Christian Haniszewski [email protected] / 201-931-6634 / 280 Devon St, Kearny, NJ 07032 Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/zewski/ Artstation - https://chaniszewski.artstation.com/
Summary: Team and Production leader, Character Technical Director and Character Artist with 10 years of multi-studio experience and a 50+ character roster. Managed a company and team to create an award-winning VR experience. Worked in various character pipelines for award-winning Pixar Animation Studios and Blue Sky Studios. Certified in Holacracy and Tuff Leadership Training for professional leadership and coaching. Highly adaptable and quick to learn changes in the work environment and technology.
Expertise: Blue Sky Studios, Greenwich, CT Character TD, Modeler, Digital Sculpture Artist, VR TD / Nov 2011 - Jan 2017, October 2018 - Studio Closing Movies: Epic(2013) Rio 2(2014) Ice Age 5(2015) Peanuts(2015) Anubis(TBA) Ferdinand(2017) Nimona( 2020) Scrat Tails(TBA) ● Rigged main, tertiary and secondary characters for Ice Age 5, Ferdinand, Anubis, Peanuts, Tails, Nimona ● Oversaw modeling of characters, worked closely with animation and communicated downstream with all departments; Developed new topology standards and protocols ● Responsible for aesthetic facial rigging of Charlie Brown and developed the transfer rig for all Peanuts characters ● Part of a technical patent for the UVN rigging system for Peanuts; UVN face rigging work presented at Siggraph 2015 ● Modeled characters, environments and various supportive assets for Epic and Rio 2 ● Coordinated the incorporation of Zbrush into the character pipeline in the modeling department ● Worked with R&D on character workflows between multiple departments; Map to proprietary software process created ● Developed rigs and pipeline workflows for prospective VR projects in Bluesky’s VR team; 3 successful projects in 2 weeks time ● Developed proposals for studio wide workflows to introduce new technologies and efficiencies in film schedules
Hack and Paint Inc., New York, NY COO, CTO, CCO, Art Director, Production Manager, Character TD, Artist / Feb 2017 – October 2018 Games: Sunwalker (2019) ● Co-founded Hack and Paint Inc., an award-winning VR startup ● Managed a team of 8-10; Led 14 prototypes and yielded pre-alpha version of the game in 4 months ● Coordinated the development of a distributed production pipeline; Accelerated production and cut costs ● Oversaw the production pipeline, scheduling, distribution of talent, art direction, and technology; rapid results over 4 time zones ● Delivered a pre-alpha of “Sunwalker” at 2018 GDC that won ‘Best in Show Winner’ ● Managed character and environment development: modeling, rigging, texturing, and simulation/FX ● Developed relationships with HTC Vive, Oculus and Leap Motion for free hardware,support and marketing
School of Visual Arts, NY, NY Professor / 2014 – 2015 ● Taught an Adv. Modeling and Rigging course and mentored students who were tasked with creating characters and preparing their model for a production/rigging pipeline
Pixar Animation Studios, Emeryville, CA Character TD, Digital Sculpture Artist / Jan 2010 – Nov 2011 Movies: Brave (2012) Monsters University (2013) Inside Out (2015) ● Modeled and rigged characters, associated props, and assets ● Developed a transfer rig for body articulation for variants; Reduced character production timetables ● Responsible for the facial modeling and body rigging of Brave main and tertiary characters ● Worked in the Art Department and Character Department using Zbrush to co-design, model and rig characters for Monsters University; developed character development process which involved pre-production directly ● Assisted in the Art Department to help design variations of Joy in Inside Out pre-production using Zbrush
Pixar University, Emeryville, CA Instructor: Zbrush Workshop / 2012 ● Taught and mentored senior Modelers and Riggers Zbrush techniques to be utilized for production. Reviewed features of the program as well as the most effective methods to sculpt on geometry for production
Aardman Nathan Love, New York, NY Freelance Character Artist/ October 2008 – Currently Freelancing Shorts and Games: Bloodtrail (2009) CandyCrush(2018) ● Character Sculptor, Modeler, Concept Design and Texture Artist ● Participated in the development of characters for upcoming commercials shorts and game development for client needs
Framestore VFX, New York, NY Freelance Technical Director/ May 2009 – September 2009 Movies and Commercials: Salt(2010) GE ‘Crane’ LG ‘Birds’ EA ‘Fight Night’ ● Responsible for modeling compositing, lighting, generating FX’s and painting textures for film and commercials ● Developed characters in Zbrush, generated models, textures and developed pose displacement animation for character rigs
Software: Maya, Adobe Suite, Painter, Final Cut Pro, After Effects, Pro Tools, Zbrush, Mudbox, Unity, 3D Coat, Substance Painter, Unreal, Pixar Alfred, X Normal, Modo, Quixel Suite, Topo Gun. Pipeline Tools - GitHub, Atlassian Jira, Asana, Trello, Slack, SourceTree
Awards: Siggraph Paper - “It's a UVN Face Rig, Charlie Brown”: Facial Techniques for “Peanuts” (Patent), 2008 Sony Pictures Imageworks IPAX Scholarship Program Award Winner, School of Visual Arts Scholarship Winner.
Education: School of Visual Arts, New York, NY Bachelor's in Fine Arts (2005 - 2009), Major: Computer Art