Meet Our Team

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  Adam Evans

  Animator

  
  

  Adam is a CG animator with a background in facial animation with Wētā FX. He is passionate about storytelling through performance. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with friends and family, sharing hot pots and BBQs, and tending to his garden. 

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  Alex Pham

  Storyboard Intern

  
  

  Alex is currently completing a Master's degree in Fine Arts at Victoria University of Wellington. His focus is on narrative storytelling through illustration, comics, and games. He has now joined the Floating Rock team to offer his storyboarding skills. 

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  Alex Telford

  Senior Software & Pipeline Engineer

  
  

  Alex is a senior software and pipeline engineer with over 13 years experience developing plugins, tools, and pipelines for visual effects. With a focus on User Experience and artist-driven workflows his work aims to minimize friction and cognitive load of artists to enable them to do what they do best- passionately creating!

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  Benjamin Mulot

  Senior Animator // Creator of Kyoryu

  
  

  Benji is a bold artist that animates with his incredible eye for timing and believable weight. He has animated countless creatures and characters, including “Kong vs Godzilla, “Eternals”, “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Game of Thrones”.  He’s an inspiration and a true trailblazer when it comes to crafting with heart and passion. 

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  Cassidy Chyba

  Storyboard Intern

  
  

  Cassidy current resides in California. They are a junior animator and concept artist with a specialisation in videogames, who is currently working on storyboarding Kyoryu and Paleo Ark Project. 

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  Emiliano Moron

  Animator

  
  

  Emiliano is a Venezuelan/Mexican 3D and 2D animator who loves to use the medium of animation to create stories that connect with people, with an interest in the illusion of life animation provides. He has worked on films like Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and tv for The Last of Us season 2. He is always keen for a good laugh, especially something punny! 

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  Florent Limouzin

  Animation Supervisor

  
  

  Flo has a keen eye for powerful characters and bold visual storytelling. He’s spent over 16 years of animating and leading teams at iconic studios like Weta Digital and Sony Pictures Imageworks. He’s worked on fan-favourites like K-Pop Demon Hunters, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and The Tomorrow War- which earned him an Annie Award nomination for Outstanding Animation. With a rare blend of artistry, precision, and compassion, he brings cinematic emotion to every frame and leads with confidence. 

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  Garrick Rawlingson

  Co-Founder // Chief Business Officer

  
  

  Garrick is a versatile professional with expertise in client outreach and creative project leadership. He has extensive experience in character and creature animation and developed his creative eye having worked for top VFX studios around the world on films like Alita: battle Angel, Peter Rabbit 2, and The Hobbit 3. His natural social skills aligned him well for connecting with people and businesses.

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  Laurent Herveic

  Co-Founder // Chief Creative Officer

  
  

  Laurent, has an asset creation background, specializing in facial modelling and FACS. His work on Pogo from 'The Umbrella Academy' earned the prestigous VES award nomination. His additonal work includes memorable characters for movies like 'Alita: Battle Angel' and 'Planet of the Apes'. Laurent's artistic eye leads the way when it comes to creative needs for high quality and structure for outstanding production.

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  Lukas Niklaus

  Co-Founder // Chief Executive Officer

  
  

  Lukas leads Floating Rock with strategic vision and industry representation, audaciously driving the future of entertainment. His past as an Animator with credits on 'Avengers: Endgame' and 'Jungle Book', he brings deep industry expertise and insight. Passionate about innovation, he pushes the boundaries for bold storytelling within the film and games industry. 

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  Mariana Xavier

  Animator

  
  

  Mariana, or Mari, is originally from Brazil but has lived in New Zealand for the past 8 years. She has worked on many projects, including Avatar: The Way of Water. She loves all things silly and funny! 

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  Matthew Jukes

  Game Technical Artist

  
  

  Matt is an experienced technical artist who bridges the gap between code and art on Kyoryu for Floating Rock. Coming from Weta FX's Special Projects, he worked on game cinematics, interactive installations for Unreal Fest, and the Oscar-winning short film War is Over! Matt is passionate about all things interactive, creating artist tools and workflows, and dinosaurs (of course).

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  Nathan Santell

  Executive Producer

  
  

  Nathan, an Emmy-nominated Producer, is focused on drumming up business for Floating Rock on the service side of the company, ensuring projects run smoothly and he's instrumental in the development and sales of Floating Rock’s IP’s. He's worked on feature films 'Mad Max: Fury Road', 'Gravity', 'Avengers' and more. His past experiences and vast knowledge adds value when strengthening story development, managing teams, leading, and communicating.

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  Nick Barnes

  Marketing Intern

  
  

  Nick has experience in several fields, including hair and makeup for the tv show Colonial Combat, video editing for Advisor-E, and community managing for some of the largest companies in New Zealand. He has now joined Floating Rock under the marketing team. 

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  Padraigh Doyle

  Production Coordinator

  
  

  Padraigh, or Paddy, is a massive film and games nerd with a deep history in the film history. He particularly enjoyed his time with Avatar: Ash and Fire and Stranger things season 5. His Father worked in the industry most of his life, and he follows in his footsteps. 

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  Paul Alvarez Del Castillo

  Senior Facial Animator

  
  

  Paul Alvarez has been part of Emmy and Academy Award winning VFX teams. With over 20 years of experience in motion capture and animation, his career spans from movies and video games to theme park rides and toy design. Some highlights include the Avatar sequels and associated theme park rides, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies and associated toy line, plus dozens of video games! 

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  Ruby Cumming

  Production Coordinator

  
  

  Ruby has 10+ years of film and TV production experience, mainly in VFX. Ruby oversees all aspects of production at Floating Rock, ensuring timely and budget-conscious completion while finding creative solutions to maximize potential. She finds great fulfillment in exploring creativity in her role, working closely with creative teams to bring their visions to life. 

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  Rudy Mankovits

  Lead Game Producer

  
  

  Rudy leads the production of Kyoryu Game for Floating Rock. With 16 years of industry experience from FIFA, XBOX, Dead Rising 4 and Luigi's Mansion 3, he brings clarity and focus to the creative flow of the team. 

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  Scott Lay-Tee

  Animator

  
  

  Scott, originally from Auckland, moved to Wellington for the industry and artistic scene. His experience includes the videogame Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, films like Avatar: The Way of Water, and tv like Invasion season 2. He is a dad gamer, climber and artist who enjoys time with friends and family. 

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  Stephanie Parker

  Co-Founder // Chief Experience Officer

  
  

  Stephanie drives Floating Rock's marketing and its unique IP incubator, Pitchfest, which fosters new ideas in film and games. An Animator by heart, she has worked on major films like 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' and 'Angry Birds', bringing creativity and precision into her work. By building innovative and engaging spaces for people to connect and create, she continues to make a positive impact in the industry.

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  Sudesh Sudevan

  Systems Administrator

  
  

  Sudesh ensures Floating Rock's infrastructure runs smoothly and securely. With a strong background in IT support and system management, he's passionate about keeping teams connected and operations efficient.

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  Yannick Gillain

  Senior Animator

  
  

  Yannick has been animating for over a decade on various projects including The Hobbit, Jurassic World, and the videogame Ashen. Yannick enjoys the technical side of animation, exploring new tools and processes for the industry. His second most important skill is latte-art! 

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  Zoe Pattinson

  Production Assistant

  
  

  Zoe is coming up on 3 years experience in Production. Having previously worked on projects such as Avatar 2 & 3, as well as Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, she brings her enthusiasm for film and keen eye for detail to the team at Floating Rock.