Darryl Leech
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Totnes, United Kingdom
Toptal member since April 29, 2026
Darryl is a creative director, lead animator, and senior editor with a background spanning film, broadcast, and large-scale immersive work. He develops ideas through a hands-on process, bringing clarity, pace, and visual impact to complex briefs. Darryl consistently ensures work is delivered to a high standard across teams and platforms.
Portfolio
Creative Director Showreel 2026
Penn Plazza
Oystra
Obhur Creek
REDVERTEX Showreel 2025
Darryl Leech Animation Showreel 2024
Darryl Leech Theatre Colab Reel
Experience
- Photoshop CC - 20 years
- Premiere Pro CC - 20 years
- Adobe After Effects - 20 years
- Illustrator 2022 - 15 years
- 3ds Max - 10 years
- Cinema 4D - 10 years
- Animate CC - 5 years
- Stable Diffusion - 3 years
Tools
- Adobe After Effects
- Premiere Pro CC
- Photoshop CC
- Cinema 4D
- 3ds Max
- Animate CC
Work Experience
Creative Director
REDVERTEX
- Directed a cinematic investor film for a major New York development, using cultural research and storytelling to shape narrative and guide a team of 20+ artists to deliver a compelling final piece.
- Led creative direction for a competition film for Frank Gehry, aligning story, music, and visuals to help secure a major architectural commission in Abu Dhabi. My film won the competition due to research and idea creation.
- Directed a large-scale launch film for a new building project (Zaha Hadid Architects), adapting the content for a live arena environment to elevate audience impact and overall event experience. All properties were sold at the event.
- Led a film project in Saudi Arabia, travelling on-location to inform a culturally grounded narrative delivered across national TV and large-scale public media.
Creative Director, Lead Animator, Senior Editor
The Media Workshop
- Designed and delivered interactive digital performances at Glastonbury Festival, creating large-scale audience experiences using on-site technology, materials, and real-time production.
- Developed a series of animations simplifying complex academic and social concepts into clear, engaging visual narratives for educational and brand use.
- Edited and structured footage from multiple international shoots for Samsung, creating cohesive assets across teams, locations, and formats.
- Worked on the Great Fire of London anniversary project, capturing and crafting film content, timelapse, photography, and imagery, documenting a large-scale live event, with work broadcast across national media.
Education
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Fine Art
Nottingham Trent Unversity - Nottingham, UK
Diploma in Graphic Design
Southfileds College of Further Education - Leicester, UK
Skills
Tools
Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro CC, Photoshop CC, Cinema 4D, 3ds Max, Animate CC, After Effects CC, Adobe Camera Raw, Arch Viz
Other
Digital Art, Digital Video, Art & Painting, Graphic Design, Typography, Illustrator 2022, Stable Diffusion, Art Installations, Logo Design, da vinci resolve, v ray, 3D Cameras, Sound Design, da vinci, Filming, Filmmaking
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