Ben Sledge

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Professional History

ILM Vancouver
Creature Supervisor (May 2022 - present)
Unannounced Feature Animation Project, Unannounced Episodic Project

• Directly supervised rigging team
• Assisted hiring, on-boarding, and training new team members
• Developed and maintained hero rigs and setups
• Assigned and scheduled artist tasks with production
• Prototyped new techniques, tools, and workflows
• Provided quality control and asset review for production rigs

Area Tech Lead - Rigging (June 2020 - present)

• Represented department interests in global technology meetings
• Developed new rigging modules
• Worked with cross-studio counterparts to define rigging standards
• Interfaced with R&D and Pipeline groups for tool development and improvements
• Improved internal rigging documentation

Lead Creature TD (April 2021 - May 2022)
Hawkeye

Senior Creature TD (April 2019 - April2021)
Creature TD (April 2017 - March 2019)
Transformers: The Last Knight; A Wrinkle in Time; Aladdin (2019); Terminator: Dark Fate; Space Jam: A New Legacy

• Designed, implemented, and maintained creature rigs and CFX setups
• Used proprietary software to craft in-shot creature simulations (including hair, cloth, and rigid body dynamics)
• Mentored new hires
• Assisted troubleshooting creature rigs, simulation setups, and pipeline issues

Rigging Artist
Rainmaker Studios (March 2015 - March 2017)
Open Season: Scared Silly, Barbie and Her Sisters in a Puppy Chase, Surfs Up 2: Wave Mania, ReBoot: The Guardian Code, Spy Kids: Mission Critical

• Created rigs for characters, props, and sets using a proprietary build system
• Extended build system with custom modules
• Developed scripts for animators to increase in-shot rig functionality
• Scripted plug-ins and deformers using the Maya Python and C++ APIs

Technical Animation Artist / Character FX TD
MPC Vancouver (September 2014 - March 2015)
Monster Trucks

• Designed and maintained character CFX rigs to meet show and shot specific needs
• Crafted believable skin, hair, and cloth simulations
• Performed shot finally tasks
• Created cloth simulation geometry using Marvelous Designer

Production Manager / Python Developer
Campus Banner + Design (August 2011 - May 2014)

• Supervised a team of 8-10 designers
• Managed work-flow efficiency, prioritized projects and tasks to meet client deadlines
• Hired and trained new designers
• Developed a job tracking and invoice webapp build on the Django Python framework

Rigging Lead / Pipeline Lead / Animator
ROBO+REPAIR Short Film (May 2013 - July 2013)

Part of the DreamWorks Animation Summer Industry Course at Clemson University.

• Designed a full-featured, join-based deformation system for the main character
• Integrated scripts and tools into the production pipeline
• Extended render-queue management scripts

Character TD / Modeler / Animator
"The Water is Always Bluer" Short Film (January 2012 - December 2012)

• Modeled and rigged the main character
• Assigned with lighting, character design, and story concepts
• Lead animator on several shots

Animation & Visual Effects Skills

Leadership & Management
Skilled at mentoring and managing team members. Able to schedule and assign artist tasks to meet production schedules. Experienced with quality control and review of artist work.

Character Rigging
Experienced in designing character setups using deformers, skeletal systems and blend shapes. Able to create animator friendly rigs while maintaining a high level of control over deformations.

Programming

Highly proficient with Python both in and out of the Maya environment to increase efficiency and reduce user error with a focus on pipeline integration. Familiar with the Maya Python and C++ APIs.

Character Effects
Experienced with simulating hair and Maya nCloth systems for digital characters. Creates character interactions with dynamics and cloth solutions as well as deformation based approaches. Comfortable creating cloth and dynamics rigs on a shot and a show basis.

Technologies
Operating Systems - Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X
Software - Maya, Houdini, Mudbox, Nuke, Marvelous Designer, CineSync, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro
Programming - Python, MEL Script, C++, git, Perforce, and SVN

Academic History

Clemson University
Clemson, SC, USA (2014)
Master of Fine Arts Degree in Digital Production Arts
Thesis: "An Automated Build Script for Articulated Characters" (Dr. Tim Davis, Chair)
School of Computing

East Tennessee State University
Johnson City, TN, USA (2010)
Bachelor of Science Degree in Digital Media, Minor in Computer Science
College of Business & Technology
Magna Cum Laude

Selected Filmography

• In Production
  
  • Unannounced Episodic Project (Creature Supervisor)
    
  • Ultraman (Creature TD)
    
• 2021
  • Hawkeye - Limited Series (Lead Creature TD)
    • Nominated: Saturn Award for Limited Event Series (Streaming) (2022)
      
  • Space Jam: A New Legacy (Creature TD)
• 2019
  
• Terminator: Dark Fate (Creature TD)
  
• Aladdin (Creature TD)
  • Nominated: Saturn Award for Best Film Special/Visual Effects (2019)
    
• 2018
  • Spy Kids: Mission Critical - Season 1 (Rigging)
  • ReBoot: The Guardian Code - Season 1 (Rigging)
    • Nominated: Canadian Screen Award for Best Youth Program or Series (2019)
      
    • Nominated: Canadian Screen Award for Best Visual Effects in a Program or Series (2019)
      
  • A Wrinkle in Time (Creature TD)
• 2017
  • Barbie Dolphin Magic (Rigging)
  • Transformers: The Last Knight (Creature TD)
  • Barbie: Video Game Hero (Rigging)
  • Surfs Up 2: Wave Mania (Rigging)
  • Monster Trucks (Character FX)
• 2016
  • Barbie and Her Sisters in a Puppy Chase (Rigging)
• 2015
  • Open Season: Scared Silly (Rigging)
• 2014
  • Night at the Museum 3: Secret of the Tomb (Character FX)
• 2013
  • Robo+Repair (Rigging, Animation, Pipeline)
    • SIGGRAPH Dailies (2014)
• 2012
  • The Water is Always Bluer... (Modeling, Rigging Animation)
    • Charleston International Film Festival (2013)
    • Blue Plum Animation Festival (2013)

Affiliations

Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
Voting Member, Visual Effects & Animation, Cinema and Television Branches (2022 - Present)

ACM SIGGRAPH
Member (2009-Present), Dailies Presenter (2014), Conference Student Volunteer (2009)

Greenville International Film Festival
Judge for Emerging Filmmakers Category (2012), Student Volunteer (2012)

ETSU Student ACM SIGGRAPH Chapter
Treasurer (2009-2010), Webmaster (2007-2009), Secretary (2006-2007)

Honors

Phi Kappa Phi - East Tennessee State University (inducted 2009)
Epsilon Pi Tau - East Tennessee State University (inducted 2009)

Download as a printable PDF: sledge-resume-jan2022-1.pdf