The Rookies Awards 2025: Rookie of the Year, Highly Commended (VFX)
2025 turned out to be a year I'll be telling people about for a long time. I entered The Rookies not expecting much, mostly as a way to force myself to finish and polish the work I'd been sitting on. I ended up a finalist in three categories, and then received the Rookie of the Year, Highly Commended title in Visual Effects.
The months leading up to the deadline were some of the most intense of my journey so far. I went back through everything I'd made and asked one hard question of each piece: does this show how I think, or just what buttons I know how to press? A lot of work got cut. What survived got rebuilt. Breakdowns were re-rendered, comps refined, and presentation tightened until every entry told a clear story from reference to final frame. I probably learnt more in those weeks of ruthless self-editing than in months of making new work.
Alongside the award, I was selected for a mentorship at Outpost VFX, four one-on-one sessions with their Art Department Lead. Getting studio-level feedback on my work was humbling in the best way. We talked less about tools and more about intent: reading a brief the way a supervisor does, understanding why a shot works, and where my work sits against real production standards. Those conversations changed how I approach every project since.
More than the certificates (though yes, they're framed), what this year gave me was proof that consistent, deliberate work gets seen.