Alex Laurant production design/art direction, concept art, visual ...

Alex Laurant
production design/art direction, concept art, visual development
portfolio website: www.alexlaurant.com email: lxl1@comcast.net phone: 415.827.6701
Professional Summary:
I am an Art Director, visual designer and concept artist working across both feature films, commercials and
games.
My most recent film credits include visual effects design, art direction and matte painting for Robert
Redford’s upcoming Civil War drama, The Conspirator, contributing effects work on Percy Jackson and
the Lightening Thief and concept design and illustration for Martin Campbell’s Green Lantern feature,
now in post production. For eight years I was a Senior Visual Effects Art Director and Concept Artist at
Industrial Light & Magic, working on numerous feature films and commercials including Saving Private
Ryan, Star Wars (Special Editions), The Mummy, Minority Report, Peter Pan and The Day After
Tomorrow. I was co-nominated for Best Visual Effects Art Direction by the Visual Effects Society for my
work on Minority Report (shared with Production Designer Alex McDowell).
On the games side I worked for Electronic Arts’ UK Studio as a Sr. Art Director from 2004 through 2006,
applying my art and film experience to the interactive medium. There I worked on the fourth Harry Potter
movie game (Goblet of Fire) as well as several original I.P. concepts, while consulting with Frankfurt-based
studio Crytek on their acclaimed 2007 PC game, Crysis. From 2006 through 2008I worked at Lucasfilm
as a Sr. Art Director for LucasArts games, I built and managed a new art team and directed all visual
development and art preproduction for an original, internally developed I.P./Franchise.
I’ve given numerous talks on visual design and digital media, including: 2010 – panelist at AAM [American
Association of Museums], L.A.; 2009 - solo presentation at DICE Summit in Las Vegas; 2008 - Solo
presenter and panelist at FMX in Stuttgart, Germany; 2008 - solo presentation at GCDC in Leipzig,
Germany; 2007 - 4-day solo workshop on film VFX and animation at the University of Zurich;
Professional Experience:
FILM & COMMERCIALS:
Slash-FX/Reliance MediaWorks VFX (2009-2010):
Senior Art Director, Designer, Matte Painter
As the visual design lead and Art Department manager for this small media and VFX studio I was
instrumental in all aspects of visual design and implementation; from visual pitch-packages and bids, to
working with clients designing shots, color concept artwork and previs, final matte paintings and effects
assets to redesigning the studio’s identity and promotions.
Key projects included:
THE CONSPIRATOR – Director: Robert Redford. Shot design, storyboards concept illustration, matte
painting.
PERCY JACKSON & THE LIGHTING THIEF – Director: Chris Columbus. VFX design, concept illustration,
final art assets.
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PostOffice Editorial - CHASE Sapphire card - commercial package (2010):
Art Director, VFX Supervisor & Matte Painter
I designed and storyboarded sequences, did physical stage-set layout, VFX planning and supervision and
final digital matte paintings for this package of TV spots (:30, :60 and 1:20 versions)
Warner Brothers Pictures – Green Lantern (2009):
Senior Illustrator and Designer
I was a senior in-house illustrator and conceptual designer in the L.A. preproduction art department,
working under Production Designer Grant Major and Director Martin Campbell. During my 7 months on the
team I developed a variety of key environments, characters and sequences, helping the production
visualize and plan the film’s look, moods and scope.
Walt Disney Pictures – UNIQUE (2007):
Concept Artist - (feature film bid) - (VFX Supervisor John Berton)
Industrial Light & Magic (1996 – 2004):
Senior Visual Effects Art Director and Concept Artist
I was responsible for design and art direction of visual effects at all stages of production, including initial
artwork pitch packages, early concept development with studios/directors/production designers, digital and
practical set design, final concept artwork, 2D and 3D pre-vis, management of art teams, steering approved
concepts through all phases of production, artistic supervision of miniature sets, art direction of digital
characters, environments, matte paintings and compositing, in close collaboration with numerous
production artists, CG and VFX supervisors.
