This article is part of a seven-part series featuring NC alumni who are finalists for this year’s Ontario Premier’s Awards. Andres Coimbra Castedo (Game Development, 2019) has been nominated in the Recent Graduate category.
When 13-year-old Andrés Coimbra Castedo and his mother emigrated from Bolivia to Canada in 2011, they lived first in New Brunswick before moving to southern Ontario, closer to the pulse of the digital arts industry that Coimbra longed to become part of.
As he completed high school, Coimbra carefully considered his numerous post-secondary options. He was intrigued by NC’s Game Development program, whose capstone component requires senior students to undertake a major game development project that both demonstrates and develops their expertise in their major area of study.
The hunch paid off.
Within three years of graduating, Coimbra’s name was on the credits as a lighting artist for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio when it won the 2023 Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
When he first entered Niagara’s three-year program, Coimbra’s goal was to become a video game creator. But by second year, he was discovering a passion for creatively lighting the scenes in animated films — an art form that creates mood, brings productions to life, helps distinguish the best films from the rest.
Coimbra said his early career success was directly shaped by the guidance, support and mentorship he experienced at Niagara. In his graduating year, he and several classmates worked deep into summer on their ambitious capstone project, a new video game. Each partner played their role, Coimbra doing most of the lighting. But a crucial advantage was how the partners were able to collaborate and make every decision as a team, from developing ideas to creating realistic graphics.
“Niagara taught us every aspect of making a game, didn’t focus on just one part of the discipline,” he said. “That helped us learn a lot and challenged us to improve at what we were trying to achieve. That experiential learning was foundational to my career, prepared me for simulation work in the professional world.”
The resulting video game — The Fallen — was so impressive that it was published on Steam, the global platform and app where users buy and install games, interact with other players, and live-stream.
After graduating, Coimbra was hired by small studios in St. Catharines and then Montreal, often tasked with creating 3D models for video games. The experience enriched his skills and technique, which helped him get interviews at larger production companies.
Coimbra was soon hired for a “big job” as a lighting artist at Toronto’s Mr. X studio which, unbeknownst to him, had been grappling to develop an animated movie that Coimbra had never heard of.
He joined the project’s team of lighting artists at a time when the creators were beginning to find their stride in creating a visually sumptuous stop-motion adaptation of the classic tale Pinnocchio.
The film was a smashing success, winning best animated feature awards in 2023 at both the Golden Globes and Hollywood’s famous red carpet of the Academy Awards.
Endorsed by his former lead, Coimbra began working for Herne Hill Media in Toronto which originated by the founders of Mr. X. He began working on more feature films including some from high profile Hollywood clients.
Coimbra has always welcomed being coached in the techniques of more experienced peers. But, already possessing an Oscar-winning legacy at age 26, Coimbra’s own achievements are increasingly putting him into the role of mentor.
He enjoys helping others and is particularly gratified when he sees his advice become part of a colleague’s normal practices, thus adding bits of his own influence into the evolving lifeblood of a global creative sector.
He has not forgotten the program and people who helped him find his way.
“Niagara College helped me discover what it was that I really wanted and liked to do,” he said.
