Experience

Game Designer at Institute for Creative Technologies / USC

Nov 2008 - May 2013
Job Duties: Prototyping / Concepting - Advanced, Scripting / Programming - Advanced, Creative Direction - Intermediate, Writing / Dialog / Story Development - Intermediate Software: UnrealEd - Expert, Unreal - Expert, MAYA - Expert, Windows - Expert, C# - Advanced, Microsoft Word - Advanced, Photoshop - Advanced, MacOS - Advanced, ActionScript - Advanced, Unity - Advanced, Illustrator (v.10 to CS5) - Intermediate, Gamebryo - Intermediate, Java - Junior, MS Project - Junior, Powerpoint - Junior Projects: STRIVE (Released), Bravemind (Released) Summary:I was hired to perform the design tasks for a variety of serious game projects that apply ongoing research efforts. These tasks included concept and content development, design research and analysis, communicating design values and principles, and facilitating cross-team coordination. Special tasks included, level design and scripting, gameplay programming in ActionScript , UnrealScript and C#, art management, interface design, and development pipeline auditing. I contribute in roles ranging from web developer to design lead to producer.

Game Designer at Realtime Associates, Inc.

Mar 2007 - Oct 2008
Job Duties: Character Design - Intermediate, Level Layout Design - Intermediate, Creative Direction - Intermediate, Writing / Dialog / Story Development - Intermediate, Level Layout Design - Intermediate, Design Document Prep - Intermediate, Character Design - Intermediate Software: UnrealEd - Expert, Microsoft Word - Advanced, Photoshop - Advanced, ActionScript - Advanced, Studio's Proprietary Software - Intermediate, Powerpoint - Intermediate, - Intermediate, MS Project - Junior Summary:As the sole Game Designer, I worked on the broadest range of game design and development assignments, and did so over several projects. At a high level of quality, I completed game design tasks including concept creation, gameplay, level, activity/puzzle, and interface design, AI design, tool design, cinematic direction, writing (both design documents and creative), the creation of assets such as dialog and story, graphic design, character and location concepts. I worked in concert with teams in Art, Programming and Production, while overseeing the Design team. I also worked in the support capacity as a technical specialist on some programming/scripting tasks. I divided my time among the many assignments as priorities warranted. Published commercial credits include Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Sonic the Hedgehog for the LeapFrog Didj handheld console. Non-commercial products include serious games and educational games, such as ICT's ELECT BiLAT project and San Francisco Children's Hospital's pedestrian traffic safety game Ace's Adventure.

Game Designer / Story Artist at Hot Iron Productions

Jan 2007 - Present
Job Duties: Scripting / Programming - Advanced, Prototyping / Concepting - Advanced, Writing / Dialog / Story Development - Intermediate, Creative Direction - Intermediate Software: UnrealEd - Expert, MAYA - Expert, Unreal - Expert, Windows - Expert, C# - Advanced, MacOS - Advanced, ActionScript - Advanced, Unity - Advanced, Photoshop - Advanced, Microsoft Word - Advanced, Illustrator (v.10 to CS5) - Intermediate, Gamebryo - Intermediate, MS Project - Junior, Powerpoint - Junior, Java - Junior Summary:

Graphic Designer / Animator at Avalon Visual

Aug 2006 - Mar 2007
Job Duties: Animation (Object) Animation (FX) Production Design 2D Art / Graphic Design Software: Windows - Expert, Shake - Intermediate, Premiere - Intermediate, MAYA, , Photoshop Summary:I was hired as an independent contractor to develop and produce a wide variety of special effects and graphics using 3D animation and compositing software to integrate with live action high definition video.

Animator at Kachew

Feb 2006 - Jun 2006
Job Duties: Animation (Facial) Animation (Character) Animation (FX) Software: Windows - Expert, WebAccess - Advanced, Flash - Advanced, Summary:I was hired as an independent contractor to help animate scenes in several webisodes for kidzbop.com. I was largely in charge of animating walk cycles, large full-body movements and crowd shots. I also followed the set design of the webisodes while creating some original artwork to complete the shots assigned.

Animator at Kachew

Sep 2005 - Oct 2005
Job Duties: Animation (Character) Animation (Traditional) Software: Windows - Expert, FTP - Advanced, WebAccess - Advanced, Flash - Advanced, Summary:I was hired to work as an independent contractor on a special series of episodes for NBC's daytime soap opera, "Passions". This was a storyline where a small child with magical powers was able to whisk a young couple in love into a fairy tale book to carry out a tale that included a storybook wedding, the princess being captured by a dragon and the prince riding to her rescue on a white horse. To achieve the look of an illustrated fair tale, likenesses of the soap opera actors had to be animated. I was largely given the responsibilty of animating full body movements, like very active shots, the dragon attacking and the horse galloping. I also worked on several EFX shots.

