Nicholas Ashe Bateman is an artist, filmmaker and the founder of the award-winning visual effects, design and animation company ‘MAERE STUDIOS.’ As a writer/director, his acclaimed debut feature film - the microbudget ‘The Wanting Mare’ was released in 2021. As the visual effects supervisor for Maere Studios, he has supervised and designed for over 25 feature films in the past years, including A24’s ‘The Green Knight,’ Disney’s ‘Hocus Pocus 2,’ ‘Peter Pan & Wendy,’ M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Knock at the Cabin’ and Ava Duvernay’s ‘Origin.’ Launching the division of Maere Studios Animation, the company’s newest work is a co-production with Disney Branded Television and Alfonso Cuarón’s Esperanto films, entitled ‘An Almost Christmas Story’ directed by David Lowery. Other upcoming projects include A24’s ‘Y2k’ and ‘Mother Mary.’ Bateman’s second directorial feature film, the fantasy epic ‘The Mirrors Wake’ shoots in early 2025, produced by 2AM.