Animation and Visual Effects -
more than just a profession
I began my career as an animator for Massive Black in California in the early 2000s, right in the heart of San Francisco’s vibrant video game industry. My first projects were animating characters and creatures on titles like “Hellgate: London” and “Gun” for Activision. These experiences taught me the importance of building a strong foundation for movement, physicality and performance.
For nearly a decade, I worked for the Oscar-winning filmmaker Phil Tippett at Tippett Studio in Berkeley, in the Animation Department, where we brought to life the squirrel and the dragon in the Disney film Enchanted (2008). In Cloverfield (2009), we animated the monster, Clover, and parasites that devastated New York, and in the Twilight saga, I was part of the Tippett Supervising team responsible for the wolfpack.
Go behind the scenes and see how we crafted the Lumberyard sequence in Twilight at Tippett Studio in Berkeley, California.
Courtesy: Tippett Studio
Later in 2013, in Wellington, New Zealand, I joined Weta Digital, Peter Jackson's renowned post-production studio, keyframeing and developing sequences for The Hobbit Triology, Planet of the Apes, and The Jungle Book, which won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects in 2017.
As a character animator in the visual effects industry, I've had the privilege of collaborating with incredible artists and filmmakers. My time at Tippett Studio had a profound impact on me. Working alongside the Tippett crew was an unforgettable journey. While my primary role there focused on digital character and creature performance, I was also fortunate to work on productions like MAD GOD (2021), a project that allowed me to explore and learn the world of stop motion and physical filmmaking.
-Crafting Magic and Learning from the Best: Behind the Scenes of Mad God
