A quick summary about me…
I have always been into video games. I never thought I would see the day that you get to actually feel like you are holding the game assets in your hands, walking through a virtual environment with your own two feet. I have no doubt that games are what initially gave me the drive to want to create my own art, and eventually my own animation.
Technology is changing faster than developers can keep up with, which is part of what inspires me most; knowing that my impossible ideas today might be possible tomorrow.
My passion is in designing experiences. I want to push past the status quo and make the most engaging interactive experience possible.
I grew up in a rural area just outside Colorado Springs. I went to the same small school from kindergarten through 12th. I wound up being the only kid in my art class, being a pretty small school. By the time I graduated I wanted a chance to explore outside Colorado, which led me to studying art at the Kansas City Art Institute.
While studying there, I found my way to animation. I was able to try out a good swath of animation mediums, and 3D was what spoke to me most. I was actually pretty close to majoring in sculpture. I took to welding pretty quickly, I had some experience from some workshops back in high school. There is a part of me that will always get satisfaction from building something physical. I think the reason I enjoy working in Unreal is how you can orchestrating all of the moving parts that compose a level. There are so many different aspects to building a game, getting them to work in harmony gives me the same kind of satisfaction is building something functional physically.
After I finished college I worked some day jobs at dog kennels, and I had the opportunity to teach English to children in Japan. I really enjoyed the challenge of living in Japan. You couldn’t go to the grocery store without having to learn how to ask where something is, or learn how to read a random kanji for an ingredient. Moving back to America I got bored rather quickly, but that boredom didn’t last long. Los Angeles presented its own host of challenges. It took 7 months of applying to every studio I could, sleeping on a friends couch and working at dog kennels before I was able to land a job at Pure Imagination Studios as a generalist.
I started thinking I would eventually narrow my field of view to become a successful animator. Quite the opposite happened, I am more of a generalist now then ever. There is very little I need support with when taking a project from start to finished, including pitching and delivering to the client.
I enjoy the challenge of my job, of figuring out all the little problems that pop up in a production. My job is to learn, and to problem solve. I enjoy finding the best road forward, and dipping my toes in all the different stages of a project.
Fast forward 7 years, and I moved to the great Pacific Northwest, in a cozy house in Mountlake Terrace. Me and my lovely wife had made travel plans before the pandemic hit, but we followed through and were able to get up here around April of 2020. In the Spring of 2021 we finally pulled the trigger on buying a house up here, on the Kitsap Penninsula. We live in the cozy Norwegian settled town of Poulsbo, and couldn’t be happier. Our first was born in September of 2022, and we couldn’t be happier to raise him here.
Shortly after buying our house I began my work in the healthcare sector, which has been an amazing experience. Getting to work with real nurses and doctors to make a product that is going to help save people’s lives is such an awesome journey. I can’t wait to see what happens next in my career.
I also enjoy the great outdoors! I truly believe travelling and witnessing the wonders of the world in person are key to understanding what makes something truly awe-inspiring. It is from the real world that I get my best ideas on what would look great in Unreal.
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