When I was 15, I completed a month of high school and decided it was probably time to go to college. For eight years I sampled different degrees, occasionally taking breaks to work as a scenic carpenter to pay for the next semester. Eventually my advisers told me it was time to move on, so I wrote my own degree and triple majored in Fine Arts, Theatre Arts and Media Arts. I co-wrote a grant to get 3ds Max into the University of Arizona, which kick-started my 3D career.
My first job at a 3D factory taught me how to work fast and build my portfolio. Shortly after, I ventured to NYC to work at dbox, a very cool experience that taught me how to interact with clients, collaborate with big egos and wear a black turtleneck. It also taught me I’d never be cool enough to live in NY permanently, so I moved to Studio AMD in Providence, where I worked for people who cared about the art above all else. It was a great learning experience, and a place I’d eventually return to for an Art Residency, aka disrupting their office while I did my own thing.
Around this time dbox opened an office in Amsterdam and asked if I’d manage it. I jumped at the chance, and soon we made a great unit with a bunch of characters from all around Europe. The amount of cigarettes that office went through alone must have spiked the Philip Morris stock. This office was my first experience managing an international team, which came with a whole new set of challenges and excitement. This was, by far, my closest team, we created beautiful work and great memories. I also rocked a pretty sweet afro during this time.
After a quick move back to the States, I went back to Amsterdam to open my own architecture render firm. While financially successful, I realized I wanted to focus on something other than architecture. As I was in the process of shutting the firm down I got a call from Blur Studio, offering a job as a lighter. I’d always dreamed of working for Blur, so was on a plane to Los Angeles in no time.
Blur is a great studio to work for with unlimited opportunity, and I quickly moved up to CG Supervisor where I managed projects and got to do exactly what I wanted to do: full CG work. After several successful projects I was asked to begin advising other projects on how to execute the work efficiently when the schedules were getting tight, which developed into a full time position of Production Director. My job shifted to analyzing and improving processes and projects, with a focus on seeing the full picture of the studio and develop solutions that were universally beneficial. I was granted the opportunity to work with all departments that made up Blur, including IT, Pipeline (software development) and Finance.
After seven years at Blur I decided I needed to get out of the nest I had made, and I am slowly moving on to the next chapter.