Two Thais bringing Hollywood home

 Juck Somsaman and Artaya Boonsoong are leading the animation industry to new heights.

Having honed their skills in Hollywood for years, Juck and Artaya returned home recently to nurture a new generation of animators.

Juck, founder of The Monk Studio, started his career about 15 years ago after graduating from Chulalongkorn University.

Juck furthered his studies in computer graphics at the School of Visual Arts in New York in the late 1980s after he was invited to join Rhythm & Hues Studios.

"I presented my work on a short film and got the job," he recalled, adding that he was later involved in the production of popular animation films from Hollywood such as "Babe", "Garfield" and "Scooby-Doo".

After years of working in the US he came back last year and set up The Monk Studio to do outsourced work and visual effects for Hollywood.

"The animation industry here is growing rapidly, with several international companies coming here to invest and set up branch offices. We have a cost advantage. It's far cheaper to do it here than in Japan or the US. I want to help develop animators to international standards so that the next generation will have the potential to compete overseas," said Juck.

Artaya, now a manager of animation and visualisation at Massive Software, is another foreign-trained talent who came back home to help develop human resources in special visual effects.

Previously, he was instrumental in creating visual-effect designs for 26 Hollywood movies such as the "Charlie's Angels" sequel and "Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow".

Artaya started to develop computer graphics when he was only 15.

His work was later posted on a website, drawing the attention of foreign film-makers.

US-based UPN issued an invitation in 2000, after which he was involved in projects to produce graphic designs for television series.

Later, Artaya joined friends and set up a new company, Massive Software, in New Zealand. After selling off his stake, he returned to Thailand and started working as its local manager last year.

Artaya recently set up a school here to train people in visual effects and animation.