Mike Ashton is an Emmy Award–winning Creative Director, Producer, and Visual Effects Supervisor working at the intersection of storytelling and emerging technology. His career spans blockbuster films, AI-driven production, virtual reality, and groundbreaking music videos, with projects spanning Disney, Marvel, Samsung, Meta/Oculus, YouTube, Bad Robot, and OTOY.
Fluent in both creative and technical workflows, Mike leads cross-disciplinary teams through next-generation visual effects production. As Director of Creative Projects & LightStage Operations at OTOY, Mike oversees LightStage 3D face and body capture for major studio features and games, including The Batman, Alien: Romulus, She-Hulk, and The Callisto Protocol. He also produces OTOY Studio films, including 765874: Unification, which garnered 38.6 million views and nine Telly Awards. Across his work, Mike is committed to balancing technological innovation with the human, ethical, and artistic values that define meaningful cultural storytelling.
Previously, Mike served as a Creative Director at Bad Robot, where he led a real-time rendering and augmented-reality “special project” for Apple, and supported the studio’s exploration of emerging technology across film, television, and live experiences. Mike also launched the digital division of Ashton Kutcher’s Katalyst Media and worked as a VFX technical artist on award-winning music videos like Usher and Katy Perry.