ILM Feature films:
2006 THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES - Freelance Concept Artist (VFX Supe: Pablo Helman)
2004 THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW - VFX Art Director, Concept Artist (VFX Supes: Jim Mitchell, Eric
Brevig, Dennis Murren)
2003 PETER PAN - VFX Art Director, Concept Artist (VFX Supes: Scott Farrar & Eric Brevig)
2002 MINORITY REPORT - VFX Art Director,, Concept Artist (VFX Supe: Scott Farrar)
2002 STAR WARS EPISODE 2 - Contributing Concept Artist (VFX Supe: Dennis Murren,
John Knoll, Pablo Helman)
2001 THE MUMMY RETURNS - VFX Art Director, Concept Artist (VFX Supe: John Berton)
2000 MISSION TO MARS - VFX Art Director, Concept Artist (VFX Supe: John Knoll)
1999 THE MUMMY - VFX Art Director, Concept Artist (VFX Supe: John Berton)
1999 THE BFG (bid) - Concept Artist
1998 FRANKENSTEIN (bid) - Concept Artist
1997 SAVING PRIVATE RYAN - VFX Art Director (VFX Supes: Stephan Fangmeier & Roger Guyett)
1997 CONTACT - Concept Artist
1997 JACK FROST - Concept Artist
1997 DEEP IMPACT - Concept Artist (VFX Supe: Scott Farrar)
1997 RAIDERS of the LOST ARK–SPECIAL EDITION (bid) - Concept Artist
1997 CITY OF ANGELS (bid) - Concept Artist
1996 RETURN OF THE JEDI, Special Edition - Asst. VFX Art Director (VFX Supe: Dave Carson)
1996 EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, Special Edition - Asst. VFX Art Director, Digital Matte Painter (VFX Supe:
Dave Carson)
ILM Commercial Productions - TV spots & music videos:
1999 DODGE ‘MOLECULE’ - Storyboard/Concept Artist (Dir: Steve Beck)
1997 DODGE ‘STRATUS’ (“Blobs” series) - Designer/Art Director (Dir: Steve Beck)
1997 DISCOVERY CHANNEL - Concept Artist (Dir: Michael Brunsfeld)
1997 Will Smith “JUST CRUISIN’” music video - Concept/Storyboard Artist (Dir: Robert Caruso)
1996 BUDWEISER LIZARDS (bid) - Character/Concept Designer
GAMES & INTERACTIVE MEDIA:
LucasArts (2006-2008):
Senior Art Director and Creative Co-Director: (unannounced internal property)
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I co-led a team tasked by George Lucas with conceiving and developing his next new franchise, to be
launched initially as a game. Over a period of 9 months I led this ‘story incubator’ effort of artists, writers
and designers, developing and pitching dozens of game/story concepts. These were refined, tested and
vetted by studio executives before one core idea was approved; this has been in development since.
I then managed a growing team of 25+ 2D and 3D artists, led blue-sky brainstorm sessions and co-wrote
pitch-briefs, designed our visual design processes and workflows, and supervised research and visual
exploration, collaborating closely with our lead game designers and engineers, in addition to continuing to
direct ongoing development of 3D test characters, environments, and animation for previs. In addition I:
• Developed and pitched a stylized, non-realistic visual approach for the game which was
represented with concept artwork, reference and animated look-tests.
• Authored and edited visual design guidelines, including reference and art packets for production
artists, pre-production processes and scope forecasting documents to inform, direct and support our game
engineers, designers and producers.
Electronic Arts, Ltd. UK Studio (2004 – 2006):
Senior Art Director on ‘Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire’ game (PS2):
I joined EA in London to guide the new look for the 4th movie in their successful game franchise, aimed at
‘maturing’ the visual quality bar of this more mature-themed episode. Starting from the prior games‘ younger
audience and more cartoony style I directed this game’s look, lighting, characters and worlds to be more
‘cinematic’ and visually rich, developing new creatures and locations while remaining true to the spirit of
both J.K. Rowling‘s fiction and the film’s visual aesthetic.
• Authored and presented detailed ‘Visual Target Guidelines’ and style documents for teams and
managers.
• Assembled reference and led research visits to the film sets at Leavesden Studios to better
reference the movie’s production design.
• Worked closely with art teams across disciplines (world, character, modeling, paint & animation,
atmospheric & visual effects, Graphic User Interface design, etc).
• Established new forums for team creativity and communication, ‘shared design labs’, improving
collaboration between visual artists and game designers.
• Designed, storyboarded and supervised cinematics, game trailers and PR video assets, liaising
with both our internal post / video department and external (Soho) post/VFX houses.
Senior Studio Art Director for EA UK Central Concept Group:
• During my second year I served as consulting Art Director for numerous games in development
across the studio.
• Interviewed prospective outsourcing animation studios in India, including site visits, co-created &
supervised new I.P animation tests, sequences with both internal and external (India based) animation
teams.
• Mentored jr. concept artists, interviewed, hired and managed consulting concept artists, both inhouse
and remotely
Art Director / co-creator for new EA game concepts:
• Led a comprehensive story and visual development effort for several original I.P. game concepts,
including creation and supervision of key concept artwork.
