Valentina Ercolani

C H A R A C T E R T E C H N I C A L D I R E C T O R / R I G G E R email: [email protected] web: www.birobabiro.net linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/valentinae

M A I N F I L M O G R A P H Y

(Jan 2009 - Present) DREAMWORKS ANIMATION – Glendale, California, USA

Me and My Shadow Full CG Animation Feature Film / Alessandro Carloni DreamWorks Animation 2014

The Croods Full CG Animation Feature Film / Chris Sanders, Kirk De Micco DreamWorks Animation 2013

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted Full CG Animation Feature Film / Eric Darnell, Conrad Vernon, Tom McGrath DreamWorks Animation 2012

Rise of the Guardians Full CG Animation Feature Film / Peter Ramsey, William Joyce DreamWorks Animation 2012

Scared Shrekless Full CG Animation TV Short / Gary Trousdale, Raman Hui DreamWorks Animation 2010

Shrek Forever After Full CG Animation Feature Film / Mike Mitchell DreamWorks Animation 2010

(Aug 2007 – Sept 2008) FRAMESTORE ANIMATION – London, UK

The Tale of Despereaux Full CG Animation Feature Film / Gary Ross, Sam Fell, Rob Stevenhagen Universal Pictures 2008 (Sept 2006– Aug 2007) MPC – London, UK

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Live Action & CG Creature Animation Feature Film / Walt Disney, Walden Media 2008

10,000 B.C. Live Action & CG Creature Animation Feature Film / Roland Emmerich Warner Bros. 2008

Fred Claus Live Action & CG Creature Animation Feature Film / David Dobkin Warner Bros. 2007

Esso CG Creature Animation TV Commercial

O T H E R R E L E V A N T W O R K E X P E R I E N C E S

(May 2006) POOL FACTORY – Rome, Italy Rigger for TV commercial “CARTA CAMOMILLA”

(Jan 2005 - Jun 2006) CRIAD/BOLOGNA UNIVERSITY – Cesena, Italy Design, modeling and rigging of 3D characters for short animated presentations of educational content

E D U C A T I O N A N D T R A I N I N G

(Jun - Sept 2012) 3KICKS FINE ART STUDIO – Pasadena, CA, USA Drawing & Anatomy Class with Charles Hu

(Apr 2006) VIRTUAL REALITY & MULTIMEDIA PARK – Turin, Italy Advanced Character Rigging Master Class with Felix Balbas

(Oct 2003 – Dec 2004) INSTITUTO QUASAR – Rome, Italy Computer Graphic Master Course focused on character design, modelling, rigging, and animation in Maya. Advanced training with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator

(Oct 2002 – Apr 2003) UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA (UCLA) – Los Angeles, California, USA Development of Thesis project “Physical and Kinematic Controller for Animation of Virtual Humanoid”

(Sept 1996 – Jun 2003) UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA – Bologna, Italy Master's Degree in Computer Science S K I L L S A N D E X P E R T I E S

Software: Autodesk Maya, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effect and Premiere.

Scripting: MEL, Python, PyQt, C, C++

Artistic skills: Traditional drawing, character design

R E F E R E N C E S A N D R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S

“I supervised character rigging for DreamWorks Animation's "The Croods", and Valentina was a very valuable member of the team. She displayed great proficiency in body deformation work, and along the way picked up face rigging and pipeline skills. Valentina's eye for deformation is outstanding, and her work ethic is second to none. We chose Valentina to ride out the show because of the quality of her work, breadth of capabilities, and commitment to excellence.” February 28, 2012 Kevin Rodgers, Character TD Supervisor, DreamWorks Animation

“Valentina worked with me on the CG Feature Film "The Croods" creating motion systems and body deformations for multiple characters on the show. she has played an important role within the body team and has demonstrated exceptional artistic skills and very strong technical skills. Valentina was very committed to producing quality work at high levels. She was able to achieve required results and always improved beyond what was asked of her, showed very strong technical skills and was easy to communicate with. I consider her as one of the best and hope to be able to work together with her again. "I highly recommend her"” June 17, 2011 Sven Pohle, Lead Character Technical Director, Dreamworks Animation

“I’m a Supervising Animator at DreamWorks and had the pleasure of working with Valentina on our upcoming feature film “The Croods”. Valentina is a very gifted Character TD with a wonderful and highly professional attitude, always striving for perfection. Anyone who gets a chance to work with her should consider themselves lucky!” May 29, 2012 Jakob Jensen, Supervising Animator, DreamWorks Animation

“I had the privilege of working with Valentina at DreamWorks Animation. Valentina has been our character TD on the show- 'Croods'. She has been very professional, enthusiastic and charming, no matter what rigging issue or request I had. She was always helpful, and most important, always with a smile. I would love to work her again on any show, and would recommend her, to anyone who is looking for a responsible, professional and fun-to-work-with person.” May 28, 2012 Liron Topaz, Animator, DreamWorks Animation

“Although we were not part of the same department, I worked closely with Valentina in several occasions on the movie "The Croods". Her outstanding technical expertise, warm personality with a great sense of communication, and most importantly her keen understanding of concrete animation needs made her a key person for me to rely on. I strongly recommend her and firmly believe she will be an asset to any team she joins.” May 29, 2012 David Couchariere, Character Animator, Dreamworks Animation SKG “I had the pleasure of working with Valentina on The CG Feature “The Tale of Despereaux”. From the beginning, it very quickly became apparent that she was going to be one of our strongest and most talented riggers. Her ability to handle the toughest shots and most difficult assignments in a precise and in-depth manner was an incredible asset to our team.

Valentina has a great energy that makes her a most enjoyable person to work with. Her work procedure is fast and direct and she displays a caring for the subject matter that makes her work stand out amongst her colleagues.

She is technically very savvy, adept at adjusting to the schedule, is a proactive communicator and enjoys being a part of the creative process. I would absolutely make Valentina one of my first choices of an artist to work with since she has the ability to adapt her work to the needs of the project and team.” March 24, 2011 Tripp Hudson, Visual Effects Producer, Framestore CFC

“I had a pleasure of working with Valentina on the tale of Despereaux. She has demonstrated to be increadibly sharp and knowlegable in various aspects of rigging. She is very quick and produces great quality results. Valentina is a real team player, very reliable and always ready to help. I highly recommend her for any rigging position and would gladly work with her again.” March 24, 2011 Yakov Baytler, Rigging Supervisor, Framestore, CFC

“I met Valentina in London at Framestore, where we were both working on the animated feature "The Tale of Despereaux". Valentina was working on the bodyRigs and the deformations for a lot of the characters. She is always friendly and therefor a really nice person to work with. She has both, a technical background and an artistic eye, which makes her a great character TD. I am glad that after Framestore I now have the chance to work with her again at Dreamworks. I highly recommend her.” April 23, 2009 Nico Sanghrajka, Character Rigger, Framestore CFC