Dr Nic Benns is known world-wide for main titles, and is the co-founder and creative director of MOMOCO.
He has collaborated on over 150 opening sequences with directors such as Guy Ritchie, Richard Curtis, Stephen Daldry, Andy Serkis and Ridley Scott. His studio, with co-founder Miki Kato, has created sequences for films such as Fantastic Beasts, The Gentlemen, Mowgli, Paddington, Alien vs Predator and Love Actually.
TV credits include Luther, Narcos, Bridgerton, Slow Horses, Electric Dreams, Hannibal and Ripper Street. Nic has also directed commercials for many international brands.
While animation production is a collaborative process with a great team, the title sequences featured on this site are all directed by Nic.
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Nic was born in a seaside Suffolk village to English and Greek scientist parents.
Growing up in Lowestoft, he drew and wrote stories constantly, winning competitions across East Anglia and appearing in newspapers. Fascinated by the narrative opportunities between drawing and typography, he planned to be a comic book artist but an attraction to composing electronic music led to ANIMATION which combined all the disciplines.
After a first class honours degree at the Cambridge School of Art, he won a Masters scholarship to study at the Disney run California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Working in America introduced Nic to title sequences - the film within the feature film.
Returning to the UK in 2000, he co-founded MOMOCO and became one of the most sought after European Title sequence designers, producing for clients like Warner Bros, Fox, Universal and Netflix.
In 2012 he was nominated for two EMMYs, winning for Great Expectations. He won BAFTAs for Fortitude (2016) and for Fear City (2021).
He also has Royal Television Society awards for 3 other shows and several more BAFTA nominations over the years.
Nic’s 2010 short film Copelia appeared in international festivals (including Rome, ‘Fantasia’ Montreal Film Festival and the London Sci-Fi film festival) winning for VFX and nominated for ‘Audience Favourite’.
Anglia Ruskin University of Cambridge gave Nic an Honorary Doctorate for his pioneering sequence work in the film industry.
Nic married Ksenia Berezina in 2017, a soloist and a violinist in the Royal Opera House Orchestra, London. She has also performed on numerous film scores such as Avengers Endgame, Rebecca and Downtown Abbey.
Nic lectures across Europe on the title process at Bafta, BFI, Promax and OFFF Barcelona while prolifically creating film sequences.
CREDITS:
ALL SEQUENCES FEATURED ON SITE: CONCEPT, DESIGN and DIRECTION by Nic Benns
except THE GENTLEMEN and CURSED (concepts and design by Miki Kato, and are co-directed).
© MOMOCO 2000 - 2022 along with clients.