Dan Cox is a visual effects supervisor at Weta FX. He is the on-set Visual Effects Supervisor on the Avatar sequels, where he is leveraging his 15 years of experience in both game and film visual effects, working with directors to help create new virtual production techniques and workflows. The real-time nature of the virtual set production environment taps into his knowledge of real-time engine/pre-rendered pipelines and how to connect them to modern film VFX workflows. Raised in Kingsport, Tennessee, he attended Sullivan South High School. Graduated in 1997. Cox received his BS degree from East Tennessee State University in Johnson City in 2002, and he received his MFA from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco in 2005. He is the son of David and Sue Cox, and his brothers are David, Brad, Mitch, and Aaron. Through his time at Wētā FX, ILM, and Sony Imageworks, Dan has worked on blockbuster franchises like The Avengers, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Avatar. He has also contributed to the VFX of multiple full-length animated features, including Happy Feet and Hotel Transylvania. Dan is an active member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences as well as the VES. In 2010, he won a Visual Effects Society Award for his role in creating the jungles of Pandora for Avatar. Dan’s storytelling work goes beyond feature films and includes supervising on the animated shorts that helped launch the highly successful game Overwatch, as well as cinematics for the franchises of World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo, Heroes of the Storm, and Hearthstone. Information above via their homepage.
