The young Mexican behind ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’

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Cruz Antonio Contreras Mastache

, a young Mexican from Iguala , is part of the digital animators team behind the critically acclaimed movie ' Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,' which has been nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards .

In an interview with Notimex , the 28-year-old man said that he had left his home state of Guerrero seven years ago and now lives in Vancouver, Canada , home of the Sony Pictures Animation company.

He told reporters that he was proud of his Mexican origin and was glad that his family and friends were able to see his work in the big screen.

“One of the things I really enjoy doing is going to see movies I participated in with my family in Iguala. I love the fact that there are people in my hometown watching something I helped make and I am proud to represent the people of Iguala here in Canada,” he stated.

Cruz Antonio studied at the Tec de Monterrey high-school, Cuernavaca Campus , specializing in digital animation and visual effects. Later on, he specialized in dynamic simulations at a university in Argentina .

His participation in 'Spider-Man: into the Spider-Verse' with Sony Pictures Animation consisted of giving visual effects to the characters’ physical appearance, clothes, and hair.

“I handle the visual effects of the characters, meaning the dynamic simulations of clothes and hair. If a character is running and the wind is blowing in their face, I have to reproduce the physical reactions of their clothes and hair so that the movement is convincing.”

“If the clothes are wet or burning, if a character is using a cape, if the clothes' fabric is heavy or light; I handle all of these things,” he stated.

The young man from Guerrero commented that he was proud of the movie’s Oscar nomination, adding that the animated Spider-Man film had been nominated in 20 festivals , though it had only won in seven of them, including the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards 2019, Bafta Awards, Anni Awards, and Visual Effects Society Awards .

Cruz Antonio commented that a total of 40 people worked in the Character Effects department , out of which very few were from Latin America, and only four were Mexican.