| Brent J. Zorich |
B.S.I.D. M.A. M.S. (candidate) |
brentzorich@yahoo.com |
| 415.283.5625 (business calls only) |
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| Specialties and Experiences: |
Master Character Technical Director |
Industrial Light & Magic Creature R & D |
Digital Artist |
Lead/ Senior Technical Artist |
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Software Engineering |
Colour Compositing |
Lucasfilm Best Practices Steering Committee |
Lucasfilm Executive Level Training |
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-LUCASFILM, LTD. ACCOMPLISHMENTS- |
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Film Game Convergence Shown to George Lucas at LUCASFILM, LTD. (2008) |
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Myself at the premiere of Star Wars The Clone Wars in Singapore. This is when my convergence work was shown to Mr. Lucas.
Film Game Convergence Video on StarWars.com
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Darrell Rodriguez was the president of the LucasArts division. This is who I wrote the executive proposal Offensive Attack Strategy for, a strategy to better pit Lucasfilm up against its lesser opponents, to remain unnamed. After he read it, he requested a digital copy via email and forwarded it to other members of the Board of Directors at Lucasfilm, Ltd. Feargus Carroll was my boss in Singapore. I was the first person to be relocated in company history from Singapore to San Francisco. It was Lucasfilm policy that in order to be relocated, or even considered, you must work in Singapore for a minimum of one year. This is until I came there. I was relocated after five months with two relocation packages. In addition to writing that proposal, I had spoken to University Relations about Continuing Education at either Stanford or UC Berkeley in order to take a more leadership role within Lucasfilm. I had already been through an Executive Training program through Lucasfilm with Mr. Larry Seal.
Although my work is not shown in this, Ahsoka is the Jedi that our group showed to Mr. Lucas in Singapore. It was a side by side comparison between the TV version and the Unreal Engine version that I made. This is very similar to what I showed Mr. Lucas except instead of the Nintendo DS it was on the XBOX 360. Mr. Lucas could not tell the difference between my 360 version and the one used in the television show. This is the area that I am one of the biggest in entertainment. For Lucasfilm, I am a lead film game convergence specialist. Ahsoka was rerigged, rebound, and topology modified- working in the Unreal Engine. We take this film franchise very seriously. I am very loyal to Mr. Lucas and Mr. Spielberg.
This is a sample of notes from one of my notebooks at Lucasfilm discussing film game convergence as well as the day in and day out operations of Lucasfilm, Ltd. LINK.
This is a sample of notes from one of my notebooks at Lucasfilm discussing film game convergence as well as the day in and day out operations of Lucasfilm, Ltd. LINK.
This is a sample of notes from one of my notebooks at Lucasfilm discussing film game convergence as well as the day in and day out operations of Lucasfilm, Ltd. LINK. |
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Best Practices Steering Committee for LUCASFILM, LTD. (2008-2009) |
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Once I relocated to Lucasfilm, Ltd. San Francisco where we had a core convergence team including the lead research and developer (Director of Animation Technology) at the "Big Rock" Clone Wars studio (former CTO at Weta Digital)- Ms. Monique Bradshaw, the lead creature developer for Industrial Light and Magic, the main producer for the Clone Wars in Singapore (via conference call)- Mr. John Saunders, the head Creature Development CG Supervisor for Industrial Light and Magic (lead on the Star Wars prequels), and myself. In addition to the topics discussed above, we also discussed modeling topology and rendering optimization. Lastly, research was done on "enveloping" by myself using Industrial Light and Magic technology. At my station, I had four computers setup, one of which was a Linux machine with direct login to Industrial Light and Magic's server and their software Zeno. I was doing compare and contrast simulations and playblasts of enveloping between Zeno and Maya with the hope to include more Zeno technology into future LucasArts projects. I was using Industrial Light and Magic's Zeno software daily during my work in the LucasArts division testing builds and experimenting with Linux Block Party. In this sequence, the motion, done by myself, was completed in approximately a half hour per cycle and "run_fly". Again, this is a rig test. Lucasfilm, Ltd. is considered by many to be the top company in all of entertainment. To be on the steering committee setting the direction for this organization is a very big honor. I was one of the most vocal in these meetings.
Steering Committee Best Practices and Tutorials (ILM/ LucasArts/ Lucasfilm Animation) - sample notes |
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Lucasfilm Animation Singapore Monthlies at LUCASFILM, LTD. (2008-2009) |
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- THESE ARE NOT MY SHOTS OR ARTWORK, THESE ARE THE SHOTS THAT I HAD TO EDIT TOGETHER
FOR THE MONTHLY PRESENTATION, I WAS SELECTED TO DO SO BASED ON MY COMPOSITING SKILLS-
- These shots on Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince were being worked on in Singapore while I was there; part of my tasked assignment
was to edit these shtos together in a piece that could be show to the entire staff as well as the execs present -
- I handled this by myself, but had to get approval from Ms. Chrysta Burton, the head of Industrial Light and Magic in Singapore-
- This was an amazing experience. Harry Potter is my favorite intellectual property. -
- Approximately One Week was spent on this -
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Corporate Leadership and Executive Training for LUCASFILM, LTD. (2008-2009) |
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Mr. Larry Seal at Lucasfilm, Ltd.
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Part of the Lucasfilm, Ltd training I received was executive training under Mr. Larry Seal. The hope was that I would eventually become a studio executive in addition to the other tasks that I was tackling. My goal is to lead a studio to the top spot in all categories: awards, sales, and prestiege. I went through intensive group and one on one training with Mr. Seal on Lucasfilm corporate culture and communication. I would both recommend and work with Mr. Seal again. I found him to be patient, direct, and incredibly intelligent. I lead by example. |
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My executive philosophy...
