Stephen Unterfranz

Stephen returned to the US where he was a Character Rigging Supervisor in feature animation and then a CG Supervisor in visual effects. He returned to Wētā in 2010 as a Lighting TD on Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin and Ridley Scott’s Prometheus.

He served as a CG Supervisor on the The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey before leading the Environments Department for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. From there he transitioned to the Head of Lighting for a variety of projects, including The Jungle Book, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and War for the Planet of the Apes. 

As a Visual Effects Supervisor he worked both on set and in post-production on Rampage and Amazon Prime’s first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. He was the overall supervisor and aerial unit co-director on the New Zealand based Shadow in the Cloud. 

Most recently, Stephen was a VFX Supervisor on James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water and Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. He strives to create a collaborative atmosphere on every project, and approaches every shot through the lens of visual storytelling.