Michael Smale is Head of Weta Digital’s Art Department, bringing over two decades’ experience in art direction and set design for films. He manages the team of concept artists and art directors, and acts as a conduit between the filmmakers and the team as they translate the concept art into the context of the film’s production.

Trained in architecture and with a Master’s in Production Design, Michael began his career as a designer and art director on physical sets. He was a set designer on James Cameron’s Avatar (2009). For three years he oversaw the onset design department’s set design and model making for The Hobbit trilogy. In 2012, at the end of the live-action shoot, he transitioned to Weta Digital’s art department as it was being formed, and worked on the design, building and layout of the digital extensions and environments on The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and The Battle of the Five Armies (2014).

Michael was VFX Art Director on Steven Spielberg’s The BFG (2016). He led the team in building the environments in CG prior to the simulcam shoot and advised on the onset build to facilitate its later integration into the digital environment. In post-production he led the team in developing the art reference packs for the modellers and texture artists.

In 2015 Michael moved into his current role. Alongside leading Weta’s Art Department, he is heavily involved creatively in the work produced. He was recently VFX Art Director on Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) and Alita: Battle Angel (2019), contributing to the creation of post-apocalyptic Iron City. The team is currently working on the Avatar sequels.