Interview with- Levan Lapachi – Co-Founder / Animation Supervisor at Highway VFX – Georgia

Interview with- Levan Lapachi – Co-Founder / Animation Supervisor at Highway VFX – Georgia

can you introduce yourself and tell me a bit about how you started in visual effects?

I’ve had my hands dirty with all sorts of art supplies since I can remember myself. I would constantly draw various objects and characters. My name is Levan Lapachi and I am a Co-founder / Animation Supervisor at a small boutique studio from Tbilisi, Georgia called “Highway VFX”.

I had the urge of creating “moving pictures” since I can remember myself. I was 13 when I got my hands on one of the 3D software and that’s when it all began. With no high speed internet or resources available until couple years later, I worked my way up from “Help” menu and got drowned into the magical world of CGI/VFX !

how was your beginning? Challenges you faced

Nobody in my family had any background in Arts, so it was just me with my thoughts, feelings and skills that I wanted to develop.

It was in 2002 when my father got me and my brother our first PC. There were not so many resources available on the internet at that time. So I literally had to find the ways to do some stuff on my own. It was only couple years later when tutorials in various disciplines started to float around and since broadband internet was introduced in our Country, I had the opportunity to get the answers I needed and look for even more.

In 2008-2009 I was fortunate enough to get funded by a company I worked for at that time for the courses of Animation Mentor – Online character animation program. It truly was a huge experience to learn from the industry professionals and get the insights of how they worked and created all those amazing animated characters on screen.

what made you start up a VFX house? What was your motivation?

I had this dream of running my own Studio since I got interested in CGI, where lots of talented artists would combine their forces to create spectacular imagery.

After working with a couple of other companies for 13 years, I finally knew I was ready for it. It also was a coincidence that I met three of my longtime friends and colleagues Luka, David, and Irakli for a common project that we were about to execute. After sharing our thoughts, it literally took us no time to go straight to the Public Service Hall and sign the document to Co-found a VFX and Animation house that would be known as “Highway VFX”.

Tell me about your company

Highway VFX is a small boutique studio located in the eastern part of Europe, in the beautiful city of Tbilisi, Georgia. We have 10 amazing artists on board and we are constantly collaborating with freelancers on specific projects. From Concept Arts and On-set VFX Supervision to final film delivery, we always strive to offer more than is expected from us!

We put a lot in building trust with our clients all across the globe. Our facility is located at one of the most secure locations in Georgia and our IP/Data security is at high standards because as we all know security is the number one priority alongside delivering high-quality content for local and global projects!

Highway VFX Showreel

Any memorable shows you wish to share your experiences with?

I clearly remember being overly excited when we got the job for “Transformers” series of commercials for LeaderBet which you can see in our portfolio. Robots and Transformers in general are also one of my objects of interest. We dived in right away and gave the project our best at that time, which definitely impressed client and agency, thus our doors got open to many other projects followed.

These days health has become an issue for artists, what are the programs related to health and care are provided to the artists?

No one in the world would have thought of such a thing that happened in the near past with the Pandemic. Of course, we also had to adjust and follow all the guidelines and recommendations given by our government to remain safe working environment and also implement working from home in our strategy for a period of time.

what do you expect from artists?

Dedication to the work they are doing is the key feature we are constantly looking for in any Artist. We are trying to keep them motivated by involving them in interesting projects and giving them the freedom to express any ideas or points they would have throughout the process.

plans for the future?

The plan is to expand and work on larger projects with larger team. One of the key directions in that plan involves working on AAA Game Cinematics that we all love and cherish.

How can one apply to your company

Feel free to send you portfolios to Hi@highwayvfx.com . We are open to artists with any level of expertise and also take responsibility in mentoring them in our internship program.

Any advice for artists and production?

Consistency is the key to everything. Keep yourselves motivated and aim for the higher goal with each project.


Ritto prabu Thank you Levan Lapachi for sharing about your journey with us

Levan Lapachi -Ritto, I would like to thank you for getting interested in us and wish you the best of luck!

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