Animation and VFX studio Jellyfish Pictures has hired former DreamWorks Animation CG supervisor Archie Donato (pictured) as its new creative director of animation.

Based in the UK, Donato started on Monday and will work with the studio’s senior creative teams on all animated projects, including two upcoming series for Netflix. Jellyfish is currently producing Wereworld, based on a same-name six-book series by Curtis Jobling (published by Puffin Books UK), and an as-yet-untitled adaptation of a Roald Dahl book.

Donato (Entergalactic, Nimona) has amassed more than 30 years of experience in the animation industry. He was most recently the head of visual effects at DNEG Animation, where he worked on the Kung Fu Panda, Star Wars and Godzilla film franchises. And before that, he spent 17 years at DreamWorks Animation as a CG supervisor and two years at Technicolor as a visual effects supervisor.

Jellyfish has done animation work on several big kids projects in recent years, including films How To Train Your Dragon: Homecoming and Spirit Untamed and animated series Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed! and Floogals. Its visual effects team has also provided services on Stranger Things and Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Hiring Donato is part of the company’s broader plan to add depth to its animation team so it can handle more work. In May, ex-DNEG exec Chrissy Metge joined the studio as an animation executive producer, and former Mikros Animation supervisor Louis Flores came on board as a visual effects supervisor.