Pocket Gems.  San Francisco, CA.            2011 - 2015

In 2011, I joined Pocket Gems, a San Francisco based mobile games start-up.  Drawn to the city by new creative opportunities, I began work as a Senior Artist, producing adorable animal concepts and new feature UI for iTunes Top Grossing Games Tap Zoo and Pet Shop.  In 2012 I designed all isometric world content and led Art production for Pocket Gem's first Android endeavor Dragon Park.  

In 2013 I helped the Secret Passages game team toward launch, supervising Art production and smooth transition to "Live" mode.  Soon after, I was promoted to Associate Director of the Art Department.  In my new role, I mentored and managed the careers of 12 in-house Artists (Art Producers, Generalists, UI Designers, and Creative Marketing Artists) holding regular 1:1s, writing semi-annual reviews, running bi-weekly department meetings, recruiting and hiring, and writing a career progression framework for Artists.

In 2014 Pocket Gems formed a partnership with Fox Studios and Night at the Museum franchise to release a hidden object game paired with the debut of NATM III in theaters.  As Art Director for Night at the Museum Hidden Treasures I led internal team members - a Junior Concept Artist, Senior Artist, UI Artist, Art Producer, and Creative Marketing Artist - and a large external production team.  Together we achieved these monumental feats: successfully shipped PG's first intellectual property in record time (only 3 months), coordinated game launch with film debut, featured on iTunes and GooglePlay, achieved iTunes Best New Games designation and Top 10 Grossing App on iPad ranking. 

Currently I am serving as the Art Director for our brand new hidden object game development - a Victorian Murder Mystery scheduled for release in Q3 2015.  This is Pocket Gem's first story-driven game.  Artists work beside writers to illustrate an interactive story.  Our goal is to present well-developed characters, beautifully rendered hidden object scenes, and pepper a trail with clues that keeps our audience surprised, delighted, and tuned-in.

International Game Technology.  Reno, NV

Before Pocket Gems, I served as Lead Artist for casino games giant International Game Technology and launched over 25 products - including

• Original titles Super Cherry, Holiday in Venice, and Miss Red
• Licensed properties I Love Lucy, The Beverly Hillbillies, Family Feud and Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve
• Megajackpot products like Wheel of Fortune, Soul Train, and Party Time

As Lead, I established the overall vision for the products, provided concept art for features, produced all UI, symbol animations and VFX while over-seeing the work of traditional 2D animators and final line artists, 3D modelers and animators.

I developed artwork for multiple platforms - 2D engines and IGT's Advanced Video Platform - a real time 3D engine.   As Lead Artist for Soul Train I led a team of 3D character artists and animators to produce the first-ever motion capture bonus featuring a cast of disco dancin' 3D characters!  

Similarly, I led the development of Party Time featuring a 3D animated pink elephant in a tutu name Tipsy.  As a visual reward for players, we produced 5 funny animated shorts starring Tipsy twirling around on her toe shoes.  Check out Tipsy's videos in my portfolio!

Personal Projects

In my spare time I co-founded an independent movie production company called Smartistic Inc.  In 2002 my partner and I co-wrote The Book Club, a GLBT romantic comedy.  Between 2003 and 2005 we filmed and edited our feature-length film, publishing it on Netflix in 2006.  Check out our movie here.

I also enjoy capturing shared experiences in detailed illustrations.  I love telling whimsical stories with pictures.  Check out my artwork here.