MAURICE KIMBALL

SUMMARY

• Sr. Art Director / Lead Concept Artist with 20+ yrs experience in AAA Games & TV Animation

• Specialties include: IP visual development, tech innovation, team management, writing story narratives, authoring ‘Art Style Guides’, thinking outside the box

• Setting production goals and expectations with Studio Heads, Executive Producers and Coordinators

• IP creation kid's TV properties

• IP creation kids & mature AAA game properties

• Creating pitch packets and audience presentations. (Samples by request)

• Establishing visual brand styles

• Experienced in creating and directing the look of a production, from concept to finished product release, as well as managing artists during pre through post-production

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EDUCATION 

The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA. - Bachelor of Fine Arts, Film/Animation, 1993

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PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

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ICON Creative Studio, Vancouver, BC   09/18 – Present

Sr. Art Director

• Art directing for Disney’s animated series: Star Wars Young Jedi Adventures Season 1, Alice Wonderland Bakery Seasons 1 & 2, Monsters at Work Seasons 1 & 2, The Rocketeer, Plus: NETFLIX Action Pack

• Contribute to original concepts, ortho and designs for human characters, facial expressions, creatures, vehicles and all machines that appear in the show

• Work directly with the show creators and stakeholders to ensure expectations are met

• Work directly with the modellers to develop the environment sets and offer further concepts throughout the process, well as revise designs on the fly

• Participate in production and client meetings, offering impressions and ideas

• Daily critique and reviews throughout all aspects of the production pipeline

• Present design ideas to the internal team lead and client

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Atomhawk Design, Vancouver, BC   03/17 – 07/18

Co-founder of the Vancouver Studio/ Creative Director

Established a physical studio presence in Vancouver. My role is to ensure that the studio is up and running optimally through strong people and process management in both creative and administrative planning.

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• Manage the operational expenses and contribute projections to the P&L

• Negotiated leasing terms, vendor contracts and operational-related services

• Hired a full-time creative staff of artists and production managers

• Manage new client and existing client relations

•  Assure internal and external protocols and processes are operating efficiently

• Establish and manage the creative works for our clients in the AAA Games, film, TV, Marketing and theme park industries

• Build a studio culture for all to participate in and enjoy. 

• Identify and foster studio growth opportunities

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Atomic Cartoons, Vancouver, BC   07/16 - 03/17

Art Director

Established the art direction and managed 20+ artists within the visual development stage for a new animated series, Super Dinosaur and an established license brand.

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• Defined and created the art direction for a new feature: Legend of Hallowaiian

• Create original concepts, ortho and designs for human characters, facial expressions, creatures, vehicles and all machines that appear in the show

• Work directly with the show creators and stakeholders to ensure expectations are met

• Work directly with the modellers to develop the environment sets and offer further concepts throughout the process, well as revising designs on the fly

• Manage a production team of designers

• Participate in production and client meetings offering impressions and ideas

• Daily critique and reviews throughout all aspects of the production pipeline

• Present designs ideas to internal team leads and client

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DHX Media Company, Vancouver, BC   08/13 – 07/16

Art Director

• Establish and manage the art direction for Nickelodeon’s animated series BLAZE and the Monster Machines

• Create original concepts, ortho and designs for human characters, facial expressions, creatures, vehicles and all machines that appear in the show

• Work directly with the show creators and stakeholders to ensure expectations are met

• Work directly with the modelers to develop the environment sets and offer further concepts throughout the process, well as revise designs on the fly

• Manage a production team of designers

• Participate in production and client meetings, offering impressions and ideas

• Daily critique and reviews throughout all aspects of the production pipeline

• Present designs ideas to internal team leads and client

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Microsoft Studios, Redmond, WA   05/11 - 02/13    

Studio Art Director, Kids & Life Style Entertainment (full-time)

• Managing and developing multiple kids and family product lines across all MS platforms, including IP development on new technologies. Including establishing the art direction for Studio projects, Studio branding and working with numerous MS departments and 3rd party vendors to build upon new entertainment trends in games, including interactive TV

• Managing and coordinating multiple artists across the globe on multiple game products

• Daily responsibilities are to create and manage the visual direction of well-known license properties and new IPs for Xbox 360, KINECT, LIVE, and WIN8

• Contribute to the development of new game design features on multi-MS interactive game properties

• Part of the development team contributing tech and feature ideas to the new Xbox One

• Work with MS marketing on delivering a concept to final brand images for consumer consumption

• MS brand creation on their new kids & family studio: KALE

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Microsoft Game Studios, Redmond, WA    04/09 - 5/11     

Sr. Concept Artist / Vendor

• Created the “What” for original Microsoft Game properties as well as expanded existing game properties visually for the Studio

