Brian Silva

Work History

• 

  Senior FX TD

  Industrial Light & Magic

  February 2018 - Present
• 

  Lead FX TD

  Wētā FX

  April 2016 - January 2018

  Wellington, NZ
• 

  FX Pipeline TD

  Wētā FX

  April 2016 - December 2016
• 

  Senior Effects / Lighting TD

  Sony Pictures Imageworks

  July 2015 - April 2016

  

  

  
• 

  Effects Artist

  Double Negative

  January 2015 - July 2015

  Worked as an FX setup/shots artist in Houdini and Nuke..
  
  Past Projects:
  Avengers: Age of Ultron
  Ant-man

  

  

  

  
• 

  Effects Artist

  MPC

  December 2014 - December 2014

  Worked as a Houdini FX Artist on the Juke portion of the Nissan: Winter Allies commercial.
• 

  Senior Lighting TD

  Wētā FX

  September 2014 - November 2014

  Lighting with Manuka and proprietary tools on The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

  

  

  
• 

  Effects Animator

  Walt Disney Animation Studios

  October 2012 - September 2014

  Animated environmental FX with Houdini and Renderman. Early development on pipeline and processes for simulating/animating complex environments in FX for Zootopia.
  
  Projects:
  Zootopia
  Frozen [Oscar Winner for Best Animated Feature]

  
• 

  Technical Lead

  Walt Disney Animation Studios

  October 2012 - March 2013

  Developed pipeline processes, tools, and shaders to support unique needs of "Get a Horse!" short film. Compositing manipulation on key shots, trained artists on process for remaining shots issued. Provided tech support for all artists, wrote documentation and trained artists on the pipeline. Various artistic tasks as needed.
  
  Projects:
  Get a Horse! (short)
• 

  Lighter

  Mirada Studios

  July 2012 - September 2012

  Lighting, lookdev, rendering, and tool development with Houdini and Mantra.
  
  Projects:
  Mockingbird Lane (TV pilot)
  [VES Award Nomination: Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program]
  Chase "Liquid" Commercial
• 

  Senior Lighting TD

  Sony Pictures Imageworks

  December 2011 - July 2012

  Lighting, compositing, rendering, and tool development using Katana, Arnold, and Nuke.
  
  Projects:
  Hotel Transylvania
  Men in Black 3
• 

  CG Generalist

  Double Negative

  February 2010 - September 2011

  Lighting, Look Dev, Texture/Matte Painting, FX Animation, Rendering, Procedural Modeling, and Scripting for live-action film VFX.
  
  Projects:
  Total Recall
  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 [Oscar Nominee for VFX]
  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 [Oscar Nominee for VFX]
  Inception [Oscar Winner for VFX]
• 

  Pipeline Technical Director

  Walt Disney Animation Studios

  March 2008 - February 2010

  Tools Creation: interactive reflection previewer (Maya + GLSL), data integrity check scripts, shader (RSL) writing, render optimization scripts, particle rendering optimization, control button/display visualizer for FX, review management tool.
  
  Compositing on Beauty and the Beast 3D.
  
  Technical Support and Optimization: Lighting, Rendering, Look, and FX.
  
  Projects:
  Tangled
  Tick Tock Tale (short)
  Beauty and the Beast 3D
  Prep & Landing (TV special) [Emmy Winner for Outstanding Animated Program]
  Bolt [Oscar Nomination for Animated Feature]

  

  
• 

  Assistant Technical Director

  Walt Disney Animation Studios

  November 2007 - March 2008

  Optimized, fixed, and rendered lighting artists’ shots into final 2K and stereo images. Created a cross-department review management tool that received much praise from both production management and artists and has since expanded into studio-wide use on multiple productions.
  
  Projects:
  Bolt
• 

  Software Engineer

  Walt Disney Animation Studios

  September 2006 - November 2007

  Built and maintained pipeline software for the lighting and look departments, with a focus on render pass management GUIs.

  
• 

  Game Programmer

  Pipeworks

  June 2005 - September 2005

  Worked on the team developing Prince of Persia: Revelations for the PSP.

• Architectural Design Assistant

  Pellitier & Pellitier

  December 2002 - September 2003

  Drafted building plans from blueprints, placed furniture, and created elevations of interiors, all using AutoCAD. Clerical tasks included library maintenance, computer support, pricing, and filing.

• Research Assistant

  Steward Observatory

  June 2002 - September 2002

  Assisted Dr. E. Keith Hege in research on the scientific potential of an experimental spectrometer. Performed astronomical image processing, data analysis, and assisted in instrument calibration and optical testing. Acknowledged in final publication of project results in Proceedings of the International Society of Optical Engineers.