Trent Claus visual effects artist, Lola VFX

B.F.A., 2006

Trent Claus (B.F.A. 2006) is a visual effects supervisor and senior compositor at Lola VFX and has been with them since 2007. The company has developed many unique and proprietary effects that have been used in more than 120 feature films and television productions, including “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Mandalorian” and “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” 

After graduating from UNL with a studio arts degree, Claus began his career first as a matte painter, and then moved up to the position of compositor and eventually visual effects supervisor. His job is to supervise all of the artists’ work on a film involving matte paintings, blue screen and live action footage and CGI and make sure it’s finished by the film’s release date.

Claus’ work on feature films has contributed to 19 Academy Award nominations for Best Visual Effects and 10 nominations for Best Picture. 

He has worked on 22 Marvel movies, including “Captain America: The First Avenger,” where he developed special effects to transform a skinny weakling into a muscular super hero. He was awarded the Visual Effects Society (VES) Award for Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture for his work on this film.

Claus is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Visual Effects Society.

In 2021, he found and manages a branch of Lola VFX in Lincoln, where he has employed several Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts students.

Trent Claus
Trent Claus