Jay Hathaway

Jay Hathaway

Lead Animator / 26 yrs

Huntington Beach, CA

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Animator

World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor (2014)

Animator

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria (2012)

Animator

World of Warcraft (2012)

Animator

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (2010)

Animator

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (2010)

Animator

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (2008)

Animator

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (2007)

Warcraft III (2003)

Diablo II Expansion (2001)

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.

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Education

  • MA Film and Animation

    San Francisco State

    September 1992 - September 1996