Computer Animator, Kim Diaz, Recruiter at Industrial Light & Magic
Many people within The Art Institute of California-San Francisco community know the name Kim Diaz – due to her tireless efforts networking on behalf of our school as a Career Services Advisor. However, few know that Diaz began her relationship with The Art Institute as a student in Computer Animation.
When Diaz attended The Art Institute of California – San Francisco very few students were in her program. This is where she began her career as a recruiter; motivating fellow students and even helping some of them get hired by her internship employer.
Diaz graduated from the program and worked as a Flash Animator for a children’s internet organization. When the dot com bubble burst, she relied on some of her contacts to secure a new full-time position in Human Resources for a large retail organization. Soon after, The Director of Career Services at The Art Institute of California – San Francisco approached her and asked her to join the Career Services team at The Art Institutes.
After several years of superior performance working in the Career Services department at The Art Institute, Diaz landed a position at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM); one of her clients at The Art Institute. She feels the best part of her job is being surrounded by talented people and meeting people and artists that are the best of the best and from all over the world. In fact, Diaz ‘held’ one of the Academy Awards that ILM received for their work on the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.
Diaz advises Art Institute students to take the required Career Development course seriously. While she feels all her course work at The Art Institute of California – San Francisco was beneficial; she credits Career Development for much of her success today. Diaz feels that students should have an optimistic mind set towards work and people. She says, “A positive attitude and the ability to communicate has gotten me where I am today. Be nice to people…it pays off!!!”
Emma Kumakura is a Producer at Millions of Us
Emma Kumakura is currently a Producer at Millions of Us, a Sausalito based company specializing in the creation of experiences and branding in the virtual world. She found her way to Millions of Us with help from The Art Institute of California – San Francisco, where she graduated with a degree in Media Arts & Animation.
Emma was contacted directly by Millions of Us after a representative from the company visited The Art Institute’s quarterly Portfolio Show. They liked her portfolio and presentation and decided to hire her as a Producer. She accepted the offer and has been working there ever since.
At Millions of Us, Emma’s responsibilities include ensuring smooth communication between artists and clients, and creating project timelines. She is also responsible for finding talent that would fit the requirements for the jobs to which she has been assigned. Emma says, “I love every 12-hour-day.” Being that Millions of Us is a smaller company, Emma is responsible for each project, from its beginning to end. She helps to direct and develop the creative side of things, which she describes as, “simply fun and innovative.”
Easy as it may seem, Emma put in a lot of hard work to get where she is. She has two previous degrees and has done extensive internship and professional work outside of her current position.
Emma’s philosophy is simple: “Don’t be intimidated by other people’s work or success. Be inspired by it.”
Estuardo Sandoval Works in Cinematics for Crystal Dynamics
Estuardo Sandoval graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Media Arts & Animation in the spring of 2004. Sandoval is enjoying a career in the exciting entertainment industry, working as a Cinematics Assistant for Crystal Dynamics in Menlo Park, CA.
Crystal Dynamics is a leading publisher and developer of interactive entertainment software for the console and personal computer (“PC”) market. As a Cinematics Assistant with Crystal Dynamics, Sandoval is responsible for creating the cinematics for games, DVD production, as well as video editing. When asked how he secured his position at Crystal Dynamics, Sandoval explains, “I met my boss at portfolio review; because of portfolio review, I was able to get an interview and was hired immediately after graduation.”
Sandoval attributes the success he is now enjoying to his education. He explains, “I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for The Art Institute of California – San Francisco and the path that it helped me follow to ultimately decide what I wanted to do with my career. Learning and understanding human motion, video production, and animation timing from the courses I took in school has helped me tremendously in my current position.”
Sandoval was able to turn his love of art into a career. His advice to students wanting to pursue a career in the entertainment industry is, “If you work hard, have a dream, motivation, and have a passion for working with your media; be it fine arts, animation, web design, audio/video production, fashion, etc., even if it takes awhile - eventually you can say, I did it!”
Patrick Cavendar in Technical Art for Electronic Arts
When Patrick Cavender completed the Media Arts & Animation program in June 2004, he was an artist that uniquely thrived in the technical arena and rigging.
Cavender began his career as an intern at Palma VFX a full year before he graduated from The Art Institute of California – San Francisco, and kept his employment post-graduation as a contractor. When he completed his contract, he then went to Z3Com as a Modeler, to increase his skill set. Z3Com was leading the way in utilizing web technology in product pre-visualization. Cavender was instrumental in creating these models for the web.
At present, Cavender is working at Electronic Arts (EA) as a Technical Artist where his game credits include, James Bond: From Russia with Love, Tiger Woods Golf, and other games currently in production.
Cavender is positive about his place in the career field and enjoys his work at EA, “After James Bond, I was invited to the Sims team and given quite an opportunity. I’ll be making the master character rig for the most widely shipped PC game in the world! There is some stress involved to be sure, but I’m really enjoying the challenge.”
Cavender lives by two quotes that have shaped his approach to art, “Life is a work of art, designed by the one who lives it” and “Life is art; your every thought and action is your unique creation.” The way that Patrick chooses to express his art is as a digital artist, “I crave the instant gratification and control only a computer can offer. I appreciate the opportunity to reach the world that the Internet provides. I need to express myself in these [digital] mediums. I love that I can.”
Sherwin Rosario Helps Teach Youth at Pre-School Prep Company
Sherwin Rosario graduated in the winter 2004 with an associate’s degree in Media Arts & Animation. Upon graduation Rosario was looking forward to finding a nice design studio in which he could broaden and perfect his design skills. However, as graduation neared, Rosario grew concerned that because of his very unique style, his portfolio may not be well received by the mainstream design and animation studios. He decided he would open his employment search to positions outside his original ‘scope.’
