Hand Skills
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Character Animation (Realistic and Stylized)
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2D Animation
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Creature Animation (Flying and Quadruped)
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Motion Capture
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Character Rigging
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Game Engine Implementation
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Digital Lighting and Rendering
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Digital Painting
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Fine Art
Programs
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Autodesk Maya
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The Adobe Suite (Photoshop, After Effects, Flash, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere)
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Autodesk Motion Builder
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Unreal Engine and Unity
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Linux
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Shotgrid
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Slack, Wrike, Asana, Airtable
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Microsoft Excel
Work History
Animation Technical Assistant
DreamWorks Animation
2021 - 2023
Worked with Head of Character Animation, Animation Supervisors, and Rigging Department to ensure characters and assets are in good working order prior to the start of animation production.
Tasks include:
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Full character and prop rig wrecking both for technical and aesthetics purposes
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Provide detailed rig feedback to rigging team based on animation and story needs
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Create animation performance tests to test the rig, explore behaviors and expressions of new characters, and ensure character rigs perform correctly according to the shape language of the show
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Create and populate animation pose libraries
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Animate production shots as needed
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Animate character cycles to be used for crowd simulation
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Act as the bridge between Rigging and Animation departments, as well as CFX, Lookdev, and Modeling as needed
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Modify existing rigs to create more varied generics to be utilized by crowds
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Design internal Anim Department web pages
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Create documentation for rigging systems and animation workflows
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Assist animators as needed on software troubleshooting, shot creation and modification, pipeline bugs
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General troubleshooting and other support needs for the animation team
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Feature film work:
Trolls 3 (Release 2023)
Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken (Release 2023)
Kung Fu Panda 4 (Release 2024)
Cycles Animator
DreamWorks Animation
2021
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Created animation cycles to populate crowd simulations
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Animated promoted close-to-camera background characters
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Feature film work:
The Bad Guys (Release 2022)
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Release 2022)
Freelance Animator
Various
2014 - 2021
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Animation and art for various companies and individuals, including Top Hat, Freeform Labs, 8th Frame LLC, McGraw Hill, Sun Maid Raisins, McGraw Hill
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Character animation, motion graphics, graphic design, character and concept design, storyboarding, illustration, medical/technical illustration, portraiture
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Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Flash, After Effects, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere), Autodesk Maya, Toon Boom Animate Pro, Toon Boom Storyboard Pro, Trapcode Particular, Tv Paint, ZBrush, Nuke, Powerpoint, Traditional art (watercolor, pencil, oil pastel).
Motion Capture Animator
Annapurna Interactive
2020 - 2021
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​Animated characters in Motion Builder using motion capture data as a base and keyframe animation when needed
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Cleaned up and retargeted motion capture data
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Integrated animation into the Unity game engine
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Motion capture animation, keyframe animation, game engine implementation
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Motion Builder, Unity, Slack, Airtable
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Video Game work:
12 Minutes (2021), top down third person interactive thriller RPG
Animator/Motion Graphics Artist
AppliedVR
2019
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Adapted a script into animation in a VR space to communicate complex concepts and ideas.
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Designed, directed, and animated several short experiences using particle simulation, motion graphics, and typography
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Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere, Trapcode Particular, Adobe Illustrator, Slack, Unity
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Virtual Reality work:
RelieVR, VR Experience using calming environments and animation to teach patients with chronic or labor pain methods of pain management
CG Generalist/Animator
Elementary Robotics
2018 - 2019
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Created FK/IK mechanical rigs of several pre-existing physical six-axis robot arms in Maya
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Prototyped new robot arm designs in Maya to explore range of motion before manufacture
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Animated robots to explore behaviors
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Pushed creation of a user friendly pipeline to transfer animations onto physical robots
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Built animation tools for future users (animation pickers, instructional videos, Maya shelves and scripts)
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Character animation, mechanical rigging, 3D modeling, lighting and rendering, MEL scripting, pipeline support
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Autodesk Maya, Arnold Renderer, Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Slack
CG Generalist
AppliedVR
2017 - 2018
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Modeled, rigged, and animated environment and character assets for a realtime virtual reality experience
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Low-poly 3D modeling, texturing, rigging, and animation
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Maya, Adobe After Effects, Spine, Unity, Adobe Photoshop, Slack
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Virtual Reality work:
RelieVR, VR Experience using calming environments and animation to teach patients with chronic or labor pain methods of pain management
Key Animator
ENOSIS VR
2016
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Designed and animated 2D assets set to music
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Revised existing animations from other members of the animation team
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Worked with a small team under a very tight deadline
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Adobe Animate, Adobe Photoshop, Slack
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Virtual Reality work:
"The Bohemian Rhapsody Experience" (2016) - Virtual Reality music video for Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," combining 2D and 3D assets. Created in Unity for iOS 360 video and Google Cardboard VR.
