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Bill Tessier

Animation professor

Education

  • M.F.A., film and television, University of California, Los Angeles
  • B.A., art, Yale College

Credentials

  • Professor of animation and graduate coordinator, 2016–present, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA
  • Designer for print greeting cards, 2018–present, RubberChickenCards.com, Los Angeles
  • Animation instructor, 2010–16, Ianimate.net, Phoenix
  • Senior marketing animator/animation training supervisor, 2014–16, Disney Interactive/Avalanche Software, Salt Lake City
  • Character animator, 2013, Disney Feature Animation, Burbank, CA
    • Frozen Disney Feature Animation, director: Chris Buck; animated main and secondary characters
  • Character animator, 2013, Reel FX Creative Studios, Santa Monica, CA
    • Free Birds, Reel FX Creative Studios, director: Jimmy Hayward; animated main and secondary characters
  • Senior lecturer, 2013, Otis College of Art and Design, Santa Monica, CA
  • Visiting associate professor, 2008, Laguna College of Art and Design, Laguna Beach, CA
  • Senior character animator, 2006–13, DreamWorks Animation SKG, Glendale, CA
    • Turbo, DreamWorks Animation SKG, director: David Soren; animated main and secondary characters
    • Puss in Boots, DreamWorks Animation SKG, director: Chris Miller; animated main and secondary characters
    • Night of the Living Carrots, DreamWorks Animation SKG DVD short; animated main characters
    • Kung Fu Panda 2, DreamWorks Animation SKG, director: Jen Yuh; animated main and secondary characters
    • The Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special, DreamWorks Animation SKG, director: Tim Johnson; animated main and secondary characters
    • How To Train Your Dragon, DreamWorks Animation SKG, directors: Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois; animated main and secondary characters
    • Monsters vs. Aliens, DreamWorks Animation SKG, directors: Conrad Vernon and Rob Letterman; animated main and secondary characters
    • The Bee Movie, DreamWorks Animation SKG, directors: Simon Smith and Steve Hickner with Jerry Seinfeld; animated main and secondary characters
    • Flushed Away, DreamWorks Animation SKG, directors: David Bowers and Sam Fell; animated main and secondary characters
  • Senior character animator, 2006, Rhythm & Hues Studios, Marina Del Rey, CA
    • Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties, Twentieth Century Fox, director: Tim Hill; animated Garfield in a variety of shots.
  • Visiting associate professor, 2003, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Los Angeles, CA
  • Senior Digital Character Animator, 2000–06, Sony Pictures Imageworks Digital Character Group, Culver City, CA
    • Open Season, Sony Pictures Animation, directors: Jill Culton, Tony Stacchi, and Roger Allers; animated main and secondary characters
    • The Polar Express, Warner Bros., director: Robert Zemeckis; refined and improved motion capture with keyframe animation on main characters
    • Matrix: Revolutions, Warner Bros., directors: the Wachowski Brothers; animated sentinels and other miscellaneous ships
    • Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Columbia Pictures, director: McG; animated digital stunt doubles for the Angels in the opening helicopter sequence
    • Early Bloomer, short animated film, director: Kevin Johnson; animated main and secondary characters
    • The Chubb-Chubbs, short animated film, director: Eric Armstrong; animated various crowd characters in the cantina
    • Stuart Little 2, Red Wagon Productions, director: Rob Minkoff; animated Stuart Little, Margalo, and other characters
    • Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, Warner Bros., director: Chris Columbus; animated characters in the Troll, Flying Lesson, Quidditch, and the Chamber of Keys sequences
  • Freelance Maya Instructor, 2000–01, Sony Pictures Imageworks Training Department, Culver City, CA
  • Digital Character Animation Intern, 2000, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Culver City, CA
  • Teaching Assistant/Special Reader, 1998–2000, UCLA Animation Workshop, Los Angeles

Awards, recognitions, and honors

  • The Storyteller, dir. William Tessier, 2007
    • Accepted: Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, 2008
    • Accepted: Los Angeles Religious Education Congress Film Festival, 2008

Publications and presentations

  • Animatrix: A Journal of the U.C.L.A. Animation Workshop – Issue 10 (1999), "Snow White and Cinderella: Modern Folktales in the Disney Fashion," p. 38–59.
  • Animatrix: A Journal of the U.C.L.A. Animation Workshop – Issue 10 (1999), "Vengeance, Justice, Compassion, and Madness: An Analysis of the Dark Knight as Portrayed in Batman: The Animated Series," p. 19–28.