Experts from the creative and digital industries have shone a light on their expertise and skills for audiences at West Nottinghamshire College.

Guests who attended the Create Expo discovered a wealth of information from five special guests who have made their mark in their respective roles, covering working with high-end fashion brands, globally-known films, television series, video games, and food manufacturers.

First to the stage was 3D art director Mike Freeman, the co-founder of Ask Why Studios. Mike has a background in art and design and over a decade of experience in the advertising world.

Mike spoke to guests, who included year 11 pupils from Brunts Academy in Mansfield, as well as current West Notts students, about his experience in the sector and showcased some of his work on fashion campaigns for companies such as Lancôme, Louis Vuitton, and Armani. He detailed his expertise on music videos for artists, including Ed Sheeran, Eminem and Coldplay. Guests also saw some of Mike’s technical promotional work for Apple and Samsung.

The audience then welcomed Natasha Chapman, associate lead cinematic animator at Dam Busters Studios. Natasha described her career journey, which began in the film industry where she was lucky enough to work on a range of projects with talented people. She moved over to the games industry and joined the team behind popular video game Dead Island.

Her work developed across gameplay and cinematic animations as well as storytelling. Her focus over the past five years has been on cutscenes. Well-known projects that Natasha has worked on include The Lion King, Cats and Maleficent 2.

Former HND student Gabriel Johnson (pictured top) impressed guests with his portfolio of work over the past 11 years. Now a motion graphics director at Mansfield firm Linney Create, where he started after leaving college, Gabriel began with creating 2D web banners in Flash MX progressing to working on animation and motion design projects for major brands such as Ben & Jerry’s, Costa, Boots No 7, Cineworld and Royal Mail.

Gabriel’s talents have stretched further with him actively creating and developing original design elements, concepts, or features that can be considered intellectual property. This work includes Spider Man, Top Gun, Lego and AC/DC.

Indiana Wilson, who is the talent and resource manager for experience design at Nexus Studios, spoke in depth about the multi-BAFTA and Emmy-winning, Oscar and Grammy-nominated global studio.

Indiana has also worked on set for productions such as Bridgerton, Johnny English and Jack Ryan. She described her work in postproduction and visual effects at Industrial Light & Magic, managing the animation and editorial departments.

Last year she founded Norfolk VFX, a community for everyone within the effects industry who wish to meet fellow professionals, seek advice and take advantage of workshops.

Productions that Indiana has been involved in include Bridgerton season 1, Ultraman: Rising, ABBA Voyage, and The Eternals.

The final guest to impress was Andrew Bishop, creative director of Quantum Digital. As head of the animation team his role involves writing briefs for complex animations, bringing the right message over for the client and contributing to the highest-standard animation scenes.

He also holds a role at LightWave Digital where he sets the director of development of the software and creates marketing content for use on the website and social media channels, including creating animation shots which help to show off the new features of the product.

Guests to the expo could also meet with representatives from the University of Lincoln, Sheffield Hallam University, the University of Staffordshire, the University of Derby and Nottingham Trent University, who were able to advise people on the range of courses which cover the design and digital sectors.

Creative media tutor Tony Hall, who devised the Create Expo event, now in its eighth year, said: “Year on year we are lucky enough to continue welcoming amazing guest speakers who inspire our students to want to go on and achieve a career that is just as successful.

“This time we welcomed a number of universities and local schoolchildren, so the expo was one of our busiest and most successful yet.”