EDUCATION

2006-2009 Master of Fine Arts/Computer Animation
Miami International University, Miami FL
Thesis: Animation in Public Service Announcements and Social Marketing

1985-1989 Bachelor of Fine Arts/Graphic Design
Colorado State University, Ft. Collins CO

ACADEMIC POSITIONS

2009 - 2104 Assistant Professor School of Film and Animation, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Rochester, New York

2015-present Associate Professor School of Film and Animation, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Rochester, New York

2009: Nominated for the Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teacher
2012 Fall: Acting Chair; Animation Program
2012: Nominated for the Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teacher (Fall)
Nominated for the Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teacher (Spring)
2013 Nominated for the Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teacher (Spring)

2003 - 2008 Full-time Faculty, Media Arts & Animation
Art Institute of Portland Portland, Oregon
Courses: Animation, Foundation Drawing/Compositing/Team Animation production

COURSES

Courses taught over multiple semesters:

Undergraduate courses

SOFA 108 - Drawing for Animation
SOFA 323 - 2DII: Performance
SOFA 218 - Concept & Character Design
SOFA 221 - After Effects for Animators
SOFA 228 - Animation Scriptwriting and Storyboard
SOFA 317 - Animation Production Workshop II
SOFA 224 - 2D Digital Animation (Toon Boom Harmony)
SOFA 355 - Study Abroad Animation
SOFA 411 - Animation Capstone I
SOFA 412 - Animation Capstone II
SOFA 386 - TEAM Film Animation Production Workshop

Graduate Courses

SOFA 748 - Concept & Character Design
SOFA 604 - 2D Animation II: Mechanics
SOFA 790/890 - Senior Research & Thesis I & II
SOFA 630 - Animation Film Language
SOFA 717 - Animation Production Workshop

SERVICE & COMMITTEES

2024 RIT School of Film & Animation
FAMU collaboration Planning
Research for upcoming collaborative course with students in FAMU, Prague, Czech Republic

2022- 2024 RIT School of Film & Animation
LA Away student reviews

2024 -2025 Rochester Institute of Technology
College of Art & Design Faculty Tenure Review

2024 RIT School of Film & Animation
School of Film & Animation Screenings Commission (chair)

2022-presesnt Magic Spell Studios (RIT)
Vicarious Visions Scholarship Review

2022-presesnt Magic Spell Studios (RIT)
Magic makers Project Review (Fall, Spring & Summer)

2019- present Faculty Advisor
RIT Animation Club

2018-2020 Rochester Institute of Technology
Academic Support & Student Affairs committee (Institute level)

2014, 2019, RIT School of Film & Animation
2023, 2023 Chair; Faculty Search Committee

2021 Curriculum Committee -SOFA
Designed/proposed Game Animation curriculum across 3 schools within RIT

2018 Study Abroad – Kosovo
Travelled with 8 SOFA students to Peja, Kosovo to work with the Anibar Animation Festival for 2 weeks

2105 NaRITives – Digital Stories from RIT’s Global campuses
a modular approach to interdisciplinary teaching where four discipline-specific courses share faculty and have students collaborate on a focused project—digitally recording, animating, archiving and curating the oral histories of RIT students.

2014- 2015 Rochester Institute of Technology
Committee for Teaching Effectiveness

2009-2017 RIT College of Art & Design
FEAD (Faculty Education and Development)

2009-2014 RIT School of Film & Animation
Masters Program Applicant Selection Committee

2012-2014 RIT College of Art & Design
SoFA Honors Students Faculty Sponsor

2012 RIT School of Film & Animation
Faculty Search Committee
Member of 6 person committee to fill 3 open positions
2012-2013 Faculty Search Committee (temporary Chair)

2009-2013 RIT School of Film & Animation
Semester Conversion Committee – design curriculum changes from quarter system to semester

2003-2007 Art Institute of Portland
Curriculum Development Committee
Animation Development Committee
Coordinator of animation, design and layout programs as well as software requirements

CREATIVE WORK

2020-2024 That Damn Goat video game
Creator/Creative Director
Published on Valve Steam marketplace 12/15/23 and Nintendo Switch 5/15/24

That Damn Goat is a multiplayer competitive party game where chaos reigns, frustrations mount, and everything you think you know about your situation is instantly thrown out of whack by a flying, head-butting goat with magical powers. Created in collaboration with RIT’s Magic Spell Studios, utilizing a team of 40+ students from multiple schools at RIT, and 7+ faculty leads.

2020-present “Tango Bolero con Lobo”
2D short film (est. TRT 5:50) currently in production. The film is a tango between man/nature, in the guise of a wolf, set to the song “Tango Bolero’ by Juan Llosas.
Estimated finish date: Winter 2025

2020 “Quaran-toon”
Collaborative short film instigated at the start of covid lockdowns as a way of engaging the RIT community. I supplied an image of a SOFA and all participants animated a short interpretation of the image. 13 faculty/students participated.