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Had I not gotten sick at Lucasfilm, I would have informed the President of Lucasarts that I was on good relations with that I wanted to interview for "Director of Studio Operations" at Lucasarts. I'm a lot like Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs, I will be an executive that is hands on still in the creative portion of work. When the presidency of LucasArts was vacated, I would have told Mich Chau, the President of Lucasfilm, that I would like to be considered for this role and my ideas about the studio. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg ran Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook in their twenties- if I get stuck I'd talk to Mich or George about it. I am also an investment to George Lucas. In my opinion, I can turn a major profit for him. I went through executive and leadership training at Lucasfilm and wrote Offensive Attack Strategy for the President of LucasArts at the time. In addition, after the company wide event screening of Quantum of Solace, the vice president of LucasArts at the time took me to lunch and let me recruit a prospective candidate for Lucasfilm, she chose to stay with Electronic Arts however. I get emails from recruiters for both artistic and executive positions. I would like to be an executive in a company in technology, computer graphics, film and game, where I can control the product being sold with my own hands. My goal at Lucasfilm would be to turn LucasArts into a studio as credible as Bungie, Rockstar North, Ubisoft Montral, Epic, or Sony Santa Monica. I would want midnight sales and advanced copy orders of LucasArts titles just as there are for Halo, Grand Theft Auto, Assassin's Creed, Gears of War, and God of War. |
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My training style is similar to Mr. Bruce Lee. I show enough to the people that I am teaching without giving them the direct answer. That way a new way might be discovered that is yet unseen or documented. I am incredibly team oriented and always give the utmost respect to whatever team I am working with. Working together to push technology and break new grounds in the digital age is what I strive for. My corporate structure philosophy is similar to Gensler, flat and non hierarchical. Gensler won the Anderson Consulting best practices award in the 1990's while I was an employee there. No idea is a bad idea; whether it be from a studio executive or an intern. A rule of thumb that I have always lived by is, "Who your bitch is one day could end up being your boss the next." Every idea gets the same amount of attention; and in critique or brainstorming sessions, if discussions get heated, which in my experience they have in the past, my motto has always been, "What happens in the board room stays in the board room." |
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Mr. M. Arthur Gensler |
There is a difference between being arrogant and being confident. One of the most influential days in my professional career happened when I was 24 years old, over ten years ago. I was working at Gensler at the time, the architectural design firm ranked number one in the world, and Mr. M. Arthur Gensler, the owner and most powerful architect on the planet, came to our Atlanta studio to give a presentation. While he was eating lunch after his presentation, myself (junior interior architect) and an intern walked up to him and introduced ourselves. He immediately put his food down, with his mouth full, and shook both of our hands and spoke to us for over an hour. Here I am a 24 year old talking to the most powerful architect on the planet and he is treating me with the same respect he would give to Mr. Bill Gates. If Mr. Gensler isn’t cocky and arrogant, how can I or anyone else be? I have taken this attitude towards all work situations ever since then. There is a difference between informing someone of your credentials professionally and acting in a manner that might make future collaborations unproductive. |
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Also, I am a firm believer that in a critique session, it’s always best to be brutally honest if you feel your point is valid. Holding back an important point about an object, motion, shape, or form, could ultimately hurt the quality of the product. I am not one to believe that it is good to “build allies” or cliques within an organization; build good games and films. Just because I might be friends with someone doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be brutally honest in a critique section. Do what is best for the quality of the product while strengthening the entire team dynamic. Let me clarify. Suppose you are to make a presentation to George Lucas on a Friday on shader technology and you know that one of George’s good friends in the organization is Dennis Muren. I do not believe in the approach of going golfing with Dennis Muren on the Wednesday of that week talking about the meeting with George- with the hope that Dennis might say something good to George about your shader work. Instead, take the golf time you would spend with Dennis on that Wednesday and spend it reading more on RenderMan or HLSL to blow George Lucas away; not brown nose him or his close friends.
I look forward to leading a studio, with a group of motivated artists and engineers, in the digital age and making sure that not only are our sales phenominal, but team morale and most importantly quality of product are never compromised. Once I reach executive status, I will continue to be involved in hands on artisitc and technical direction like Mark Zuckerberg, Walt Disney, or Steve Jobs.
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My cousin on my dad's side: Field General and Pro Football Hall Inductee |
Mr. Dan Marino |
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| Other Executives I aspire to be like... |
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Bill Gates |
Phil Knight |
Jeffrey Katzenberg |
Steve Jobs |
Mich Chau |
Mark Zuckerberg |
Peter Moore |
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- ceo and founder - |
- ceo and founder - |
- ceo and founder - |
- ceo - |
- president - |
- ceo and founder - |
- president - |
MICROSOFT |
NIKE |
DREAMWORKS SKG |
APPLE - DISNEY |
LUCASFILM, LTD. |
FACEBOOK |
EA SPORTS |
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Steven Spielberg |
George Lucas |
Walt Disney |
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| - executive - owner- |
- executive - owner- |
- founder- |
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AMBLIN DREAMWORKS SKG ELECTRONIC ARTS |
LUCASFILM, LTD. |
DISNEY |
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EA SPORTS |
NBBJ |
TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE |
DREAMWORKS SKG Outreach Program |
BRENT ZORICH PRODUCTIONS, LLC |
LUCASARTS |
GENSLER |
ELECTRONIC ARTS |
LUCASFILM ANIMATION SINGAPORE |
INDUSTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC |
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