• Duties included: Story Art, Highly rendered production illustrations, Matte paintings, Orthographic designs, Character  and environment concepts, Color timing

• Worked with multiple Art Directors of each project to establish art direction in the manner of mood, style, lighting and color

• Shipped projects: Kinectimals, Star Wars Kinect

• Franchised continuous visual and story development on Fable & Halo properties

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Disney Online Studios, Vancouver, CA   09/10 - 04/11    

Sr. Concept Artist / Vendor

• Visual development on 'DisneyImagination'

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United Front Games, Vancouver, BC    02/09 - 10/10   

Sr. Concept Artist/ Contractor

• Established visual targets for Square Enix “Sleeping Dogs"

• Worked with the Art Directors and Designers in creating hundreds of concept images which defined environments, characters, design and story narratives

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BigFish Games, Vancouver, BC   12/09 - 01/10    

Art Director/ Contractor/Consultant

• Contracted for two months to help push the project to Alpha release and assess current project status. 

• Duties included: managing the art team and establishing branding while working within the exciting style. 

• Assessed the game assets and brought consistency to those assets by task allocation to artists, hands-on contribution, and daily reviews

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Liquid Entertainment / Sega Publisher, Pasadena, CA   10/08 - 01/09

Art Director Contractor/Consultant

• Contracted to set the visualization goals, wrote the Art Style Guide, and Art Directed the Vertical Slice on “THOR”.

• Other duties: accessed production pipeline, managed a team of 12 artists, interviewed and & hired additional talent, maintained a high quality of art and procedures relating to mentoring artists, established a training pipeline for artists, tool assessment, and meeting tight milestone deadlines

• Established a new production pipeline and managed the workflow of 3rd party vendor

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Radical Entertainment / Activision Blizzard, Vancouver, BC   01/06 - 08/08

Art Director

Responsible for developing story ideas through visual concepts and Art Directing Radical's IP "PROTOTYPE," released June 9th, 2009 on X-Box 360 & PS3

Duties also included managing a team of 20+ artists and directing in-game cinematics, writing Art Style Guide and artist reviews, and working the day-to-day artistic direction across all production principals, including Brand ID.  2.1 million copies sold worldwide, with an average score of 80/100

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Digital Ink Illustration, Pasadena, CA   09/05 - 09/06

Concept Artist/ Founder

The studio provided VFX and Animation for projects in the film, TV and game genre

Projects included Leap Frog, Hot Wheels, Museum of Austria, Camp Chaos VH1 Illustrated, and Snap TV games, as well as Wacky World Studios: World  of Life, themed public environments, plus Roach Approach video series

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Vivendi Universal Games, Culver City, CA  10/96 - 09/05

Lead Artist / Concept Artist

Projects included: Jurassic Park Institute, Nick Jr., What’s Her Face, Barbie, Jurassic Park Scan Command, JumpStart Series, Dear America, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Kid Keys, Blaster Series, Captain Kangaroo, Fisher Price Little People Discovery Farm, Fisher Price Ready for School Toddler and Dinotopia

 

Freelance Contractor / part-time     09/96 - 10/96

Clients included:

• Warner Bros., Burbank, CA (08/02) - Freelance Concept Artist - Visual development for The Lone Ranger, Layouts for Pinky & the Brain

• Hasbro Inc., Pawtucket, RI (04/99-05/99) - Freelance Concept Artist - Visual development for My Little Pony

• Commwerks, La Brea, CA (01/99-04/99) - Freelance Digital Illustrator - The Family Guy, Hercules, and Xena: Warrior Princess

• Film Roman, North Hollywood, CA (01/99-03/99)- Layout Artist - Projects included providing layouts for Family Guy

• Nickelodeon, Santa Monica, CA (10/98-01/99) - Freelance Layout Artist -Feature project: The Electronic Piper

• Universal Studios, Universal City, CA (03/98) - Freelance Conceptual Artist - Visual development on the Lagoon Stage Show for Universal Japan Project

• Disney Online, North Hollywood, CA (09/97-10/97) - Freelance Illustrator - Variety of Web Projects

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Expert/Swfte Interactive Software, Miami, FL    06/94 - 09/96

2D Lead Product Artist

Projects included: The Multimedia Bug Book, Gettysburg, multiple CD versions of Brain Quest (preschool/kindergarten and grades one through seven)  Book of  Tells, Archibald's World Geography, and The Bird Book

 

Storyboard- The Art of Laughter, Nashua, NH      06/91 - 09/91

Contributing Editor & Illustrator

• Disney trade magazine

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Olive Jar Animation Studio, Boston, MA    11/90 - 9/92 

Animation Intern