ABOUT THE STUDIO
We built our Studio based on a flat structure. Every one of us is important and independent. We met to help each other realize our goals and achieve our dreams. We create an environment full of respect, balance, and goodness to make our Studio calm and safe for endless creativity and passion.
OUR CORE
TEAM
MAGDALENA MODZELEWSKA
Meet Magdalena Modzelewska, a highly skilled tailor and clothing simulation specialist with 15 years of professional experience in the art industry. She holds two design-related majors, and has worked as a Senior Character Artist in various studios including Platige Image, Televisor Studio, IN Capital Studios, and Evermotion, among others.
Magdalena has worked on numerous projects, including as a Lead Character Artist for the production of two animated short films in the "Apex Legends" universe titled "The Old Ways" and "Voidwalker", created by Platige Image for the global game publisher and developer Electronic Arts. In addition, she virtually dressed supermodel Belle Hadid for the CY-B3LLA project while working at Televisor Studio. She has created thousands of clothing models for film productions, advertisements, and online stores, and places great importance on the realism of fabrics and their behavior in motion.
MACIEJ SOBOLEWSKI
Maciej is the Co-establisher and owner of the Essential Studio. He has over 17 years of professional experience. Maciej worked in the game dev and CG animation industry as a Senior 3D and Concept Artist, Art Lead, and Art Director. He worked for AAA and AA game studios on video games like Dying Light 1, Dead Island 2, and Dead Island Definitive Edition, Nemesis Distress. Maciej enjoyed working on CG animated trailers for titles such as Call of Duty, Dying Light 2, Company of Heroes 3, and Resident Evil Village, which won many renowned awards. He is passionate about building great teamwork, project management, and proper production pipelines. Besides, he loves producing music, mixing vinyl records, cooking, participating in sports, and celebrating every day.
LUCAS STANIEC
Lucas is a professional concept artist with seven years of experience in the game industry. His expertise and experience have contributed to award-winning video games and products such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Dying Light 2. Lucas was also designing worlds for AAA titles with Karakter design studio.
In addition, he contributes his work to Magic the Gathering, giving artistic feedback and critique for the New3dge concept art school in Paris. In his free time, he likes to read books, does sports, and create his worlds.
His clients include Wizards of the Coast, Creative Assembly, Fantasy Flight Games, VOLTA, Karakter, CD Projekt Red, and Techland.
JEROME ROOT
Jerom is currently a Nuke Compositor at RISE | Visual Effects Studios. He previously worked at ColorOffOn as a Nuke Compositor and On-Set Supervision & ACES Implementation. Before that, he was a Nuke Compositor at Platige Image for the Netflix show "The Witcher" & as several Game Cinematics and a Nuke & Flame Artist at digital STRAIK for commercials.
He graduated in January 2017 with my Master's degree in Compositing at Escape Studios. Next to my Master's module, He led a compositing team of seven artists in London for the German short film 'Mascarpone' while working on his own shots for the short film.
While studying, he started working as a Compositing Studio Assistant at Escape Studios to assist the tutor and support the students with their shots during and after the class.
Before attending his Master's study, he learned the fundamentals of filmmaking during his bachelor's study.
MIGUEL FONSECA
Miguel, a highly skilled and accomplished 3D artist, has an impressive track record of over 20 years in the film, game, and CG industries. Their passion and expertise lie in environment design, concept development, and art direction, where they demonstrate mastery in various aspects, including modeling, texturing, shading, and pre-compositing. Throughout their career, Miguel has made significant contributions to renowned projects, including their instrumental role in developing the highly anticipated LOTR Gollum Game and their involvement in the critically acclaimed Resident Evil Village.
With Miguel on board, you can trust that your projects will benefit from their unwavering dedication, leadership abilities, and combined wealth of knowledge they bring to the table. Not only is Miguel a consummate professional, but they are also a valued team player who understands the power of collaboration and effective communication. Their ability to seamlessly integrate their technical expertise with their artistic vision sets them apart, allowing them to lead and inspire others while consistently delivering exceptional results.
MATEUSZ OZMINSKI
As an artist since childhood, he never doubted the honesty and power of visual arts and storytelling. He holds a Master's Degree in Architecture and Urban Planning. He has gained recognition in international competitions such as ImagineFX and Gnomon Workshop. His illustration works have been featured in industry magazines and albums. His ability to communicate ideas effectively with clients has helped him sustain a freelance career since 2006. He is skilled in a broad spectrum of styles that he has developed and tested through numerous projects, one of the most recent being the "Uncharted" movie. During his downtime, he finds solace in watching a good movie with a bowl of popcorn or hiking. His clients include companies such as: Paramount Pictures, Apple, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Legendary Pictures, Netease, Volta, Mattel, Ubisoft, Games Workshop, Fantasy Flight Games, Applibot, DeNA
KRZYSZTOF GRYZKA
With a decade of rich experience in character art, Chriss Gryzka is a celebrated addition to Essential Studio. His expertise spans a broad spectrum of projects in both the gaming and film industries.
Chriss's notable tenure at Platige Image saw him crafting compelling characters for cinematic masterpieces and advertisements, including projects like "For Honor," "Ghost Recon Wildlands," "WatchDogs2," and "Total War: Warhammer2." At Nickelodeon Animation in Burbank, he contributed his talent to "Star Trek: Prodigy."
His versatility is further highlighted by his roles at Deep Blue and Bloober Team, where he was instrumental in shaping characters for "Gwent: The Witcher Card Game," "Steel Rats," and "Dying Light." Beyond gaming and film, Chriss excels in grooming and cloth simulation, bringing realism to his creations.
Starting October 2023, Chriss will also share his vast experience as a mentor at M4G Seminars, guiding aspiring artists in the intricacies of character design.
Chriss's arrival at Essential Studio promises to infuse our projects with unparalleled creativity and technical finesse in character artistry.