Leadership and Volunteer Work
Animation Mentor
Texas A&M University
2022-2023
The animation mentor for students in Texas A&M's Summer Industry Course. Students in groups of 6-8 create an animated short from scratch in 14 weeks, going through every part of the pipeline. Taught students of various experience levels. Gave several lectures and demos, advised on project scope, met with students one on one, and held dailies and office hours. Gave students critiques and drawovers on shots, helped them problem solve, helped students figure out their workflow.
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Character animation, cycles/crowds animation, rig wrecking, early career coaching.
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Autodesk Maya.
Alumni Mentor
University of Southern California
2020 - 2021
Tutored students in the Animation and Digital Arts BA and MFA programs. Gave early career advice, helped with networking and self-branding, consulted on thesis films, and critiqued demo reels. Created an animation curriculum to help students build their character animation skills and set them on the path to success as they neared graduation.
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Character animation, website design, early career coaching.
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Autodesk Maya.
Tutor
Animation Mentor
2019 - 2021
Tutored animation students in the Character Animation track for Animation Mentor. Gave students critiques on shots, walked them through problem areas, gave tips on cutting together reference, helped students figure out their workflow, and in some cases taught students how to animate in Maya.
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Character animation.
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Autodesk Maya, Adobe Premiere.
Education
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Animation Mentor (2017 - 2024)
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Character Animation Track (2017 - 2018)
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Creature Animation Track (2019)
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Cartoony Animation (2020)
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Game Animation (2024)
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Women in Animation Mentorship Circle - LGBTQ Animation and Allies with Becki Tower (2020)
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University of Southern California, School of Cinematic Arts (2011 - 2015)​
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BA in Animation and Digital Arts​
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The Animation Guild (2016)
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Environment Design & Drawing with Jon Messer​
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The Animation Collaborative at Pixar (2013)
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Animation Lecture and Demo with Mike Makarewicz​
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Studio Art Centers International, Florence, Italy (Fall Semester 2013)​
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California State Summer School for the Arts at Calarts (CSSSA/Innerspark, 2010)
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Major in Digital Arts​
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Double Minor in Painting and Printmaking
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University of California, Los Angeles Summer Institutes DESMA (Design and Media Arts) 3: Game Design A & B (2010)
Awards
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2015 LADWP Futurethon #HacktheDrought: USC Annenberg Innovation Lab Fellowship for "Terracotta."
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2015 Proto Awards: Honoree "ElemenTerra."
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2015 USC Undergraduate Symposium: First Place in Arts and Digital Media for "ElemenTerra."
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2014 USC Science Film Competition: 2nd Place for "Terry's Sound"
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2013 USC Science Film Competition: 2nd Place for "Stem Cell Billy"
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2011 USC Ed Wood Film Festival: Honorable Mention for "Yeti Wizards"
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2011 USC Alphies Film Competition: Grand Prix for "Aha!"
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2010 UCLA DESMA 3 Game Design: Best Game
Affiliations and Interests
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Animation Mentor
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Women in Animation
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The Magic Castle
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Trojan Marching Band
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Model Drawing Collective
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Dungeons and Dragons
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Renaissance Faires
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Video games
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Marine Biology
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Baking
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Gardening