Hoffmeister graduated from Gymnasium Casimirianum and Fachhochschule Hannover in Germany and Brunel University in West London, England. As a Senior Inferno Artist at visual effects studio Digital Renaissance, Hoffmeister worked on such German/Dutch-made films as The Little Vampire (starring Alice Krige) and Down (starring Ron Perlman). He later briefly joined Digital Domain as a Flame Artist, during which time he worked on the 2002 film adaptation of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine, written by John Logan.