Matthew Hicks

Senior/Lead Lighting Technical Director

Greater Montreal Metropolitan Area

About

Professional Lighting Artist and Technical Director with 15 years experience across a range of popular franchises. I take pleasure in creating visually appealing imagery and assisting others in achieving the same through leadership, mentoring and/or tool creation. I have contributed to: "Avatar: The Last Airbender" (2024) s01 "Time Bandits" (2024) s01 "Foundation" (2021) s02 "Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" (2021) [²] "Jungle Cruise" (2021) "Stranger Things" (2016) s03e07,e08, s04e07 "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018) [²,³] "Spectral" (2017) "The BFG" (2016) "The Jungle Book" (2016) [¹] "War of the Planet of the Apes" (2017) [²] "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" (2014) [²] "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (2011) [²,³] "The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies" (2014) "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" (2013) [²] "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (2012) incl. Extended Edition [²] "Prometheus" (2012) [²] "The Adventures of Tintin" (2011) "Avatar" (2009) [¹] Motion Graphics / Graphic Artist on multiple projects for TV / Commercials incl. "Diplomatic Immunity" (2009) [uncredited] "Off The Radar" (2008) 1: movie won Oscar for Best Visual Effects 2: movie nominated for Oscar for Best Visual Effects 3: my work appeared Empire magazine 4: my work appeared Cinefex magazine

Experience

  • Lighting Technical Director at Framestore
    Mar 2026 - Present · 4 mos

  • Rodeo FX (Permanent Full-time · 5 yrs 6 mos)
    • Lead Lighting Technical Director
      Apr 2019 - Jun 2024 · 5 yrs 3 mos

      incl. Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024) as Senior Foundation (2021) S02 as Lead The Duffer Brothers' Stranger Things s04e07 as Senior The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power s01e01-04 as Lead Destin Daniel Cretton's "Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" (2021) as Senior Jaume Collet-Serra's "Jungle Cruise" (2021) as Lead

    • Senior Lighting Technical Director
      Jan 2019 - Mar 2019 · 3 mos

      incl. The Duffer Brothers' Stranger Things s03e07-08 IT 2

  • Lighting and Compositing Specialist, Computational Media Innovation Centre at Victoria University of Wellington
    Sep 2018 - Dec 2018 · 4 mos

    Lead a team creating a VR/AR demo using Unreal Engine for SIGGRAPH Asia 2018 in Tokyo, Japan, taking second place. Full panorama video from Samsung 360 Round camera live-streamed into Unreal Engine, run through DreamFlux's MR360 toolkit for real-time light detection. These lights were then used as the basis for integration, illumination and environmental effects where users interacted with simulated fish for a well-received VR/AR experience.

  • Weta Digital (Contract Full-time · 7 yrs 9 mos)
    • Lighting Technical Director
      Jul 2011 - May 2018 · 6 yrs 11 mos

      incl. Joe Russo and Anthony Russo's "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018) Matt Reeves' "War for the Planet of the Apes" (2017) Nic Mathieu's "Spectral" (2016) Stephen Spielberg's "The BFG" (2016) Jon Favreau's "The Jungle Book" (2016) [Oscar - Best Visual Effects] Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies" (2014) Matt Reeves' "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" (2014) Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" (2013) Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (2012) incl. Extended Edition Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" (2012) Stephen Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin" (2011)

    • Assistant Technical Director / Lighting TD
      Sep 2010 - Jun 2011 · 10 mos

      incl. Rupert Wyatt's "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (2011) Initially writing tools in Python to help with on-set photography in Weta's pipeline and providing other support to the Production team, then lighting shots for the film. Credited as a Lighting Technical Director.

  • Assistant Technical Director / Lighting TD at Weta Digital
    Feb 2009 - Nov 2009 · 10 mos

    James Cameron's "Avatar" (2009) [Oscar - Best Visual Effects]. Responsibilities included lighting shots and creating effects animation for the film, lighting merchandising poses, rendering oversized publicity stills, and reference turntables for external vendors, and compiling / debugging scenes for handoff to Lighting TDs.