Kamiya Makoto

Kamiya Makoto began his career in the special effects world in the late 1980s. He started as an assistant director under Kawakita Kôichi on the Heisei Godzilla series, beginning with Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989). He subsequently joined Higuchi Shinji’s team as assistant special effects director for the acclaimed Heisei Gamera trilogy (1995–1999).

Kamiya’s big break as a special effects director came with Whiteout (2000). He returned to the Godzilla franchise as the Director of Special Effects for the hit film Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001), hand-picked by director Kaneko Shûsuke. He continued to balance practical effects with the growing field of CGI, serving as SFX Director on major live-action adaptations like Gantz (2011), I Am a Hero (2016), and Bleach (2018).

In addition to his effects work, Kamiya has directed full-length features, most notably the CG-animated films Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008) and Resident Evil: Damnation (2012). His frequent collaboration with director Satô Shinsuke has led to his involvement as VFX Supervisor on the blockbuster Kingdom film series.