{"id":27856,"date":"2026-03-12T12:05:42","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T11:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/?p=27856"},"modified":"2026-03-17T10:15:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T09:15:47","slug":"meet-the-bu-graduates-behind-this-years-oscar-nominated-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/2026\/03\/12\/meet-the-bu-graduates-behind-this-years-oscar-nominated-films\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the BU graduates behind this year\u2019s Oscar-nominated films\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bournemouth University graduates are behind some of the biggest films in the running for this year\u2019s Academy Awards.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Graduates from the National Centre for Computer Animation and Media School have contributed to all five films nominated in the Best Visual Effects category<\/strong> and at least four of the titles nominated\u00a0in\u00a0the Best Picture category<\/strong>, including Hamnet<\/strong>, Frankenstein<\/strong>, Sinners<\/strong> and F1<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"<\/a>

Fernando Morillo<\/p><\/div>\n

They include Fernando Morillo, who graduated in 2014 with a Master\u2019s in Digital Effects<\/a> and who was part of the team <\/span>at Sony Pictures Imageworks<\/a> that worked on KPop Demon Hunters (nominated in the Best Animated Feature category). Fernando said: \u201cOne of the most rewarding things about working in FX is that there’s always room to be creative. It’s always fun to explore unique ways to bring crazy visuals to life, whether it is destroying the Honmoon or making the environment turn pink for the Saja Boys. You never know what the brief will be. One of the most important lessons that I learned during my time in Bournemouth is that everything is a learning experience and it doesn’t matter how complex the task looks at first. The best way to solve any task is to break it down into small pieces and tackle it one at a time. Learn from each iteration and don’t be afraid to ask your colleagues for advice.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Kyran<\/a>

Kyran Bishop<\/p><\/div>\n

Kyran Bishop completed the BA (Hons) in Computer Animation Arts<\/a> in 2016 and worked as a compositor on Jurassic World Rebirth. Kyran said: <\/span>\u201cMy time at BU gave me an awareness of every stage of the animation process, which has been incredibly important in my role. The diverse areas of study and soft skills I gained from the course have benefitted me daily, and I still come across course mates throughout all areas of the industry. Outside of the lectures and workshops, the networking events and strong ties to the industry have set me on a strong career path from graduation, all the way through to my current role.<\/em>\u201d\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since graduating from BU\u2019s MA in Digital Effects<\/a> in 2021, Paolo Mercogliano has gone on to become an FX Artist with Outpost VFX<\/a>, where he worked on two of this year\u2019s Oscar-nominated films \u2013 Sinners and The Lost Bus. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Paolo<\/a>

Paolo Mercogliano<\/p><\/div>\n

He said: \u201cEven though I am one of many to have contributed to these films, it still is a very heartwarming feeling that I can point to the big screen at the bits I have done and celebrate that they are up for Oscars, as well as many other awards. Studying at BU is what gave me my first connections in the VFX industry, and it’s also the best conversation starter because so many people studied there. During my time at the NCCA, I learnt the foundational skills of photography and cinematography, computer graphics and digital compositing, and all those things are still relevant, because tools can evolve but the core principles will always be the same.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Lasma<\/a>

Lasma Zeimule-Kay<\/p><\/div>\n

Lasma\u00a0Zeimule-Kay\u00a0(MA Digital\u00a0Effects<\/a>, 2019) also worked on Sinners as a Digital Matte Painter at Outpost VFX.\u00a0<\/span>She said: \u201cBU was great\u00a0for learning\u00a0all\u00a0steps of the industry\u00a0pipeline and finding out what I wanted to do.<\/em>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Stephen<\/a>

Stephen Cullingford<\/p><\/div>\n

Meanwhile, Stephen Cullingford worked on Avatar: Fire and Ash as part of the team at Weta FX<\/a>. The computer animation <\/span>graduate said: \u201cMy time\u00a0at BU gave me\u00a0a strong foundation\u00a0in both the artistic and technical aspects of visual effects. The course encouraged curiosity and problem\u00a0solving, which are skills\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0relied on throughout my career working on digital characters and facial performance in film, including award-nominated productions in the industry.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0great to see so many BU graduates contributing to major projects across visual effects.<\/em>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Professor Christos\u00a0Gatzidis, Pro-Vice Chancellor Dean for BU\u2019s Faculty of Media, Science and Technology<\/a> which includes The Media School and National Centre for Computer Animation, said: \u201cIt is impressive to discover the breadth of graduate involvement in what are\u00a0the biggest and most successful films of the year. We are proud to be developing graduates with the technical skills and creativity\u00a0required\u00a0to bring continued innovation to the media industry. These awards recognise exceptional talent and every one of those nominated should be justifiably proud of their achievements. We wish them every success for this weekend\u2019s awards.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Other graduates who will be getting ready to celebrate when the Oscar\u2019s are announced this Sunday include Eimear Crotty<\/strong>, who graduated with a\u00a0Master\u2019s in Computer\u00a0Animation and Visual Effects<\/a> in 2020 and who is now Technical Director at Walt Disney Animation Studios<\/a>. Eimear was part of the team behind Zootopia 2, which has already won a BAFTA this season and which is nominated for Best Animated Feature.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The winners of the 98th Academy Awards will be announced this Sunday (15 March).\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bournemouth University graduates are behind some of the biggest films in the running for this year\u2019s Academy Awards.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graduates from the National Centre for Computer Animation and Media School have contributed to all five films nominated in the Best Visual Effects category and at least four of the titles nominated\u00a0in\u00a0the Best Picture category, including Hamnet,… Read more » about Meet the BU graduates behind this year\u2019s Oscar-nominated films\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4783,"featured_media":27860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[411,2430,499,496,1660,1644,19,1671,3610,2777,501,283,1663,12,1638],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clearing","category-computer-animation-visual-effects-pg-courses","category-computer-animation-visual-effects","category-ug-courses","category-editorial-news","category-employability","category-featured","category-film-and-television","category-graduates","category-mature-students","category-media-film-tv-music-production","category-news-2","category-postgraduate","category-student-blogs","category-undergraduate"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4783"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27856"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27890,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27856\/revisions\/27890"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}