Professor Ian Palmer joined Escape Studios in 2015 to lead the development of its degrees in VFX, animation and games. The studio-based approach at Escape Studios was the ideal place for him and build programmes that have the industry focus at the heart of their pedagogy. Working with professionals at the top of their field and current and recent students, he has developed and tested new approaches to supporting learning in this area, sharing the practice both internally and externally through invited presentations and papers. Ian was appointed Principal at Escape Studios in 2022 and is in charge of the overall day-to-day management and strategic direction for the institution. 

Jake is a Director from London and an alumnus of Escape Studios. Since completing his course, he has directed two award-winning short films for festivals. His most recent film Am I Dreaming? is an animated musical with an original soundtrack composed by Lilianne Coeverden. The film is currently doing the film festival circuit. It is half-way through the campaign and currently has 7 wins and 15 nominations. Jake has worked at Escape Studios since 2021 and is currently the Community and Events Officer.

As well as returning to host Escapeverse Live 2026, Jake will also be sharing what goes into making an animated short film for the festival circuit in How to Direct an Animated Short Film for Festivals on Thursday 26th February.

Kim was born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1954, and grew up in Kohimarama. He was educated at Auckland Grammar school, and the University of Auckland - graduating with an Honours degree in Architecture.

After a period as a builder, he began working as a set designer in 1982. Since then he has art directed movies for the directors Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Bob Zemeckis, James Cameron, Zack Snyder and Peter Jackson - amongst others.

He has production designed the New Zealand feature films: The Dark Horse, the western Slow West, and most recently M3GAN. As well, he worked on The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (directed by Steven Spielberg).

Kim has also art directed many large feature films, including: The Meg, Pete’s Dragon, Man of Steel, The Legend of Zorro, The Last Samurai, Beyond Borders, Castaway, Vertical Limit and Willow. Kim has worked with Weta FX as a VFX Art Director on films including The Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and The Hobbit: the Battle of the Five Armies.

In 2006 Kim started work on the first Avatar movie, receiving a BAFTA, and an Academy Award for art direction in 2010. He started work on the sequels in 2017 - and this work remains ongoing. . .

Working in the industry since 2015, Jess started in 3D for children’s television before moving into VFX for film and TV. Since then, she’s worked primarily as a Lead Lighting TD, but has spent time as a Generalist TD and Groom TD.

Throughout her career, she’s contributed to projects at studios including One of Us, DNEG, TV, MPC, Blue Zoo, and now Vine FX. Her credits include The Witcher (Seasons 1, 3 & 4),The Lion King (2019), Bridgerton (Seasons 1 & 2), and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, among others.

Will Hughes is Escape Studios' Talent Development Manager. He has been with the company for nine years and services studios with industry ready talent. Will is pivotal in ensuring Escape Studios graduates are getting the dream jobs they've worked so hard for. 

Simon Carr is a Creative Director at Vine FX with over thirty years of experience in the visual effects industry, including two decades dedicated to on-set and post-production VFX supervision. His portfolio includes major credits such as Amateur, Lazarus, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Mank. Simon also served as the overall VFX Supervisor for The Man Who Fell to Earth, earning him an Emmy nomination. Simon has worked at major studios including Animal Logic, Framestore, Method Studios, and The Magic Camera Company.

At Vine FX, he brings his wealth of expertise to guide the creative direction and ensure high-quality VFX output. Simon's leadership and experience continue to support Vine FX's reputation for delivering outstanding visual effects.

Rebecca Meilak is a Feature Animator currently working on her sixth feature animated film with over 10 years of industry experience. She is a passionate storyteller dedicated to creating emotive compelling character performances through body and facial animation in order to captivate the audience and is always seeking challenges to advance her skill set.

Feature titles include: Netflix's The Twits, DreamWorks' Dog Man, Paramount Pictures' Under the Board Walk, Universal Pictures' The Addams Family 2, DreamWorks' Spirit Untamed.

Lisa-Mae is a Senior Look Development Artist within Blue Zoo’s ZooLab team, where she works to define and establish visual styles in 3D from the earliest stages of pre-production. Her role spans texturing, shading, grooming, and lighting - bringing 3D characters and worlds to life across pitches, productions, and short-form content - while driving R&D and innovation in tools and production workflows to support the creative process.

HaZ Dulull is a Director/ Producer known for merging cinematic storytelling with real-time technology. He made his debut with the live action indie sci-fi feature films The Beyond, and 2036 Origin Unknown (both licensed on Netflix), followed by Disney’s Fast Layne (where he served as Director + Exec Producer), Universal’s prequel animated short - 47 Ronin: The Samurai Spirit, and Disney’s Under the Sea: A Descendants Story.

In 2024, he directed / produced MAX BEYOND, an animated feature made entirely in Unreal Engine (with co-financing by Epic Games Mega Grant) before hired to be the Cinematic Director for Chapter 1 of the in-game cinematics for triple A game - Dune Awakening (Funcom / Tencent).

His Fortnite project The Rap Game with BBC/Fremantle was nominated for a 2025 Webby and Digital Broadcast Award. He is the founder of Beyond The Pixels focused on Transmedia projects leading with games that are re-igniting the retro scene for today’s gaming generation with Film and TV verticals. Astro Burn is the studio’s first game to launch in April 2026, along with an animated series in production.

Oliver was part of the Wheel of Time world for all three seasons and was a trusted partner of the client-side VFX team throughout. He is well known for his work on films and series including The Jungle Book, The Mandalorian, The Lion King and Alien: Covenant.