Who The Hell
Is Ilya Nodia?!
Ilya Nodia is a Cinematic Director and Art Director. Interaction and collaboration with the best people in the visual industry allow him to participate in the most incredible commercial projects, and to find the best visual solutions for advertising companies, organizations, and art projects:
2008 started as a photographer with personal artistic and commercial projects for small business entrepreneurs.
From 2014 to 2017 worked as a Lead Photographer in the escape game franchise Claustrophobia. Made more than 120 projects shooting for Claustrophobia in different countries around the world.
Since 2015 became a resident of the Fun’Da’Mental Agency.
From 2016 to 2018 a huge number of commercial advertising projects, movie posters, performances, and theaters were in collaboration with BBDO Moscow, Leo Burnette, Fetish Film, Hype Production, and others.
In 2018 moved and worked in California for WLA Entertainment Inc., shooting projects in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas, making a lot of commercial and personal projects.
From 2019 to 2021 worked as a photography and video Art Director at WayRay AG.
From 2021 to 2022 was a Creative Leader and Art Director of the Ambition CG Team.
From 2022 to 2024 was an Art Director and UE Artist at Mondlicth Studios.
Now self-employed, co-founder of the Ninja Lama Bros.

ONE FRAME STORIES
Since 2014, I have been shaping my signature visual style based on three key principles — character, story, environment. As a fan of cinema and narrative video games, I sought out projects and advertising campaigns where I could act not only as a photographer, but also as a concept creator, inventing imaginary characters and the stories around them.
This allowed me to quickly move into narrative-driven projects, gain access to film poster shoots and complex agency campaigns, and also lead the art direction of the world’s largest Escape Room franchise Claustrophobia, for several years before transitioning into agency advertising and VR projects.
TRANSITION TO ART DIRECTION AND GRAPHICS
Market recognition allowed me to move even closer to projects in the gaming industry. While creating commercial series for VR games, I became increasingly engaged in communication with developers and grew interested in visualization capabilities. After projects like Claustrophobia, AnvioVR, Another World and VR-Tech, I had the opportunity to work with advertising agencies such as BBDO and Leo Burnett.
Agencies appreciated my distinctive visual style. Later, in partnership with WLA Entertainment (Los Angeles), I began directing and producing narrative content and trailers for escape rooms in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Dallas. I wanted to create narrative video stories while bypassing complex production — and found a solution in learning game engines.

Anvio VR Posters | Behance
Advertising posters for the second season of AnvioVR project.

Soviet Experiment | Behance
Advertising posters for the District Zero VR Project, based on the Atomic Heart early assets.

Kerbal Space Program | Behance
Fun artistic project with a reference to the Kerbal Space Program on Unreal Engine.
MONDLICHT STUDIOS & NINJA LAMA | Behance
After several years working as an art director and creative lead in a graphics studio, in 2022 I relocated to Germany, where I took on the role of art director and director in the Unreal Engine department at Mondlicht Studios. Together with the team, we created several major advertising projects over the year, including a showcase video for Epic Games at GDC 2023.
In 2024, together with my partner Viktor Leon, we launched our freelance directing duo Ninja Lama, creating game trailers and training directors and cinematographers as part in his Anvil Frame School. At the same time, I continued to create short personal sketches in Unreal Engine.
UNREAL ENGINE PROJECTS WITH MY BACKSTAGES
TOKYO: THE BOX
Role: Director + Script & Full production UE-artist
One of the most comprehensive examples of how I work and what I’m capable of. In this big behind-the-scenes video, you’ll see how I develop a story (partly inspired by the game Cyberpunk 2077), work with assets, record animation, collaborate with other artists, create the soundtrack, and much more.
Kernel VR
Role: Director + Scirpt & Full production UE-artist
One of the most comprehensive examples of how I work and what I’m capable of. In this big behind-the-scenes video, you’ll see how I develop a story (partly inspired by the game Cyberpunk 2077), work with assets, record animation, collaborate with other artists, create the soundtrack, and much more.
SWAT — The X Files
Role: Co-Director + UE-artist
One of many projects we directed as a duo with Viktor Manin — a creative collaboration with Mondlicht Studios for the CG Bros channel. We created a short mystical cinematic about a missing squad, experimenting with combining a custom-made body with Big Medium Small SWAT models and Metahuman heads.

Lego Addams Family | YouTube
Role: Director + Script, Animator, UE-artist
Artistic Pitch Project with Mondlicht Studios.

The Crust | YouTube
Role: Art-Director, UE-artist
Advertising Trailer for The Crust by Ninja Lama

Iron City | YouTube
Role: Director + Script, Animator, UE-artist
Artistic Portfolio Project with Mondlicht Studio
THE EXPERIMENT
Role: Director + Script & Full production UE-artist
Currently, I continue to grow as a cinematic director, also creating numerous animatics for films, series, and games, while teaching cinematographers and directors how to work with Unreal Engine.
Many of our students work at game studios like Owlcat Games, Mundfish, or build their own small teams. At the same time, I’m developing my own scripts and mini-series. The Experiment is one of the latest pilot projects.
Growth as a Previz Artist & Director
Right now, my team at Ninja Lama and I are working extensively on animatics for film, with most scenes requiring us to act as co-directors. These animatics range from 3 to 10 minutes and serve not only as a test for stunts or complex live-action scenes, but also as hypothesis testing and pitch-animatics. This provides an incredible boost when working with long-form content — which, in my case, is the top priority for further growth.
Many of the projects are currently under NDA, but we recorded a 3-hour livestream (in Russian) showing how the process usually works in realtime — from storyboarding and quick environment creation to lighting setup and shot layout.
The deeper I dive into cinematic storytelling
the clearer it becomes: truly powerful scenes are born at the intersection of strong direction, visual precision, and meaningful collaboration. You need the right team, clear pipelines, and a story worth telling.
With a background in live-action filmmaking, lighting, and directing actors, combined with years of experience in digital production and game cinematics, I bring a rare mix of skills, both creative and technical.
I’m passionate about building worlds, setting tone and rhythm, and shaping narrative through image and sound. Whether it’s for a game, a trailer, or an original piece, I’m always looking for ways to push the craft further.
