Nick Oberlander Email & Phone Number

Contracted on several shows, shorts, and commercials. Notably, Mickey and Friends Trick or Treats, now streaming on Disney+ and select sequences on Lego Masters season 4, airing on Fox.

Bix Pix produces stop motion animation for TV, films, and commercials, and specializes in children’s entertainment. I first worked with them for almost 5 years on the Emmy Award-winning children’s show Tumble Leaf for Amazon Prime (more on that below). In 2022, I returned to work on Shape Island, now released on AppleTV+, a new children’s stop motion production with the same creative team as Tumble Leaf. The VFX team on Shape Island was nominated in the 2022 Children’s & Family Emmy Awards for Best Visual Effects for a Live Action Program.I work on technical and demanding shots, doing cleanup, digital component creation, background additions, and look development for scenes to be used by other artists. I’ve also collaborated with the technical team to perfect a new remote workstation environment that meets quality requirements and delivery deadlines.

SBS produces stop motion animation for film and TV and is known for their irreverent comedy including Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim show Robot Chicken. I was contracted to work on Season 2 of Crossing Swords, a Hulu Original, doing digital effects, removing unwanted rigs, creating elements, and combining layers into cohesive shots, mastering the Mocha motion tracking software plug-in. I also worked on Hulu’s show Solar Opposites integrating animated mouths with live action footage. I earned the trust to work on shots and scenes needing more technical knowledge and created a workflow for combining animated puppetry with fully live action footage, with a template for conversion processes, effect, and settings.

Los Angeles, California, United States

Choido Bros. Productions specializes in puppetry, special effects makeup, and stop motion animation, which you may have seen in Killer Klowns from Outer Space, the Large Marge truck scene in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, and the North Pole scenes in Elf. While still working on Alien Xmas (below), I added work on the feature-length Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, a live action/animation hybrid adapted from a series of web shorts. I made sure directors had what they needed, finalized digital puppet mouths for compositing, and created a motion graphics montage sequence that is in the film, which was released by A24 in theaters in summer 2022. Becoming an essential hub for all departments and working on overlapping projects was a great opportunity to massively scale my workload capacity, my cross-departmental experience, and my production hardware and software knowledge.

Los Angeles, California, United States

The producer of Tumble Leaf recommended me to Chiodo Bros. for the Netflix animated Christmas special Alien Xmas, where I bridged gaps between camera, post production, VFX, producers, and the director. I confirmed all technical data was intact and transferred to the master server, transcoded all footage for editing and VFX use, and kept the project’s ShotGrid database up to date with finished clips for all departments to view. I was also part of the 12 person VFX team, adding final touches to the Christmas magic.

Los Angeles, California, United States

I worked on the YouTube promotional short for Mattel’s Hot Wheels: Monster Trucks Island, creating visual effects and custom animated material on a very short deadline.

Los Angeles, California, United States

As an interesting side job, I worked as a tour guide on an 1100-acre private ranch with vineyards and exotic animals, including a giraffe named Stanley. I drove guests on 2-hour tours, hosted wine tastings, led VIP tours, and represented the company on the Australian travel show "Getaway".

Los Angeles, California, United States

I joined Bix Pix and worked on the 16-person Visual Effects team for stop-motion animation Tumble Leaf, which ran on Amazon Prime for four seasons and won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Preschool Children’s Animated Series. I took final footage after animation, used Adobe After Effects to remove rigging and anything not meant for the final shot, and added computer-generated elements like butterflies and skies in Cinema 4D. The VFX supervisor chose me as his backup for final check and approval on the animation sets, where I had authority to pause production, ask for changes, and make the final call for our needs before shooting. I often represented the VFX team at daily production meetings. And I became the person to assess the animation stages every morning to make sure everything was exactly as the day before. When Tumble Leaf won the Emmy in 2019, I received a Participating Artist Certificate. After I left, I was invited to return as a primary VFX artist for Google Doodle "Celebrating Mr. Rogers."

Los Angeles, California, United States

After I graduated film school, I packed a U-Haul, moved to Los Angeles, and started freelancing in as many aspects of production as I could. Every job and every day was different through these years, with major creative output, unforgettable experiences, and the chance to work with high-profile talent. When I was cinematographer for the first original film released on Hulu, a mystery thriller called "In the Darkness", I collaborated with the director on visual style and mood, and when I was a gaffer, I took direction from the cinematographer to design lighting and manage teams of technicians. I often ran crews of up to 12 people, built equipment lists, managed 5-ton trucks full of equipment, and worked with thousands of dollars of budget in equipment and personnel.Select Credits:• Celebrity Crush (Cinematographer: Pickups and Reshoots)• Devil’s Whisper (Gaffer/2nd Unit Cinematographer)• Joshy (Gaffer)• The Tiger Hunter (Gaffer)• The Bob Newhart Show: Group Therapy (Gaffer)• Gutshot Straight (Gaffer)• The Ever After (Gaffer)• In The Darkness (Cinematographer)