Ila Abramson is the owner and principle of I Spy Recruiting. She began her career in animation working in production on Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas and the ABC stop-motion animation series Bump in the Night. She moved into the realm of CG animation when she joined PDI Dreamworks as a recruiter, hiring artistic talent to work on the films Antz and Shrek as well as in PDI's commercial visual effects division. After coming to New York from San Francisco, she became recruiting director at MTV Animation, then moved to Nickelodeon, where she ran recruiting operations for Nick Digital's animation studio in Los Angeles and New York City. Since 2003, her company, I Spy Recruiting, has provided customized recruiting services to help animation and design studios meet their ongoing freelance and full-time staff needs. Ila’s clients include: 1stAveMachine; Psyop, Inc.; UVPhactory; Blue Sky Studios; Charlex; Digital Domain; Electronic Arts; Framestore; Gravity; Laika; The Mill; Nice Shoes; Süperfad; Eyeball; Method Studios. Ila will be teaching SDD-4030-B, Business of Being and Artist, Fridays, 9am-11:50am. This class will be co-taught with Yfat Neev.
Website: www.ispyrecruiting.com
Joe Burrascano is the Owner and Creative Director of Nathan Love, and he would have you believe he was born in a redwood tree. His previous experience includes work at Psyop, RhinoFX and Curious Pictures. Joe has taught with us in the past, and has continued to support our department through independent thesis advisement, alumni scholarship board membership, providing internship opportunities at Nathan Love, and all around cheer leading. He graduated from SVA’s BFA Computer Art Department in 2002. His clients at Nathan Love include: Nickelodeon, McGraw Hill, NBC, Electronic Arts, Baskin Robbins, Pop Secret. Joe will be teaching SDD-4080-C, Thesis I, on Wednesdays, 12pm-2:50pm.
Website: www.nathanlove.com
Michal Finegold is a Freelance CG Technical Director who is currently working at Framestore NY where she encourages her co-workers to flex their traditional art muscles. She has previously worked in both NYC and Sydney, Australia at studios including: The Mill New York; Animal Logic Sydney; Dr. D Studios; Charlex; Imaginary Forces New York; Brand New School New York; RhinoFX; PandaPanther; Nathan Love, and Black Mana Studios. Michal’s film projects include: Happy Feet 2, Captain America: First Avenger, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole. Michal will be teaching SMD-3747-A, Lighting and Rendering I, Mondays, 6:30-9:20pm.
Jesse Flores is a Junior Technical Director at Framestore NY. His projects have included work for Macy's, GEICO, Nissan, Snickers, Bush Beans, SuperValu and Electronic Arts. Previously Jesse worked at 4mm Games, and interned at Curious Pictures. He graduated from our department in 2010 where he received the SVA Alumni Scholarship, participating in workshops we hosted with Dreamworks, volunteering at Siggraph in 2008 and 2010, and designed an animated logo for the Tribeca Film Festival. He's been working closely with The Foundry, presenting their texturing software MARI at NAB, and guest lecturing about MARI to our students as well. We are currently developing two new texturing courses with Jesse for our Continuing Education program which will introduce the topic of texturing and the software of MARI to our Continuing Education students for the first time.
Christian Haniszewski is a Modeler and Digital Sculpting Artist at Blue Sky Studios, and spent the two years before that as a Character Technical Director Resident and Digital Sculpting Artist at Pixar Animation Studios. Christian got his first teaching experience by instructing Pixar’s senior modelers/articulators in a Zbrush workshop at Pixar University. His film credits include: Brave, Monsters University, Epic, Rio 2, and Salt. Christian graduated from SVA’s BFA Computer Art Department in 2009 where he was a recipient of the Chair’s Merit Scholarship, the 2008 Sony Pictures Imageworks IPAX Scholarship, and the Panasonic Arts Show Golden Award. He has also worked at other NYC studios including: Framestore NY, 4mm Games, and Nathan Love. Christian will be teaching SMD-3721-B, Advanced Modeling and Rigging, Tuesdays, 6:30-9:20pm. This class is co-taught by Adam Burr.
Daniel Letarte is a Lead FX Artist at Method Studios and has just relocated to their new NYC office. His film credits include Wrath of the Titans, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Let Me In, and A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010). His commercial projects include: Halo: Commissioning, Halo Reach: Deliver Hope, Trident: Vitality, Bridgestone: Whale, Bridgestone: Satellite, Jameson Whiskey: Fire, HP: Baby, Trident: Vitality. Dan is presenting at SIGGRAPH 2012 with his fellow Method artists in a panel discussion titled Wrath of the Titans: Creating CG Lava with Advanced Sculpts. Dan will be teaching SMD-2110-B, Python Scripting for Maya Artists, Thursdays, 6:30-9:20pm.
Francisco Naranjo is a freelance Character Technical Director who has worked at many local studios including: Framestore NY, Psyop, MPC NYC, Gravity, Charlex and Nathan Love. At these studios his clients have included: Pop Secret, Friskies, Fanta, Baskin Robbins, Stridex, Michelin, Chips Ahoy, CONCACAF. Frank’s work has been featured in Stash Magazine. Francisco will be teaching SMD-3146-B, Computer Animation III on Tuesdays, 9am-11:50am, and SMD-4011-B, Production Skills, Thursdays, 9am-11:50am.
Yfat Neev is an Executive Producer and Partner at COPA NY and formerly Senior Executive Producer of Digital Media and Interactive at Gravity Digital. Yfat’s experience at COPA, Gravity Digital, RhinoFX, and McCann Erickson Israel has included the clients: Warner Brothers, Mercedes Benz, Gillette, L’Oreal, Mazda, Advil, Nissan, MGA Entertainment, AT&T, Saatchi & Saatchi, BBDO. Yfat will be teaching SDD-4030-B, Business of Being and Artist, Fridays, 9am-11:50am. This class will be co-taught with Ila Abramson.
Shayne Ryan is a 3D VFX artist and animator. He is a full-time staff animator in the commercials department of Framestore NY. Shayne’s clients include: Geico, GE, Snickers, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Alka Seltzer and Electronic Arts. In spare time you can find Shayne rocking his bass with his fellow SVA alumni and Framestore artists in their band Mental Ray and the Keyframes. Shayne graduated from SVA’s BFA Computer Art Department in 2008. Shayne will be teaching SMD-3120-D, Thesis Research, Tuesdays, 6:30-9:20pm.
Website: www.shayneryan.com
