Paul Campion

Paul Campion is an English/New Zealand film director, and screenwriter.

Born in England, Campion studied technical illustration at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design.

He began his career as a freelance illustrator and was represented by Folio Artists Agents in London.

He created book cover illustrations for authors such as Wilbur Smith and Ben Elton.

In 1999 he completed a Master's degree in Computer Animation at Bournemouth University, and then moved to New Zealand where he worked on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, as a texture painter, creating digital textures for the Balrog, Mûmakil, Fellbeast and Shelob.

He then worked as a matte painter on Sin City, "Constantine", as a texture painter on The Waterhorse and the remake of The Dambusters and as a concept artist on X-Men: The Last Stand, Dorian Gray, Clash of the Titans and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

In 2006 Campion directed his first short film, the black comedy horror Night of the Hell Hamsters.

In 2008 he followed this up with the short science fiction horror film Eel Girl, featuring special makeup effects by Weta Workshop.

In 2010 he wrote and directed his first feature film The Devil's Rock, co-written with Paul Finch and Brett Ihaka.

Set in the Channel Islands during WW2, it tells the story of two New Zealand commandos who uncover a Nazi plot to summon up a demon, using a book of black magic.

In 2016 Campion directed his third short film The Naughty List, based on a short story by author Brian Keene.