After a few months, Rosario got his first strong lead, and it came from a company called Pre-School Prep Company in Danville, California. Pre-School Prep Company is a start-up company that develops books and DVDs that educate children on learning their ABCs, numbers and shapes. The concept behind the learning is that numbers, letters and shapes take the form of characters with individual personalities. Rosario liked the idea, and his portfolio and unique style fit the position perfectly. He was given a test, passed with flying colors, and happily accepted the job.
Two years, four books and three DVDs later, Rosario has completely taken over all aspects of creative development for the company. Pre-School Prep Company is working on growing their distribution channels and furthering their developmental content of the programs. Rosario works predominantly creating 2-D animations, graphics, print and press production for manufacturing.
Rosario enjoys his career and has become very attached to working at Pre-School Prep Company. When asked if he had any advice, he says, “Do not be afraid to take chances and make sure that you are doing what you like.”
Shiew Yeu Loh Draws Inspiration from Animation
Shiew Yeu Loh had a job overseeing the graphics, web and printing in a marketing department during the height of the dot-com boom. As immense as her responsibilities were, however, she was feeling creatively deprived.
“After I was laid off during the dot-com crash, I went to study animation and fell in love with it,” Shiew Yeu said. “In this major, you’re expected to be a director, artist, producer and even musician, as well as an efficient trouble-shooter. You have to be good in human relations and get connected to the people in the industry, while also updating your skills so you won’t get outdated.”
Shiew Yeu learned to love animation after enrolling at The Art Institute of California – San Francisco’s Media Arts & Animation program. Following her experience at the school, she is now working full time in the field as a 3D Artist at Fat Box Inc., an animation studio based in Redwood City, CA.
Shiew Yeu sees a direct link between her education at The Art Institute and her success on the job.
“I’ve always cherished my relationships with all of my instructors,” she explains. “I work hard to prove my determination and motivation. Eventually, my first reward came a week after graduation. My storyboarding instructor at the time, Julia Tortolani, got me my first job at LeapFrog Enterprises, creating games such as Spiderman for their Leapster console. Three months later, my production class instructor, Michelle Meeker helped me land my job at Fat Box.”
The classroom was just one part of the learning experience, however. Learning how to critique artwork, meeting people in the industry through special events and using your knowledge to find jobs and make connections all goes into a successful career path in animation.
Shiew Yeu made sure to augment her classroom activities with other learning opportunities. She completed an internship at M5Industries, a visual effects studio in San Francisco that was making a series for Discovery Channel. There, she learned 3D scanning technology and even helped make props for a Yahoo! commercial. She gained most of her early experience working as a freelance 3D artist for S3Graphics, a competitor of Nvidia and ATI. She modeled 3D characters, created motion graphics, and designed posters and marketing materials used at industry conferences such as E3 ad GDC.
During school, Shiew Yeu stayed busy by serving as the Special Events Coordinator for the school’s ACM SIGGRAPH Student Chapter, the first ACM SIGGRAPH student chapter formed in the state of California. She organized events such as a tour to PDI/DreamWorks, helped volunteer at a Halloween party for ILM, organized an industry panel on “Breaking into Animation, Games and Visual Effects,” and helped arrange speakers at the school from ESC, Wild Brain and other high-profile animation and VFX companies.
As a result of her efforts in school, she was honored with the “Best Portfolio” award at the school’s quarterly Portfolio Show. Her work also was featured in the Student Gallery section of Computer Graphics World magazine and online in the Gamasutra.com Student Gallery.
Shiew Yeu hopes to be working on a feature movie in one of the big animation studios in the Bay Area someday. “My ultimate dream is to be a director on a movie that gives hope and inspiration to others,” she said. “I enrolled at The Art Institute of California – San Francisco after watching The Lord of the Rings because that movie reminded me that even the smallest person has the ability to change the course of the world.”
Winston Chen Puts Skills to Work at Visual Concepts
Winston Chen graduated with his bachelor’s degree in Media Arts & Animation in March 2005. Chen demonstrates the dynamic nature of the animation industry and is an excellent example of the variety of options available to professionals with a degree in animation.
Relying on connections made at The Art Institute of California – San Francisco Career Services department, Chen got his first in-depth look in the animation industry working as an intern at Inhance Digital Corporation (Inhance), a 3D animation studio in San Jose that specializes in demos and commercials for clients such as Boeing, TV Guide, Bell, Cisco, and Genentech. Inhance management (one who happened to be an Art Institute alumnus) was highly impressed with Chen’s work and offered him modeler/texture artist work a few months after his internship.
At present, Chen is employed as an Environment Artist at Visual Concepts, a console game developer in San Rafael, CA. The company specializes in sports games such as football and basketball and is best known for its NBA 2K series. Chen feels fortunate to have seasoned coworkers working along side on projects, “learning from industry veterans is crucial to my growth as an artist. It’s motivating to be in a team environment where you bounce ideas around and push each other to do better.” As an Environment Artist Chen does texturing, modeling and lighting backgrounds. He currently is creating NBA arenas such as the Staples Center and Madison Square Garden for the next generation of console products.
When asked how what helped secure his employment after graduation Chen claims, “The basic skills and foundations taught at The Art Institute were the most valuable part of my education.” Chen feels The Art Institute helped him learn how tough and competitive the industry is, “Being successful demands more than just completing assignments,” he says. ‘To be successful you must be truly passionate about the field and go above and beyond what is asked of you. You have to realize that you are not just competing with your classmates, but rather with students from other schools and, most of all, experienced industry veterans.”