Jay Hathaway

Work History

• 

  Lead Game Animator

  Wonderstorm

  May 2022 - Present

  Wonderstorm is a double-threat multimedia startup dedicated to creating timeless entertainment franchises anchored by rich, character-driven stories and engaging video games that will delight audiences of all ages for generations. We’re currently developing The Dragon Prince, a Netflix animated series and a deep, engaging video game – both from the same world and vision.
• 

  Adjunct Professor - Character Animation & Film

  Laguna College of Art and Design

  February 2022 - Present

  Laguna Beach, California, United States

  Teach Introduction to Maya and Intro to Computer Animation using Adobe Photoshop, Premiere and Maya. Experiments with recorded microlectures and hyflex learning format led to increased satisfaction with undergraduate students.

• Freelance

  JHathaway Animation LLC

  April 2017 - Present

  Huntington Beach, California, United States

  Working with great companies.
  - Imangi Studios: Animation and VFX on Temple Run Expansions
  - PlayQ: Experimental animation and rigging for mobile development
  - Pretty Big Monster: Mitchells vs Machines App & Scooby Doo App - AR in Snap/Spark
  - The Game Band: “Where Cards Fall” iOS award-winning, game development for Apple Arcade launch
• 

  Adjunct Professor - Character Animation & Film

  Chapman University

  August 2021 - January 2022

  Orange, California, United States

  Teach lower division intro course for Character Animation Film and Game Development using Maya, After Effects, Photoshop, and Unreal Engine.

• Broken Circle studios

  September 2018 - July 2019

  Riverside, CA
• 

  Senior Animator

  inXile Entertainment

  July 2017 - March 2018

  Newport Beach

  Creating character chaos

• Previs Animator

  Dopamine Studio

  May 2017 - July 2017

  Santa Monica

  Part of previsualization team creating digital storyboards for Legendary Entertainment's Lost in Space that premiered on Netflix in 2018.
• 

  Animation Manager

  Virtually Live

  May 2016 - February 2017

  Greater Seattle Area

  I worked with the Seattle team to create an immersive VR Sports experience for the New York Cosmos.
• 

  Lead Animator

  Goodgame Studios

  November 2015 - May 2016

  Hamburg Area, Germany

  Lead animator for character, rigging, cinematics and game art for the RPG team. Coach and mentor junior animators/riggers in Mobile game development environments.Created animations for "Heroes Realm". Create animation pipelines for rapid prototypes and vertical slices.
  
  Shipped Heroes Realm in 2016..
  Available for Android:
• 

  Lead Animator

  Fireforge Games

  August 2012 - February 2015

  Irvine, CA

  RTS/MOBA in-game animation for an international market: Coordinate and mentor animators/riggers for a proprietary game engine; develop schedule for iterative pipeline execution; create character animation in UI/game launcher.
• 

  Senior Animator

  Blizzard Entertainment

  February 1999 - February 2012

  Irvine, CA

  Served as primary/dedicated or sole animator on small dev teams*
  Served as contributing team member on larger intact animation dev teams (5-7)
  In-game cinematic cut-scene editor | UI
  
  - 2012 Heroes of the Storm (HOTS): Game Assets & Rigging
  - 2012 StarCraft II Expansion*: Game Assets & Cinematic Animation & Rigging
  - 2010 BlizzCon: StarCraft II Art Panelist
  - 2010 StarCraft II*: Game Assets & Cinematic Animation & Rigging
  - 2007 World of Warcraft Expansion: Game Assets & Character Animation & Rigging
  - 2004 World of Warcraft: Game Assets & Character Animation & Rigging
  - 2003 Warcraft III Expansion: Cinematics
  - 2002 Warcraft III: Cinematics
  - 2001 Diablo II*: Expansion: Cinematics
  - 2000 Diablo II*: Cinematics

  

  
• 

  Senior 3D Character Animator

  Blizzard Entertainment

  March 1999 - February 2012

  Orange County, California Area

  Served as principal or sole animator on small dev teams*
  Served as contributing team member on larger intact animation dev teams (5-7)
  In-game cinematic cut-scene editor | UI
  
  - 2012 Heroes of the Storm (HOTS): Game Assets & Rigging
  - 2012 StarCraft II Expansion*: Game Assets & Cinematic Animation & Rigging
  - 2010 BlizzCon: StarCraft II Art Panelist
  - 2005 StarCraft II*: Game Assets & Cinematic Animation & Rigging
  - 2003 World of Warcraft: Game Assets & Character Animation & Rigging
  - 2002 Warcraft III: Cinematics
  - 2001 Diablo II*: Expansion: Cinematics
  - 2000 Diablo II*: Cinematics
• 

  Animator

  Film Roman

  February 1998 - February 1999

  LA

  I worked on CG prototypes for in house projects.
• 

  3D Character Animator

  Film Roman

  1998 - 1999

  Greater Los Angeles Area

  Part of a small experimental CG animation team, animated/modeled 3D characters for "Tripping the Rift" pilot and several commercials. "Tripping the Rift" became a science fiction comedy television series produced by CineGroupe in association with the SyFy Channel.
• 

  Animation Intern, Toy Story

  Pixar

  June 1994 - August 1994

  First SFSU Pixar intern responsible for updating and organizing storyboards for Toy Story animation director meetings.