, whoever did that work would be great for an effects shot I need in my next film. I need to find out who they are. All I can say is: Good luck."

How it works

This is not a subscription service. There are no plans. It's free to sign up, create content, and search the database. Employers pay a fee only when and if they successfully fill a role through the platform.

Artists

  • As an artist, you showcase your work, add credits and write about your contributions, embed videos, show your skills, and more.
  • If you did that minivan camera move in War of the Worlds, employers and other artists will find you and read the amazing story of how you did it.
  • Then watch the offers flood in.
  • No more of those demeaning "Open to work" ribbons on your LinkedIn profile. You don't see Brad Pitt doing that!

Employers

  • As an employer, you use powerful search tools to find artists based on their unique skills, work history, location and more. Search "war minivan camera" and you'll find the artists involved.
  • Make offers for positions you want to cast and chat in the message thread with artists.
  • Artists can accept or decline offers, and then you can choose to finalize and seal the deal.

The process:

The platform manages the lifecycle of offers. It's like a talent agent working for both sides. If an artist accepts an offer, other overlapping offers are automatically declined with a polite message. Likewise if an employer fills all vacancies for a role, other candidates for the same role are automatically rejected with an equally polite message. We provide contract templates with auditable signatures.

Why we built VFX Spotlight

I'm Julian Mann. I've been a VFX artist and programmer since 1995. I helped start DNEG in 1998 and later led R&D at MPC Film between 2001 and 2005. I think the VFX job market is a bit of a mess for several reasons. Studios chase tax credits around the world. Projects are often short-term. Artists have to be nomadic. One event in particular back pushed me to work on a fix.

I was a freelancer in 2005 when I got a call From Chris Watts to work on Zack Snyder's 300. At the time, I was waiting for news about a Harry Potter gig, so I promised to call him back. The Potter work fell through and by the time I got back to Chris, the 300 role was also gone. I was left with no work.

In an ideal world I'd have an agent with a penciling system who would have said yes to both gigs and then waited for one of them to show me the money, Jerry Maguire style. VFX Spotlight aims to be that agent.

Julian Mann

Julian Mann, Head of Product

Asher

Asher Mann, UX Designer