About Sophoria Academy

The next generation online Animation & VFX academy built to inspire and create the future of visual effects artists.

About us

🎓 About Sophoria Academy

At Sophoria Academy, we believe world-class Animation and VFX education should be accessible to everyone.

Founded by industry veterans with credits on Game of Thrones, Avatar, and Prince of Persia, our mission is to empower aspiring artists with the real-world skills used in today's top studios. All our mentors are hand-selected professionals with deep experience in film, games, and TV production.

We offer affordable, high-quality online courses that allow you to learn at your own pace from anywhere in the world. Whether you're a beginner or sharpening your skills for your next big role, our training is designed to help you succeed in the animation and VFX industry.

Some of our popular offerings include the Dragon Animation Masterclass and the Dragon Rig for Maya.

🌐 Connect with our growing community on Discord, watch tutorials on our YouTube Channel, and explore our full course catalog.

✨ Join our global community of learners and start building the skills that bring creatures, worlds, and stories to life.

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How does our academy work?

At Sophoria Academy, we offer self-paced, pre-recorded online courses designed for aspiring animators and VFX artists of all skill levels. Each course gives you instant access to professionally recorded training, taught by seasoned industry experts like Jonathan Symmonds — Lead Animator on Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. 

You'll learn via: 
🎥 High-quality video tutorials 
📁 Downloadable project files and rigs 
💬 Optional access to our Discord community for peer support and feedback 

There are no fixed start dates — you can begin any course immediately after enrollment and progress at your own pace, from anywhere in the world. Looking to get started? Browse our most popular courses like the Dragon Animation Masterclass or download the Dragon Rig for Maya to add to your animation toolkit. 

🎓 More features coming soon, including course bundles and future mentoring options to deepen your learning experience.
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The Founder of Sophoria Academy

Meet Jonathan Symmonds: Learn Animation & VFX Online from an Industry Legend

Jonathan Symmonds is the visionary behind Sophoria Academy. With over 22 years of experience in animation, film, TV, and game development, Jonathan has contributed to globally recognized productions such as Avatar, Prince of Persia, and Game of Thrones. In fact, he recently collaborated with some of his former students on House of the Dragon. Consequently, many of his students have gone on to work for major studios including Industrial Light & Magic, Framestore, Pixomondo, and Weta—proof of the impact and value of his teaching approach.

Why Jonathan is the Perfect Instructor to Learn From

What sets Jonathan apart isn’t just his industry experience, but his dedication to mentoring the next generation of artists. He’s more than just a VFX professional—he’s a passionate educator and motivational speaker. Therefore, if you’re looking to learn Animation & VFX online from someone who truly understands what it takes to succeed, Jonathan is the mentor you’ve been waiting for. Ultimately, his guidance can elevate your skills, boost your confidence, and significantly enhance your demo reel or portfolio.

More Than Just Courses

Sophoria Academy is more than just a learning platform—it’s a thriving creative community. To begin with, we offer a selection of free courses to help you get started on your journey. Moreover, our YouTube channel is filled with helpful tutorials and industry insights. Furthermore, you can join our active Discord community, where students and professionals come together for support, networking, and creative collaboration. Finally, with over 1000 students already enrolled, you’ll be stepping into a positive and passionate environment that’s here to help you succeed every step of the way.
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Get your own Sophoria Academy Certificate

  • Show off your certificate

    Once you complete a course that has a certificate attached, you can display it in your CV to show potential recruiters. Believe it or not, this is now a popular request amongst students.

  • Networking opportunities

    At Sophoria Academy, we encourage our students to network as much as possible. It is so important to get feedback for you hard work and what better way to do this than from your instructors or peers. Submit your work to the community and learn from feedback!

    Show others your certificates for the courses you completed!
Sophoria Academy Instructors

Meet some of our Instructors
Jonathan Symmonds
Co Founder of Sophoria and Animation Director
Jonathan Symmonds has over 18 years of experience in Film, Tv, Commercials and the games industry. He has worked on films such as Avatar, Harry Potter, Prince of Persia, Nanny Mcphee, Dark Tide and was the Lead animator on the Game of Thrones for 5 years!
Jonathan was nominated 3 times for a VES society award for his work on the Game of Thrones and ended up creating his own dragon that a few on you lucky students will get to work with if you do one of his dragon classes.
Frederic Durand
Lighting Technical Director
Frederic Durand has had the opportunity to work at Sony Imageworks, Disney Animation, DreamWorks, Jim Henson’s Workshop, MPC and Digital Domain on animated films, feature films, and commercials during the past 20 years. He has been teaching lighting and rendering classes with Arnold, V-Ray, Redshift, Renderman and Nuke at the Gnomon school, the University of South California and now at Sophoria. Frederic studied at the Cooper Union in New York City and is graduated from the Ecole Nationale des Arts Decoratifs (ENSAD) in Paris, France.
Jayson King
VFX Specialist
Jayson has over 20 years of experience be it film, commercials, tv - you name it he has done it! A lecturer in his own right, Jayson has taught hundreds of students. Jayson is a specialist in VFX, CGI, fluids, simulation, lighting and rendering, modelling & texturing in multiple software packages. Jayson runs his own courses so be sure to get hold of one of them to learn from this legend! His courses cover most aspects of the VFX pipeline from modelling to final simulations and render. Don't hesitate to learn from Jayson, with this much experience you can't go wrong.
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Benefits of Sophoria Academy

Learn from some of the best instructors in the World from the comfort of your own home.

We want you to learn all the skills you need to become a VFX artist in your own right and at a price you can afford. No more expensive learning.

A social community

When you join the academy, you will join other students from all over the World. Share your work in the forums and meet new friends!

Invite your friends

Using our affiliate program, you can now share courses and get discounts on others. Invite and refer a friend to benefit!

Track your progress

Follow your path to learn each and every skill. Track your progress and come back at any time, we make this easy for you.

Watch any time

If you are joining a course or a mentorship, sit back and relax. Study at your own pace and network with others.

Download files

Our courses have all the working files set up and in an easy to understand format. Your instructor has prepared everything for you already! 

Mentorship opportunities

Some of our courses offer mentorship features. Be sure to get a course with mentorship so you can have direct feedback from your instructors.
Don't hesitate

Explore our courses now!

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