Jay Harwood is a Director and Executive Creative Director with over 20 years of experience across film, advertising and experiential. His approach blends live action, VFX, design, and emerging technology to create visually striking work that resonates with today’s demanding audiences.

Working across the full spectrum of content platforms, Jay brings a unique ability to tailor his methodology to each brief—whether that’s live action, LED volumes, AI, or CGI. His work consistently pushes beyond convention to deliver ideas that capture attention and stand apart.

Jay’s career spans animation and VFX studios, digital agencies, and technology companies, where he has collaborated closely with both clients and creative teams. His work has been featured in publications including The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, and Fast Company, winning Emmys, Cannes Lions, and D&AD Pencils.

A thinker and a maker, Jay regularly pitches and presents to leading global brands and agencies. He is highly experienced in translating complex creative challenges into clear, compelling ideas—whether for Super Bowl campaigns, large-scale experiential projects, design-led assets, or multi-episode film content.

Originally a VFX artist and supervisor, Jay has built and scaled studios from the ground up, growing teams from 1 to 100 and establishing end-to-end workflows from concept to color. His focus on craft and creative excellence has driven the growth of every studio he has led, maintaining profitability while expanding global capabilities to deliver across projects of all sizes.

Since 2019, Jay has been actively working with AI—creating films, experiences, and developing his own multimodal AI pre-production platform. He is known for pushing the boundaries of film and technology, bringing an insatiable energy for innovation, continuously exploring new ways to evolve creative production.

Say hi: me@jayharwood.com