2017 “Love song of the Drone”
2D animated short film/music video about the life (and love) cycle of a drone bee
TRT 2:46

Official Selection Marcellus Mini Movie Family Film Festival 2016
Official Selection KidFilm Festival 2017
Official Selection Okotos Film Festival 2017
Official Selection New York International Film Festival 2016
Official Selection Fast Forward Film Festival 2017
Best Animation winner
Official Selection Blackbird Film Festival 2017
Official Selection San Diego Int’l Kids Film Festival 2016
Official Selection Hsin-Yi Chilkdren’s Animation Awards 2016
Official Selection Wildlife Conservation Film Festival 2016
Official Selection Montana International Children’s Film Festival 2017
Official Selection KIDS FIRST! Film festival 2016

2015 “How I Start to Fly”
Collaborative short film. Producing (and animating) an international effort of 25 animators on a single short film project.

Online presence only

2014 “Life Line”
Hand drawn animated short. Pencil on paper & Digital 2D
TRT 3:40

Official Selection RIT Faculty Show 2014
Official Selection Starz Denver Int’l Film Festival 2014
Official Selection First Glance FilmFest PA 2014
Official Selection Eugene Int’l Film Festival 2014

2013 “BeeEye”
Animation/Installation co-production with Cat Ashworth. Current Production.
Awarded FEAD Grant for partial funding, 2012

2012 “Mudpuddle Pete”
Children’s Picture book. Lulu Press self-published.
FINALIST Next Generation Independent Publishing Award, 2012

2011 Book Illustration
“Frame by Frame Stop Motion: The Guide to Non-traditional Animation Techniques”
by Tom Gasek
Focal Press, 2012

2009 “My Daughter is a Girl”
Hand drawn and digital 2D animated short film
TRT 3:56

Official Selection Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival 2010
Official Selection Red Rocks Film Festival 2010
Official Selection ASIFA Portland Select Reel 2010

1999 “Sheldon the Clown”
:45 second short film 2D Animation (promotional)
Celluloid Studios, Denver, Colorado

Official Selection Starz Film Festival 1999
Official Selection ASIFA Portland Spring Showcase 2010
Official Selection Golden Marble Award Winner 1999

PLUBLICATIONS, LECTURES & WORKSHOPS

2024 RIT’s ‘That Damn Goat’ comes to Nintendo Switch, Rochester First, 5/17/2024, https://www.rochesterfirst.com/video-games/rits-that-damn-goat-comes-to-nintendo-switch/

RIT releases 'That Damn Goat' video game for PC, Rochester First, 12/27/2023, https://www.rochesterfirst.com/video/rit-releases-that-damn-goat-video-game-for-pc/9283374/

That Damn Goat’ now available for purchase on Steam, RIT News, 12/15/2023, https://www.rit.edu/news/damn-goat-now-available-purchase-steam?utm_campaign=&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_content=37c71eb26cbf461c99638971c95796dc-165762

Inside the making of 'That Damn Goat,' RIT's latest video game, RIT News, 2/15/2024, https://www.rit.edu/news/inside-making-damn-goat-rits-latest-video-game

2023 Penny Arcade Expo (PAX)
Showcased That Damn Goat on the expo floor at PAX East. This was not a juried event, but it did provide tremendous exposure for our game. PAX East is a massive national gaming conference, which according to ReedPop the event organizer, draws an annual crowd of over 130,000 people. We had hundreds of attendees come to our booth and play our game.

2023 The Game Developers Conference (GDC)
This was not a juried event, but it did provide tremendous exposure for our game. GDC is the largest international conference for game developers in the world, and according to NBC News, this year drew over 24,000 attendees.

2022 & 2023 Imagine RIT
Exhibit, play test

2022 Gaming for All: A Women in Games Celebration
Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, NY
The event website described it as, "A special evening of big- kid fun to celebrate and share the contributions of women, people of color, differently-abled people, the LGBTQIA+ community, and other under-represented groups to the world of video games!" and the event also included, "An exclusive offering of playable video games created and/or inspired by people of color, the LGBTQIA+ community, and other underrepresented groups"

2022 Rochester Game Festival
Rochester, NY
This event is Rochester’s only dedicated game convention. It attracts hundreds of attendees and exhibitors from all over Rochester and the surrounding area.
Eventwebsite-https://www.rocgamefest.com/

2022 Roc Game Fest
September 10th 2022. Rochester, NY. Exhibit.
The festival was juried by event organizers, who decided which games were able to exhibit.

2022 Game On!
Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, NY
For this event, the Strong Museum invited local game developers to showcase their work at the museum, and we exhibited That Damn Goat. This is how The Strong Museum advertised their event, “Explore Rochester’s video and tabletop gaming scene with music from Glitch Video Game Band, demos from local game creators, and open gaming with local organizations.”

Peer Review – The event was juried by event organizers, that decided who was invited to exhibit.

2022 Maker Faire 2021
Rochester, NY
This is how the organization describes themselves in the About page on their website, “Featuring both established and emerging local “makers,” Maker Faire Rochester is a family-friendly celebration... In 2019, we had over 200 maker exhibits and approximately 7,200 attendees for our sixth event. We came back with a bang in 2022, almost on par with our pre-pandemic level of excitement. And this year is shaping up to be another fantastic event!

