Episode 1: David Loti

Welcome to Behind the Pixels, an exclusive interview series that takes you on a captivating journey into the world of visual effects through the perspectives of our talented individuals..

To start this new adventure, we are delighted to meet David Loti, the Head of Production at UFX Studios.

With a decade of experience in the VFX industry and after working for a year at Pixomondo, David came back to UFX Studios where he started his career journey. Today, he shares with us his insights and the most significant milestones of his path.

Explain your current position in a few words.

I am currently the Head of Production at UFX Studios, overseeing all ongoing projects. I maintain close contact with our Managing Director and Executive Producers to anticipate and prepare for all future projects. My primary objective is to ensure our clients’ satisfaction at all levels. To achieve this, I facilitate the translation of clients’, directors’, and producers’ ideas into spectacular and realistic VFX.
As someone who loves numbers, I enjoy finding budget solutions and building the most efficient teams based on the individual skills available in our talent pool. However, creating these incredible movies and scripts is not the work of one person. I work alongside an amazing team of Prod, HR, Sup, Lead, Artists, IT, Pipeline, and IO to meet the demands of our projects.

How did you get to where you are now?

I started my career at UFX almost ten years ago in 2014. The first two years were incredibly exciting, « Everything, Everywhere, All at Once » kind of way, as I worked in various roles simultaneously such as an assistant sup on set, Roto Artist, In/Out Assistant & VFX Editor, and Prod & Coordination Assistant. After two years, I got the opportunity to focus on production, thanks to my manager’s trust, who gave me more responsibility every year.

After seven years of working with UFX, I decided to leave to explore new opportunities. I joined the prestigious VFX Studio Pixomondo in Germany and worked on five exciting projects with outstanding professionals. I returned to Belgium in 2022, and naturally came back home to UFX as I was given the opportunity to take on a new role as Head of Production, an even more exciting and challenging position.

What inspired you to pursue a career in VFX?

I would say the ‘unbelievable,’ but let me explain from the beginning. During my studies to become a Film Director, I needed to find an internship. At that time, I had no idea what VFX meant. So, I decided to do some research on the Internet to figure out these three mysterious letters. It wasn’t until I reviewed several incredible VFX breakdowns that I realized we could create anything with them. After that, I decided to apply for an internship as a VFX intern/runner to be part of this adventure! »

What have been the most significant highlights of your career so far?

With my team at Pixomondo, we had the honor of winning the BAFTA prize for Best Visual Effects on the series House of the Dragon. As a fan of Game of Thrones, I couldn’t have asked for a better highlight in my career!