← All Projects
Netflix Series
Kings of Joburg Season 3
Principal VFX & CG Supervisor across on-set and post-production for Season 3 of the Netflix supernatural crime series, embedded from principal photography through the cutting room to picture lock. Working within a tight TV budget, Luma Animation served as the principal VFX studio across roughly 85 shots in 7 sequences, delivering photorealistic creature design and digital environments spanning Jo'burg cityscapes to underwater worlds.
Houdini
Karma
Nuke
Fusion
Blender
My Contribution
On-Set Supervision
Before cameras rolled, we invested heavily in pre-production planning: storyboards, previs, and concept art for every major VFX sequence. On a tight budget, this upfront work was essential to avoid costly surprises in post. On set, I provided real-time VFX guidance including camera and lighting setup for VFX-heavy scenes, tracking marker placement, HDRI capture, and reference photography. I collaborated daily with the DoP on framing and lighting for VFX plates, coordinated with the art department on practical elements, and worked closely with showrunner Samad Davis and the team back at the studio to execute what we had planned.
Post-Production & Creative Direction
Oversaw the full CG and compositing pipeline from matchmove through to final delivery, coordinating across animation, FX, lighting, and compositing leads to keep every department aligned. The work spanned photorealistic creature design and animation, complex digital environments from Jo'burg cityscapes to underwater worlds, and seamless VFX integration for intense action sequences. To stretch the budget further, I personally executed key hero shots in lighting and compositing rather than farming them out, keeping quality high where it mattered most.
In the Edit Suite
My involvement extended well beyond the VFX pipeline. I was embedded across all stages of the production, from set through to picture lock, which included spending real time in the cutting room working alongside showrunner Samad Davis and the editor. That meant being part of creative conversations about pacing, sequence structure, and how the VFX-heavy beats played against the cut, not just reviewing VFX shots in isolation. Having a VFX supervisor present and contributing at editorial level meant every sequence was designed against actual creative intent from the outset, rather than reverse-engineered from a locked cut.
Technical Pipeline
Established a rigorous LIDAR scanning process for key environments, allowing the 3D team to match camera moves precisely against real locations. We ran a USD-based pipeline to move assets between Houdini (FX and environments) and Maya (animation) without data loss, keeping the entire chain non-destructive. Budget constraints meant render farm hours were limited, so every technical choice had to be efficient. The biggest challenge was "Mo," a Hollywood-level digital double required for the final battle sequence. We had roughly two months to take it from scan to final shots, delivering photoreal skin, cloth, and performance that had to hold up in close-up. I worked closely with the modeling, rigging, and LookDev leads to hit that bar on a timeline and budget that left zero room for error.