{"id":919165,"date":"2026-10-07T08:02:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T08:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/919165\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T08:02:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T08:02:20","slug":"from-new-zealand-to-australia-building-a-career-in-vfx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/919165\/","title":{"rendered":"From New Zealand to Australia: Building a Career in VFX"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Yin\u00a0Wu<\/p>\n

Before moving to Australia, I had already spent time building my career in New Zealand and getting to know the local VFX industry.<\/p>\n

My time in New Zealand was an important part of my career. The growth of streaming brought more VFX work into the country, and I had opportunities to work on different productions and meet people across the industry.<\/p>\n

At the same time, much of the work available to me was project-based. I moved between short-term contracts, which meant I often had to look for the next opportunity after a project ended.<\/p>\n

This taught me how to adapt and make the most of different projects. After some time, I wanted more stability and the opportunity to work on longer-term projects. This was one of the reasons I started looking at Australia.<\/p>\n

My Time in New Zealand<\/p>\n

I lived in Auckland, and during my first year in New Zealand, I travelled to Wellington at least once a month for industry events and networking.<\/p>\n

In my second year, I travelled to Australia three times for industry events. These trips helped me meet more people in the Australian industry and learn more about the market.<\/p>\n

I was later offered my longest contract in two years, which lasted six months. Eventually, I was sponsored to Australia and became an employee, giving me more stability and the benefits that came with it.<\/p>\n

There are differences between the New Zealand and Australian markets, including the size of the industry and the amount of production. But I can only speak from my own experience.<\/p>\n

For me, Australia offered the opportunity to build a more stable career and continue developing my skills.<\/p>\n

What Drew Me to Australia<\/p>\n

The first event I attended in Australia was a MoMo [Masters of Motion]<\/a> event in Melbourne in June 2025. A few months earlier, I had attended the Wellington event after reaching out to Matthew [Packford], who later invited me to the Melbourne event.<\/p>\n

\"\"VES LA SIGGRAPH Mixer<\/p>\n

It was a good introduction to the Australian VFX industry. I met people from Netflix Animation, ILM, Framestore, DNEG, and other studios. I also had the chance to speak with people about their careers and experiences.<\/p>\n

These conversations helped me understand the Australian industry better and gave me an indication of the opportunities available.<\/p>\n

A few months later, I returned for the larger annual MoMo conference, where I met Ryan from my current studio. I also returned to Sydney for the VES<\/a> nomination awards.<\/p>\n

Not every conversation led to work, but the connections I made through these events became useful as I continued exploring opportunities in Australia.<\/p>\n

I also found the Australian VFX community welcoming, and some of the professional connections I made became friendships.<\/p>\n

Meeting People and Building Connections<\/p>\n

Working in New Zealand taught me that networking was about more than looking for a job.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"Photographs from the \u201cHustle Is Not a Strategy\u201d session supplied by VFXG.<\/a>
\n\"\"Auckland Premiere of A Minecraft Movie as a VFXG Member<\/p>\n

Going to events gave me the chance to meet people, learn about the industry and hear about different career paths.<\/p>\n

Some conversations led to new connections, while others simply gave me a better understanding of what was happening in Australia.<\/p>\n

Over time, these relationships became useful when I started looking more seriously at moving to Australia.<\/p>\n

An Unusual Career Path<\/p>\n

My career has not followed a straight path.<\/p>\n

I originally studied astrophysics before changing direction and studying film and digital media. I entered the industry through production and on-set roles, including working on Devs and The Mandalorian Season 2.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photograph from: Earth Revival (Tencent Game) \u2013 Destruction FZ and Asset<\/p>\n

My time in China was another important part of my career. At The Mill Shanghai, I worked as a 3D generalist on commercials and cinematic projects. I was initially hired for my Blender<\/a> experience, but I taught myself Houdini<\/a> while working there to expand my skills.<\/p>\n

That experience showed me the importance of continuing to learn new tools and adapt to different types of work.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photograph from Megan 2.0: I contributed to the chase sequence featuring a CG vehicle
\n\"\"Photograph from Zombies 4.0: I contributed to the orchard environment<\/p>\n

I continued to build on that in New Zealand, moving into lighting and environment work and contributing to productions including Zombies 4 and M3GAN 2.0.<\/p>\n

Making the Move to Australia<\/p>\n

Working in New Zealand gave me a strong foundation, but moving to Australia meant building relationships in a new professional community.<\/p>\n

One of the challenges was becoming known to people in Australia while still living in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

A reel can show what you can do, and a CV can show where you have worked. But meeting people also gives them a chance to get to know you and understand how you approach your work.<\/p>\n

That made attending events and spending time in Australia useful for me.<\/p>\n

How the Opportunity Came Together<\/p>\n

Over time, the relationships I had built and the experience I gained through visiting Australia helped lead to an opportunity.<\/p>\n

I am now based in Brisbane and continuing to build my career in Australia.<\/p>\n

The move was the result of several smaller steps, including attending events, meeting people, learning new skills and looking for opportunities.<\/p>\n

What I Would Tell Other Artists<\/p>\n

For artists in New Zealand thinking about moving to Australia, I do not think there is one formula for doing it.<\/p>\n

My advice is to start building relationships before you need them.<\/p>\n

Go to events. Talk to people. Show your work. Keep your reel current. Learn new tools. Find out what studios are working on.<\/p>\n

If possible, spend some time in the market you want to enter.<\/p>\n

Being there does not guarantee a job, but it can lead to useful conversations and a better understanding of the industry. Some of the most useful conversations I had did not lead directly to work. They gave me information, introduced me to other people or helped me understand the market better.<\/p>\n

Looking back, moving to Australia was a gradual process. I travelled for events, met people, continued developing my skills and explored different opportunities.<\/p>\n

For me, the move was about taking the experience I gained in New Zealand, the United States and China and continuing to develop my career in a new market.<\/p>\n

Check out more about Yin here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Yin\u00a0Wu Before moving to Australia, I had already spent time building my career in New Zealand and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":919166,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-919165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/919165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=919165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/919165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/919166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=919165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=919165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=919165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}