Lead Animator at Four-Eyed Films

Apr 2005 - Jun 2005
Job Duties: Renderman Animation (Facial) Compositing Animation (Character) Software: Windows - Expert, FTP - Advanced, WebAccess - Advanced, Flash - Advanced, Shake - Intermediate, Premiere - Intermediate, , Photoshop Summary:I was hired to animate Classic Disney Princess characters (Ariel, Cinderella, Snow White, etc) alonside their Prince counterparts for this DVD release. The Princess characters sit alongside their Princes in private balconies of a grand theater and introduce the next Classic Disney Christmas-related cartoon in a series of short scenes. I was given model sheets and dialogue tracks to work with and I had to match the look and feel of the Classic characters.

Modeler / Rigger / Character Animator at Liquid Development

Mar 2005 - May 2005
Job Duties: Animation (Facial) Modeling (Character) Rigging (Character) Skinning / Weighting Meshes Animation (Character) Software: FTP - Advanced, WebAccess - Advanced, Shake - Intermediate, Premiere - Intermediate, MAYA, Summary:I was hired to model, rig and animate a toony character for an unnamed Microsoft project presentation. Working remotely as an independent contractor, I was given design sketches and a dialogue track to work from. I delivered a high resolution model, fully rigged and animated within the short time frame.

3D EFX Animator at Dreamworks Animation

Nov 2001 - Apr 2003
Job Duties: Animation (Object) Special FX / Particle Systems Animation (FX) Rigging (Mechanical) Software: MEL - Advanced, Shake - Intermediate, Linux - Intermediate, MTOR - Intermediate, Amino - Intermediate, SLIM - Junior, RAT - Junior, Renderman - Junior, Photoshop, MAYA, Summary:I was brought on to "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" during preproduction to develop some of the many effects needed for this traditionally animated feature with 3D elements. Among some of the bigger tasks I was given, I developed falling snow for a few important sections of the film and I was charged with handling a complex sequence during the beginning of the film, where a sea monster heavily damages a large ship. While I was not given the title of Lead Animator, my duties often included following up with other animators on the effects tools I had developed for the purpose of maintaining a consistent look. I worked in both Maya and proprietary software, an integration that was just beginning between Dreamworks Animation and PDI. In the last few months of production, along with my other production duties, I was given the task of training several traditional EFX animators on Maya, the proprietary software and our 3D production pipeline.

3D EFX Animator at Dreamworks Animation

Mar 2001 - Sep 2001
Job Duties: Animation (Object) Special FX / Particle Systems Animation (FX) Matchmoving Software: MEL - Advanced, Linux - Intermediate, MTOR - Intermediate, Amino - Intermediate, SLIM - Junior, Renderman - Junior, MAYA, Summary:I was brought on to "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron", during the last six months or so of production. I worked with the EFX Animation department to provide a variety of effects for this traditionally animated feature with 3D elements. Among other things, I given a series of shots in the "Train Pull" sequence to develop, including the complex rigging of 80 horses chained to a large sled, dragging a steam locomotive up a mountain. I did of variety of work on this film, from modeling and rigging to animating and compositing.

CGI / Digital FX Animator (dual credit) at Warner Brothers Feature Animation

Feb 2000 - Mar 2001
Job Duties: Animation (Object) Pipeline / Scheduling / Asset Mgmt Scripting / Programming Animation (FX) Software: MEL - Advanced, sh/csh - Intermediate, MTOR - Intermediate, Amino - Intermediate, Renderman - Junior, Photoshop, MAYA, Summary:I was brought on to work on the development and production of the 3D vehicle and prop EFX animation for "Osmosis Jones", having helped out with the EFX crew during "Iron Giant". The vehicles and props in this film, being organic and toony, needed to move with an abundance of squash and stretch. I was in charge of setting up a pipeline which could automatically rig a library of vehicles for the many freeway shots within the movie. For this, I needed to develop tools using MEL. I worked with the EFX Supervisor, Allen Foster, to lead the EFX animators for these shots and took on some of the more complex shots myself. Later in the production, I learned Animo compositing software and was able to help out with the many EFX compositing shots.

CGI Animator at Warner Brothers Feature Animation

Nov 1997 - Oct 1998
Job Duties: Animation (Character) Software: MEL - Advanced, SGI IRIX - Advanced, Renderman - Junior, MAYA, Summary:I was brought on to the production of "Iron Giant" to animate the Giant character, a 3D element in a mostly traditionally animated feature film. I learned a lot artistically, working under the direction of Brad Bird, and technically, learning Maya, MEL, etc. I was given whole scenes to work on (a series of shots together) so that the Giant behavior was more consistent. When I had finished my slate of character shots, I was able to help the Effects crew animate some of the vehicles and props that needed to move well with the characters.

CGI Animator at Warner Brothers Classics Animation

Oct 1995 - Jul 1997
Job Duties: Special FX / Particle Systems Animation (Character) Animation (FX) Software: Alias - Advanced, SGI IRIX - Advanced, Softimage - Intermediate, Summary:I was brought to WB Classics to help with the development and production of the steroscopic 3D featurette Marvin the Martian in the 3rd Dimension. This 12-minute film is shown in 3D projection theaters in the WB Studio Store in New York as well as in Germany and Australia. After that, I continued as a staff animator and worked in production on commercial television spots and in development on several projects related to the classic Looney Tunes characters.