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Maria Barbadillo

Lead FX Artist at Squeeze Animation Studios

Maria Barbadilloa is a Lead FX Artist with experience in animation, cinematic VFX, and theme park projects, primarily using Houdini. She currently leads the FX department at Squeeze Animation Studios, overseeing projects including an unreleased feature, Clash of Clans cinematics, and a Minions sequence for the Orlando theme park. 


Maria previously contributed to Paw Patrol 2 at Mikros Animation, Tadeo Jones 3 at Lightbox Animation Studios, and blockbuster films including Thor: Ragnarok and Deadpool 2 at Framestore Montreal. 


She is passionate about visual storytelling, managing teams, and sharing her knowledge by teaching visual effects to beginner and intermediate artists.


  • I had the privilege to work with Maria for 2 years as she was my FX Lead. Knowledgeable, efficient, and funny as hell, she's still one of the best artists I've had the chance to work with. Can't wait to get my hands on this tutorial.

    - Maxime Ricbourg
    FX Senior Artist at Sarbakan

  • I had the privilege of working with Maria on several projects. She has a great mix of artistic talent stemming from her love of traditional arts and technical know-how, which makes her a fantastic artist for any team. As a lead is where she truly stands out: she’s super supportive, great at explaining things, and always makes the team feel inspired and taken care of.

    - Federico Sella
    FX Supervisor at Bardel

  • I worked with Maria for over three years on a vast variety of projects. She proved herself as a true leader who is able to onboard artists of all levels, sometimes within hours, in a fast-paced game cinematics production where there was zero margin for delay. She managed workload dispatch, provided simulation setups, and shared clear guidelines and support, while keeping up with the pressure of extremely high-speed deliveries. At the same time, she was able to deliver a long-term strategic vision for the FX department and supervision for large-scale feature animation production. All her technical knowledge and management experience are wrapped in a charming personality that makes even the most complex and stressful production feel like a smooth and enjoyable experience.

    - Sergey Kononenko
    Head of CG at Squeeze Animation Studio

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