Reel in Progess:

Shift forward to 2024: Images (Above)  from recent work in progress on 'Full D': I've Shifted over to Unreal Engine 5.4 and pushed the 'Disclosure' date forward from 2025 to 2030.  Some test Cinematic shots testing A Metahuman in a Spacesuit wrangling a captured alien kid on the first Martian Colony (and Yes, the Martian Colony set is built from a Kitbash, saving Eons of time. And Yes, the bots are known to every UE User and are serving as placeholders for the finished custom security guards in development). Some test Alt suit concepts in Maya that I had developed for a character I created in Zbrush, with a space-X style suit, to be rigged with metahuman skeleton (Below): 

Trailers & Reels   

2025: FULL D - Teaser - 2018

A 3D cartoon series that I am developing follows a dysfunctional family of Aliens assigned to 'Moonbase Alpha' to oversee the upcoming transition to 'full disclosure' in 2025 to the unsuspecting ​​inhabitants of ​Planet Earth.

*This project is currently in the design / development stage. Opening teaser done in After effects utilizing Video Co-pilot 'Orbs' and other 3D plugins. Character animation for the open currently in progress using Maya

BAZABAZA! Sizzle - 2015

Animation Directed by Cliff Garbutt & Huang Hao For Wuhan Digital Media
Kyle is a frustrated, self-centered, nine year old boy, who one day, is magically transported to the toy world of 'Baza Baza' - where he morphs into a toy superhero and quickly discovers that he must use his superpowers for the good in order to to save Baza Baza, and ultimately, Earth. 

​SO! ANIMATION , NY - 2010
​3 Charicature Shorts: 'I Want Your Money!'

From one of my favorite Productions: Selected out-takes from 90 minutes of caricature animation for 3 short films that were assembled for the feature 'I Want Your Money'.  I shared Animation Director credits with client Rob Cazin of 'So! Animation, NY'. I also animated many key shots.
Disclaimer; I had nothing to do with the political slant of the writing, which was solely the domain of So's client: 

7 CELSIUS Trailer -  2007

One of the biggest challenge I ever faced trying to make this trailer for what was to be a North American feature in China,  with the massive culture shock and huge language barriers. I knew that I was in a bit of trouble when I tried to get the Art team going on a 50's era kitchen -  only to realize that China never had 50's era kitchens under Mao, and were in fact still emerging from a long isolation from the West. We finished this trailer in 2008 - just in time to see the great recession swallow up our promised funding. Could of been worse - some people lost everything. 

WDM Reel 1 - 2007-2012

We did quite a huge variety of work in the decade that I was in at WDM. I headed up the Animation Department  as producer / director, where I produced many local and western film, series and special effects projects handling the direction, the animation direction and even doing a large chunk of the animation myself.. Cultural and language difficulties aside, the crew became my closest friends and associates over the course of a decade - like family. I also met my wife in China - hence the extended stay. I learned much in China; about their rich and varied history, and most especially, about myself.  I also spent time in a Chinese jail - but I won't tell THAT adventure story unless you hire me...

Pig Bodi ('Pig Tales') Theme  -  2011-12

I had fun directing my part of this project - about a cute, but  spoiled single pig child learning about manners, teamwork, and sharing. We had such a low budget and tight schedule on this one  that we needed 3 directors working in tandem. As well, the initial high production values were lowered, and so eventually was my interest in the project. I had fun scripting and directing the animation for 4 or 5 episodes, but found I was not getting high quality from the haggard crew, and eventually pulled out of it. Here is my edit for the season 1 trailer with English Subtitles.

Recent Motion Graphics Work

​LEAP CREATIVE 
​Biosimilars Explainer - Merck Canada - 2017

Working with Leap Creative, I have recently been doing Motion Graphics work, with  simpler ('Mograph' style) character animation and more emphasis on transitional animated graphic elements using Illustrator created vector graphic elements with editing and animation done in and After Effects. I am also using DUIK rigging plug in for IK character animation. This example is an 'explainer' video spot for Merck Canada. 


​

LEAP CREATIVE
COTBC Explainer - 2018

As part of Leap's branding work, The College of Occupational Therapists of B.C. needed a brief and simple ex-plainer for exactly what and how their services work, and how the public can contact them and use their services. This is the first of a series of ongoing videos for them.

Earlier Work For Disney Interactive 2000 - 2004

'A Story with no tail'
2003 Disney Interactive

I was finishing up Buzz Lightyear Learning Grs 2 & 3 at Bardel, when we took on a very ambitions project - to animate an hour and a half worth of animation in only 3 months, of the characters from Winnie the Pooh and Friends - which was based on a Disney Channel series using puppets. In the height of production I believe we had 26 animators just cranking these shots out.
My role was director / supervisor, interfacing with the client, scene designers, animators etc. I also did a number of storyboards, set up the majority of the shots for the animators, even did a few, and approved the animation dailies. 

'Buzz Lightyear Learning 1&2'
2000-2002 Disney Interactive 

I started working on this project in 1999, when asked to do a test for Inlight Entertainment for their client Disney / Pixar Interactive. I built Buzz Lightyear and Andy's room in Maya from scratch, and animated him trying to communicate with Star Command. I passed the test, and immediately put a small crew together for Intelliscape Interactive.  We did the animation for the first product - which sold millions of copies for Disny / Pixar.  Bardel got the job for the next installment, and Inlight wanted me back to direct and supervise the animation. These are excerpts from the 2  projects, all done in the same set that I had built earlier with additional props changed or added. 

'Buzz Lightyear Star Command' 2002-03 Disney Interactive

Ian Freedman was hired by Bardel to help direct when we landed the Pooh project, and he took on the lion's share of this project while I was more than busy with Pooh (LOL). When Pooh was finished I co directed with him and even animated some shots as our team was mightily taxed. I enjoyed working with Ian and we helped each other out where we could. He even storyboarded a few Pooh sequences while I worked on others. Best boards I ever saw. Whew! Busy year!

​'Disney Princesses' -2003

After Bardel, I co-founded Dimension - X Entertainment with David Liu, and pulled in modelers Vlad Haintz and Gerald Lauze, along with fellow animators Rahul Dakbar and Craig Roberts (before he became a director), to do yet another Disney Interactive Title: . "Disney Princesses Royal Horse Show". It was actually a bit laughable to see five grown men, one of whom, Vlad, a bonafide, body-building biker, get in touch with their feminine sides to crank one out for the little girls! These are only three samples of many animations done, including horse decorating and riding animations. Afterwards, I felt like Buzz after having tea with Mrs. Nezbit ...


​Finding Nemo - 2003

Another at Dimension-X from Inlight and Disney Pixar, this one  is from a test I did for the Finding Nemo franchise. In fact - this was done before the movie was released, and everything was very hush hush. If Bruce doesn't look EXACTLY like Bruce in the movie - it is only because I had never seen him before when building the model, making his blend shapes and rigging him for animation. " you mean the grin is EVEN BIGGER!!??" We did the Intros and  GP animation for Nemo and Bruce.
​

Early Solo Shorts - 98-2001

These were done give or take a year or two around the turn of the millennium, forgive me if I cannot remember the exact dates as they were done at leisure and I am guessing. Caruso's dog I believe was done with Maya 1.5 or so - as I remember that the version 1 release of Maya annoyingly had no undo button and finally that was fixed. I believe the more surreal piece was done no earlier than late 99-2000 - with the paint effects just introduced and I was experimenting with them.