Specialties
Character Design
Creature Design
Concept Art for Film
Animation Visual Development
Costume Exploration
Keyframe & Worldbuilding Concepts
Entertainment Illustration
Freelance Concept Artist
Lead Character Development
Art Direction
Max Kostenko
Character & Creature Design for Film, Animation, and Visual Development
Max Kostenko is a leading concept artist, character and creature designer based in Vilnius, Lithuania, working internationally in film, animation, visual development, and entertainment design.
He began his career in 2010 as a self-taught freelance artist, building a foundation in illustration, character design, and visual storytelling. Over the past 15+ years, his work has evolved from editorial and publishing illustration to high-quality concept art for feature films and animation projects.
In 2012, his work gained international recognition after winning a competition organized by the renowned New York illustration agency Richard Solomon. Max later began collaborating with Shannon Associates, leading to commissions for The Wall Street Journal and book covers for renowned authors such as Katherine Applegate.
His transition to film began in 2014 with the film Monster Trucks (Paramount), directed by Chris Wedge. That same year, he won the THU Golden Ticket, marking a major milestone in his international career. Since then, Max has contributed to a wide range of major projects, including Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Warner Bros.), where he developed the iconic character of Demiguise, and its sequel. His credits also include Leo (Netflix Animation), The Wizard of Oz (Animal Logic), Don't Look Up, Inspector Sun, and the groundbreaking anthology series The Secret Level.
Current and Upcoming Projects:
Max is currently involved in several highly anticipated global projects. He is working on the upcoming sequel to Wonka (Warner Bros.), directed by Paul King, where he is designing key creatures, characters, costumes, and visual sequences in collaboration with Framestore.
His recent work also includes character and creature design for the upcoming animated feature FOO (directed by Chris Wedge) and the upcoming musical Kotywampus (Paramount), directed by Gore Verbinski.
Today, Max continues to work globally as a freelance and studio concept artist, helping create memorable worlds and expressive characters for the next generation of film and animation.
What sets Max’s work apart is his versatility across the full range of character development. He moves comfortably between stylized character design for animation and anatomically grounded creature design for VFX and live-action film, adapting each design language to the needs of the project. Whether the goal is charm, graphic clarity, and appeal—or realism, complexity, and cinematic believability—his process is always shaped by story, tone, and directorial vision.
Filmography
Selected Credits
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them — Creature Design
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald — Creature Development
Leo — Character Design
Don’t Look Up — Creature Design
Inspector Sun — Lead Character Designer
Monster Trucks — Concept Development
Wizard of Oz (soon) — Visual Development
Secret Level (soon)— Character Design
Cattywampus (soon) - Concept art, Character design
Wonka 2 (soon) - Character Design, Creature Design