2014 Lecture and Discussion “Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts”
The Little Theater, Faculty Speaker Series. Rochester, New York
Presented and monitored a discussion of the film to an audience of professionals and Rochester locals.

2014 Animation Workshop: Process & Technique
One-day workshop presented to the RIT community on the process of hand drawn animation

2013 “Setting Change in Motion: The Effectiveness of Animation in Social Marketing”
CONFIA Illustration & Animation Conference; peer-reviewed paper
Porto, Portugal November 2013

2013 “Animation Consistency- the new rules of animation aesthetics”
UFVA Conference peer-reviewed panel presentation
Chapman College, Orange, California July 2013

2013 Invited Juror, Northwest Animation Festival
Portland, Oregon

2013 Co-curator, High Falls Film Festival ‘Women of SoFA’ series
The Little Theater, Rochester, New York
Curator and Promoter for a selection of films from female students for the Rochester High Falls Film Festival

2012 “Mudpuddle Pete”
Author and Illustrator for Children’s Picture book. Self-published.

FINALIST Next Generation Indie Publishing Award

2012 "Keyframes and Buzzwords: a Case Study of Animation, Documentary
and Installation Art"
Presenter-24th Annual Society of Animation Studies Conference. peer-reviewed
Melbourne, Australia June 25-27, 2012.

2012 “A Conversation with Brian Larson” -lecture and presentation
Universidad de Javeriana
Bogota, Colombia
A retrospective of my work and animation practice

2012 “Understanding Character Design” -lecture
Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano
Bogota, Colombia
Invited speaker, topics included character design and sketchbook work

2011 Curator, 360/365 Film Festival SoFA Student Films
The Little Theater, Rochester, New York
Curator and Promoter for a selection of films from students for the Rochester 360/365 Film Festival

2011 R.I.T. & Toon Boom; Integrating Seamlessly
Author
Toon Boom Magazine

2011 Lecture and Discussion “The Iron Giant”
The Little Theater, Faculty Speaker Series. Rochester, New York
Presented and monitored a discussion of the film to an audience of professionals and Rochester locals.

2010 “Anime: Cultures & Storytelling”
Invited Speaker
Rochester Museum of Art, Rochester, New York

2010 Pacific Northwest College of Art
Portland, Oregon
“Storyboarding for Animation” workshop
Instructor
2 week course for teens on the basics of storyboarding and animation

2008 “The Great Northwest: Stacked With Animation Talent”
Author
Media, Inc.

2007 Art Institute of Portland
Portland, OR
Flash Workshop
Integrating Flash with After Effects and Web based design

2005 – 2006 Invited Speaker/Fundraiser
The Neighborhood House Children’s Charity
Portland, Oregon

2003 ‘How to Draw’ book series
Character Designer and Illustrator
Accord Publishing Denver, Colorado

INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE

2008 Series Pitch-Television Animation Conference, Ottawa, Ontario Canada
“Hell’s Half Acre”
Animated series aimed at adults age 18-35

2010 Series Pitch-Television Animation Conference, Ottawa, Ontario Canada
“Henry (infected)”
Animated series aimed at children age 11-14

2011 Series Pitch- Television Animation Conference, Ottawa, Ontario Canada
“Blue Bill and Smudgy”
Animated series aimed at pre-school age children

1995 - 2019 Owner/Director
Kerplunk Animation Rochester, New York
2D Animation, live action, direction, design for national and international clients for
commercial, film and television.

2005 - 2010 Director
Bloom Animation Denver, Colorado
Listed Director for animation Production Company.

1990 - 1999 Senior Animator/Director/Character Designer
Celluloid Studios Denver, Colorado
animator, director, character designer, layout and storyboard artist,
production manager, post-production supervision for National Television campaigns.

Additional Responsibilities:
2D & Live Action compositing
Oxberry camera operation and maintenance
Production manager (1997-1999)
Live Action Production Assistant
Editing and Reel Distribution

Client List:
Sony, Disney, Nickelodeon, BBD Needham, Olgivy & Mather, General Mills, Kraft,
Kellogg’s, Pepsi, Weiden-Kennedy, SE Johnson

2000 - 2002 Editorial Cartoonist
Missoula Independent Missoula, Montana
Best Editorial Cartoon (Montana), 2001

1991 - 2000 Creative Director
World Footbag Association Steamboat Springs, Colorado

COURSES & TRAINING (non-academic)

September 2011 Toon Boom Animate Pro
2-day training on 2D animation software

May 1999 Richard Williams Animation Masterclass, London, England.
4-day animation workshop

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

2021-present Connected Communities, Rochester, NY
Community volunteer focused on restoring under-developed areas of Rochester, specifically the Beechwood neighborhood

May-July 2003 Camp Counselor for Autistic Children, Portland, Oregon
Assistant counselor for outdoor activities with autistic children ages 5-9

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

2002-present ASIFA –Portland (Association International du Film d’Animation) member (President 2004-2009)
2011-present Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators member
2010-present Society of Animation Studies member
2012-present UFVA (University Film Video Association) member
2010-present The Little Theater (Rochester) member
2007-2009 Film Oregon member
2005-2009 Portland Art Museum member
2009-present Rochester Art Museum member
2009-present Sierra Club member