I'm Paulo, co-founder and Creative Director of Momentum, a Lisbon CGI studio of about a dozen artists working under the banner "Architects of the Unseen." We create images and films of places that haven't been built yet: homes, buildings, neighbourhoods and emotion that exist only as drawings until we give them light, weather and life.

The job keeps widening and what started as architectural visualisation now pulls in film direction, VFX, 3D animation, AI-assisted pipelines, and 2D Matte painting. When the tools we need don't exist, we build them. I'm curious by default, and running a studio gives that curiosity somewhere to go.

Here's the honest part, running a studio can quietly turn a creative into a very good manager of other people's creativity. The spreadsheets win a lot of days. Meanwhile, I keep having a slightly maddening experience: I dream up worlds that are complete, strange and beautiful, then wake up unable to picture them. I've come to see that gap between what I can dream and what I can make as the most important thing I'm working on.

Where it's pointing is animated short films. Asked what I'd make if nobody were paying, that's my answer every time. I know the direction, and I'm looking for the people to walk it with.

What I'm looking for at THU:
_Collaborators for animated shorts, experiments, and worlds that need building
_Stories that need a CG team behind them: indie films, games, or projects that want a studio that cares about craft, not just filling hours
_A mentor who breaks my habits, especially someone who's learned to protect their own art while leading others

What I can offer:
_A studio with a real pipeline, ready to be pointed at something other than architecture
_Help if you're earlier on the path: portfolio feedback, how a studio actually works, or pricing your work without underselling it (I learned that one the hard way)
_A fifth-timer's map of THU, if this is your first

Talk to me about: the gap between dreaming and making · worlds that don't exist yet · keeping a studio creative, not just busy · Border Collies.

This is my seventh THU. The first one changed how I think about what this industry can be, and I keep coming back because Tróia is where it's normal to talk about the things that matter, usually after midnight.

Off the clock: I boulder, at an enthusiastic intermediate level. I'm raising a young kid, which is its own lesson in creative leadership. And I share my Lisbon life with a Border Collie who is almost certainly smarter than me and has opinions about it.

I'm better one-on-one than in crowds, so the quieter corner of the room is a good place to find me.

momentum-viz.com · Instagram: @momentum_viz