CRYTEK, Frankfurt, Germany for EAP (Electronic Arts Partners, UK) (2005 – 2006):
Consulting Art Director & concept artist for Crytek’s 2007 PC game CRYSIS
Rocket Science Games, San Francisco, CA (1996):
Contributing Art Director on Mac/PC adventure game OBSIDIAN.
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Albathion Software, Inc, Sausalito, CA (1993 - 1996):
Art Director, designer, illustrator, animator for a variety of educational games and multimedia
products. Clients included Mattel Media, Broderbund Software, Johnson & Johnson and the
Exploratorium museum.
THEATER, PRINT & MISCELLANEOUS:
Sunday in the Park with George, (theatrical production) London & New York (2006):
Digital theatrical background artist for award-winning London & NY runs of Sondheim’s re-mounted
musical, performed at the Menier Chocolate Factory, the Wyndham’s Theatre, West End, and in 2008 on
Broadway, New York. (director: Sam Buntrock, scenic designer Timothy Bird, for Knifedge Network,
London)
Freelance print illustration and graphic design (1984 -1996):
Provided illustration and design for a variety of clients including book and magazine covers,
posters, corporate communications, logos and signage. Clients included: Chronicle Books, San Francisco;
Ketchum Agency, San Francisco; Express Publications, Oakland; Terry Pimsleur Assoc., San Francisco
Professional Groups & Affiliations:
ADG (Art Directors Guild) - Local 800 Los Angeles - member
VES (Visual Effects Society) - member
AIAS (Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences) – member and panel juror
5D Immersive Design Conference - advisory committee member
Articles & Interviews:
VFX World.com - FMX preview article “Why You Should Experience FMX/08 This Year”
http://vfxworld.com/?atype=articles&id=3611&page=4
PERSPECTIVES - The magazine of the L.A. Art Directors’ Guild (June, 2006 issue)
Making the Leap: Another Film Art Director Takes up the Videogame Challenge
Yahoo Games - From Film to Games: Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire interview (2005)
http://videogames.yahoo.com/gamepreview?cid=1951020523&tab=previews&page=0&eid=411039
CINEFEX (issue 77) Thoroughly Modern Mummy - article by Estelle Shay
CINEFEX (issue 85) Warrior Kings - article by Joe Fordham
CINEFEX (issue 91) Future Reality (Minority Report) - article by Joe Fordham
Talks & Seminars:
2008 GCDC – Games Conference / Developers’ Convention - Leipzig, Germany (solo presentation)
2008 FMX - 13th Int’l Conference of Animation, VFX, Games - Stuttgart, Germany (solo presentation & 4
panels)
2007 University of Zurich - School of Cinema Studies (2-day workshop on film VFX design & techniques)
2005 Celtic Film & Television Festival, Cardiff, Wales (The Great Debate, Film vs. Games)
2004 HOW Design Conference, San Diego, CA (Design for Film VFX)
2004 AEAF Film & Animation Conference, Sydney, AU (The VFX of Peter Pan)
2003 AIGA "Y8" Design Conference, San Diego, CA (Design for Film VFX)
2002 DreamWorks Studios, Los Angeles, CA (The VFX of Minority Report, DVD release PR Event)
2001 VES (Visual Effects Society festival) 2001, Los Angeles, CA (The VFX of The Mummy Returns)
2000 VES (Visual Effects Society festival) 2000, Los Angeles, CA (The VFX of Mission to Mars)
2000 Vista College, San Rafael, CA (seminar on VFX design & techniques)
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2000 Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA (seminar on VFX design & techniques)
1999 Academy of Art College, San Francisco, CA (seminar on VFX design & techniques)
1999 "Dual Vision" public lecture, San Rafael, CA (Art processes in film & VFX design)
1999 Monterey Film Festival, Monterey, CA (The VFX of The Mummy)
1999 CINEQUEST 10 Film Festival, San Jose, CA (The VFX of The Mummy)
1998 "Designing Dreams" Production Design lecture series, Lincoln Centre, New York (VFX and Matte
Painting),
1995 Monterrey New Media Conference, Monterrey, Mexico (Multimedia design seminar, co-taught by Ed
Payne)
1994 Stanford New Technology Series, Stanford University, CA (Multimedia design seminar, co-taught by
Ed Payne)
Education:
California College of Arts, Oakland, CA
BFA; Combined degree in iIllustration, graphic design, painting & drawing
Studio Art Centres International, Florence, Italy
One year studio fine-art and field art history program
Contact Information:
lxl1@comcast.net
16 Truman Drive
Novato, CA 94947
home: 415.408.3181
cell: 415.827.6701
Updated profiles and references available online at:
Linked-In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/alaurant
Plaxo Pulse: http://lxl.myplaxo.com/
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