“Neill Blomkamp is a terrifically exciting young director.”

So says Oscar winner Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings), who also produced Neill’s new movie, District 9. Since graduating from Vancouver Film School’s 3D Animation & Visual Effects program in August ’98, Neill’s rise has been nothing short of meteoric, from acclaimed short films to award-winning commercials.

With this week’s release of the highly anticipated District 9, which Neill co-wrote and directed, you’ll be seeing a lot more of him. He’s on the tipping point: about to become known in Hollywood as a go-to creative leader, a director who can combine good storytelling, meaningful theme, and great effects. A director with vision.

Did we mention he isn’t even 30?

We’re proud to have been a part of his very early years.  Let’s look back at his journey since then. To kick things off, here’s his VFS reel from ’98:

After graduating, Neill hit the ground running, and worked as an animator in Vancouver on the TV series Stargate SG-1 and First Wave, among others. In 2001, still in his early twenties, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for his work as lead animator on Dark Angel.

From TV work, he jumped into commercials and music videos, along with several short films. That’s where he really began to make his mark and emerge as an artist in his own right.

He had a hand in several well-known and award-winning spots, including Yellow, a viral short for Adidas, and 2004′s Crab and Evolution for Nike:

Another spot, Alive with Technology for Citroën, not only cemented Neill as an advertising wunderkind, but also won the 2005 Outstanding VFX in a Commercial VES Award:

Neill’s 2005 short film Alive in Joburg has been getting a lot of play lately. It’s the precursor to District 9 after all, and in many ways the project that put him on the map:

Among his many other projects, he directed a 2006 film called Tempbot – a surprisingly whimsical short that gives you an idea about just how good Neill is giving humanity to non-humans. (You also might recognize the robot from Neill’s earlier faux-ad for Tetra Vaal Robotics.)

Already a fan and booster, it was a high-profile project that ‘officially’ brought Peter Jackson together with Neill, when Neill was tapped for the feature adaptation of the blockbuster game Halo – with Jackson producing. The move was moderately controversial with fans, who saw Neill as an unknown. But Jackson’s support helped, and after the Halo project fell through and Neill was brought on to do a series of live-action short films to promote Halo 3, the more stubborn critics were silenced:

The Halo shorts earned Neill a prestigious 2008 Cannes Lion at the famed advertising festival: a huge achievement that could only be overshadowed by something on the scale of District 9.

Above all, District 9 is a perfect culmination of Neill Blomkamp’s career to date – marrying outstanding, seamless VFX with, well, a brain and a social conscience. We’ll wrap with this short promotional feature for the film: