Jonathan Sothern

Jonathan Sothern

Mid-level Lighting Artist / 14 yrs

Wellington, New Zealand

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Lead Lighting Technical Director

Avatar 3 (2025)

Lead Lighting TD

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Lighting Technical Director

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

Lighting Technical Director

Spectral (2016)

Lighting Technical Director

The BFG (2016)

Lighting Technical Director

Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Road Chip (2015)

Lighting Artist

Ted 2 (2015)

Lighting Technical Director

Furious 7 (2015)

Virtual Art Department Artist

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

CG Artist

Mis-drop (2014)

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Hobbit 1 Extended Edition

Hobbit 2

Work History

  • Virtual Production Lighting Supervisor

    Wētā FX

    September 2023 - Present
    LA

  • Lead Lighting Technical Director

    Wētā FX

    January 2022 - October 2023
    Los Angeles County, California, United States

  • Lighting lead

    Wētā FX

    January 2021 - October 2023
    Los Angeles, CA

  • Lead Lighting Technical Director

    Wētā FX

    September 2019 - October 2023
    Los Angeles, California

  • Lighting Technical Director

    Wētā FX

    June 2015 - October 2023

  • Lighting Artist

    Wētā FX

    April 2020 - March 2021
    Wellington, New Zealand

  • lighting technical director

    Wētā FX

    March 2019 - April 2020
    Wellington, NZ

  • Wētā FX

    April 2018 - March 2019
    Wellington, NZ

  • lighting td

    Wētā FX

    July 2016 - April 2018

  • Lighting TD

    Wētā FX

    June 2015 - May 2016

  • Lighting Artist

    Iloura

    December 2014 - May 2015

  • Virtual Art Department Artist

    Wētā FX

    May 2014 - November 2014
    Wellington, New Zealand

    Preparing assets and environments for the motion capture stage. Providing assistance to the motionbuilder operator to trouble shoot and make adjustments as requested by the director while filming

  • Lighting Technical Director

    Wētā FX

    November 2013 - September 2014

  • Junior Lighting Technical Director

    Wētā FX

    June 2013 - October 2013

  • ATD

    Wētā FX

    April 2012 - June 2013

  • 3D Generalist

    Freelance

    January 2012 - May 2012

  • Compositor

    Sauce FX

    February 2012 - February 2012
    Auckland

    Compositing work for Spartacus TV series. Work involved green/blue screen removal, roto painting when needed, 2d tracking of shots, integrating matte paintings into background, integrating cg elements into plate, de-grain and re-grain where needed, and shot grading to provide consistency across shots.

  • 3D Generalist

    Workshop FX

    August 2011 - December 2011
    Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand

    Worked involved modelling, texturing, shot layout, mechanical animation, compositing.

  • 3D Generalist

    Wētā FX

    February 2011 - June 2011
    Wellington

    Work involved modelling, texturing, camera tracking, shot layout, lighting, shader development, rendering, compositing. Main focus was on CG set extensions to live action plates.

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Education

  • Media Design School

    2011 - 2011

  • Media Design School

    2009 - 2010

  • BAS, Architecture

    Unitec | Te Pūkenga

    2005 - 2008

  • Unitec Institute of Technology

    2005 - 2008