Mario Sotelo is a visual effects and virtual production professional specializing in motion capture, facial performance capture, real-time production workflows, and 3D content creation. With a multidisciplinary background spanning visual effects, animation, and virtual production, he combines technical expertise with creative problem-solving to support complex productions from acquisition through final delivery.

Mario has contributed to high-profile feature film and immersive media projects at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), including Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025) and Star Wars: Beyond Victory (2025), where he supported virtual production operations, motion capture systems, and technical workflows. His experience includes deploying and maintaining production-critical capture systems, calibrating camera and motion capture equipment, and ensuring reliable performance during on-set productions.

At ILM, Mario also worked as a Facial Capture Technician with Disney Research Studios, where he helped build and operate high-fidelity facial performance capture systems. His responsibilities included deploying multi-camera photogrammetry rigs, managing controlled lighting environments, ingesting and processing capture data, reconstructing high-resolution 3D facial meshes using proprietary software, and delivering production-ready assets for internal teams and external partners. He also has extensive experience operating Head Mounted Camera (HMC) systems for facial capture, working closely with performers to ensure accurate data acquisition while maintaining a comfortable and efficient capture process.

In addition to his production experience, Mario is an accomplished 3D Generalist with expertise in modeling, texturing, lighting, rendering, and real-time visualization. He is proficient with industry-standard tools including Unreal Engine, Autodesk Maya, Blender, MotionBuilder, Adobe Creative Suite, and Linux-based production environments. His technical skill set extends to motion capture integration, photogrammetry, camera tracking, asset optimization, and virtual production pipelines.

Mario earned a Master of Fine Arts in Animation and Digital Arts from the John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts at the University of Southern California, where he was awarded the George Lucas Foundation Endowed Student Support Fund for Diversity. His graduate training strengthened both his artistic foundation and technical understanding of digital production, preparing him to work across film, animation, and interactive media.

Driven by a passion for emerging technologies, Mario enjoys developing innovative workflows that bridge traditional visual effects with real-time filmmaking. He thrives in collaborative environments where artists, engineers, and filmmakers come together to create immersive visual experiences, and he is committed to advancing the future of storytelling through virtual production and visual effects.