Film & VFX

• Nov 2023 – Sep 2026 · 2 yrs 11 mos
  LAIKA Studios, Hillsboro, OR · Hybrid

  

  Senior Technical Artist (Unreal Engine)Senior Lighting Artist

  Contributed to the studio's integration of Unreal Engine into previsualization workflows, then returned as a Senior Lighting Artist to help finish the film — spanning environment building, FX, animation, rigging, pipeline tooling, and final lighting.

  • Built a forest environment using Unreal's foliage paint system and PCG tools, with a landscape automaterial shader driving rock, grass, dirt, and snow variation by slope and elevation, and rule-based procedural foliage spawning.
  • Designed and animated a crow flock simulation in Niagara for an aerial chase sequence.
  • Performed camera animation and character blocking for the film's climactic battle sequence and an aerial eagle/crow chase sequence, importing matchmove cameras from the on-set team into Unreal when needed.
  • Established a Sequencer-based post-vis workflow integrating live-action plates into Unreal CG previs environments.
  • Exported character rigs from Maya to Unreal and authored tutorials and documentation for the previs team.
  • Developed a Python tool, integrated via UMG, to automate Sequencer structure, camera creation, frame ranges, and FPS — standardizing shot setup across the production.
  • Lit and rendered sequences in Katana/RenderMan as Senior Lighting Artist, serving as sequence lead on the aerial chase sequence and maintaining visual continuity from previs through final lighting.
  • Unreal Engine
  • Python
  • Katana
  • RenderMan
  • Maya
• Mar 2022 – Nov 2023 · 1 yr 9 mos
  DreamWorks Animation, Glendale, CA · Hybrid

  

  

  Senior Lighting Artist
  • Production lighter and compositor on Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Trolls Band Together, using Houdini/Solaris and Nuke; rendered with DreamWorks' MoonRay technology.
  • Part-time, assisted with integrating Unreal Engine into the previs pipeline — developing Python scripts and Blueprints, with a focus on using USD to share data between Unreal and Houdini/Solaris.
  • Contributed to work recognized with the studio's 2023 Technical Achievement Award.
  • Houdini/Solaris
  • Nuke
  • MoonRay
  • Python
  • Unreal Engine
  • USD
• Sep 2021 – Mar 2022 · 7 mos
  Zoic Studios, Culver City, CA · Remote

  

  Unreal Technical ArtistContract
  • Worked in the studio's real-time department, using Unreal Engine for lighting, layout/environment, and shader development.
  • Lit and rendered assets in Maya and V-Ray for integration with Unreal environments, all composited in Nuke.
  • Performed asset development using ZBrush, Mari, and Substance Designer/Painter.
  • Unreal Engine
  • Maya
  • V-Ray
  • ZBrush
  • Mari
  • Substance Designer/Painter
• Apr 2018 – Mar 2021 · 3 yrs
  DreamWorks Animation, Glendale, CA · Onsite

  

  

  

  

  

  Senior Lighting Artist
  • Completed shot lighting and stereoscopic compositing for animated features, working with surfacing and FX artists to create specific looks and paint-fixing render artifacts as needed.
  • Implemented render optimizations and crowd-management techniques, and adjusted PBR materials as needed.
  • All lighting work completed in Houdini, Katana, and Nuke; rendered with DreamWorks' proprietary Moonray/Moonshine renderer.
  • Houdini
  • Katana
  • Nuke
  • Moonray/Moonshine
• Mar 2017 – Oct 2017 · 8 mos
  Blur Studio, Culver City, CA · Onsite

  

  

  

  3D GeneralistScene Assembler
  • Handled lighting and compositing for assigned shots on full CG/animated commercials and video game trailers, using 3ds Max, with rendering in V-Ray and compositing in Nuke.
  • Also took on some layout and modeling tasks.
  • 3ds Max
  • V-Ray
  • Nuke
• Jan 2017 – Mar 2017 · 3 mos
  Digital Domain 3.0, Playa Vista, CA · Onsite

  

  Senior Lookdev/Lighting TD
  • Lit and rendered digital head replacements for several actors, using Maya, V-Ray, and Nuke.
  • Worked on the climax chase sequence, set in an all-digital environment of ice, a submarine, and cars.
  • Maya
  • V-Ray
  • Nuke
• Nov 2010 – Oct 2016 · 6 yrs
  DNEG (formerly Double Negative), London, UK · Onsite

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Senior Lighting TDSequence Lead Lighter
  • John Carter — production lighter on the Ape Fight arena sequence, plus several crowd shots and lighting the Ape itself to match plate photography.
  • Total Recall — generalist; handled all layout/environment design, camera, and lighting work for assigned shots, including setting up, lighting, and rendering a fully CG digital city environment.
  • Man of Steel — assigned to the final battle sequence, lighting and rendering a fully digital Metropolis environment; worked closely with pipeline engineers to help build a tool for managing the sequence's render complexity.
  • Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 — sequence lead; generated sequence light rigs from onset HDRI data and mentored new artists joining the studio, including onboarding them to Clarisse.
  • Insurgent — generalist; handled all layout and lighting tasks for assigned shots.
  • Additional lighting work on Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: Civil War, Star Trek: Beyond, and Assassin's Creed
  • Clarisse
• Oct 2003 – Oct 2010 · 7 yrs 1 mo
  DreamWorks Animation, Glendale, CA · Onsite

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Sequence Lead LighterLighter CG Supervisor
  • As Sequence Lead Lighter, provided sequence-level lighting and compositing rigs to the production lighting team for environments, characters, and crowds.
  • As a Production Lighter, handled lighting and compositing for assigned shots — on Maya/RenderMan with Shake for compositing in 2004, then on the studio's proprietary toolset from 2005 onward.
  • As Surfacing TD on Over the Hedge, used Perl and Linux shell scripting to support surfacing artists and resolve pipeline and workflow issues between surfacing, layout, and lighting.
  • From Feb–Aug 2009, served as CG Supervisor for DreamWorks' newly launched Bangalore studio: helped bring the lighting department online, interviewed lighting and surfacing candidates, trained the department on the proprietary toolset, mentored lead lighters toward future CG supervisor roles, and supervised three sequences of Merry Madagascar (TV) through production.
  • DreamWorks proprietary lighting, rendering, compositing tools
  • Maya
  • RenderMan
  • Shake
  • Perl
  • Shell Scripting
• Feb 2003 – Oct 2003 · 9 mos
  ESC Entertainment, Alameda, CA · Onsite

  

  

  Assistant Technical Director
  • Assisted sequence leads, production lighters, and CG supervisors with lighting technical support.
  • Optimized lighting renders using Mental Ray — on The Matrix Reloaded, helped lower render times on a cloud sequence from 20 hours to 4 hours per frame.
  • Used Maya's polygonal modeling tools to create props and geometry for image projections used by the virtual background department.
  • On The Matrix Revolutions, helped place over 1,000 characters across several shots — modifying existing MEL scripts to generate assets for all shots and import random animation cycles, with Perl scripting also required.
  • Mental Ray
  • Maya
  • MEL
  • Perl

Earlier career: network administrator and IT manager across manufacturing, legal, startup, and video game industry environments in Ohio and California (1994–2002). Certified Novell Engineer (CNE) and Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE).