Faculty

Catherine Tate Animation Visual Effects

Catherine Tate

Executive Director of 3D Animation & Visual Effects / School of Animation & Visual Effects

Catherine has been a VFX Supervisor and/or compositor on over sixty feature films and shorts, including Academy Award nominated features, Beasts of the Southern Wild and Theeb.

She also was the onset and post production VFX Supervisor on Fruitvale Station, directed by Ryan Coogler (Creed, Marvel’s Black Panther.) Fruitvale Station also won the audience and grand jury awards at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013.

Catherine worked at Industrial Light and Magic for ten years as a compositor and worked on dozens of projects, including “Star Wars,” and “Men in Black.” She also worked at other noted companies including Framestore, London and Esc Entertainment.

Catherine has been a faculty member at Academy of Art University for fifteen years. Her collaborative studio based classes at ArtU, called StudioX, have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, East Bay Times, San Francisco Chronicle, KGO news and other local news channels.

She believes working in a real world production environment in school can better prepare students to get a job and succeed in the industry.

Catherine Tate Animation Visual Effects

Our Faculty

Tom Bertino
Graduate Director School of Animation & Visual Effects
Nicolás Villarreal
Executive Director of Visual Development, 2D Animation and Art Direction School of Animation & Visual Effects
Michael Parks
Associate Director of 3D Animation School of Animation & Visual Effects
Derek Flood
Associate Director of Visual Effects and Technology School of Animation & Visual Effects
Jason Patnode
Technical Lead School of Animation & Visual Effects
Aaron Guadamuz
Stop Motion Lead School of Animation & Visual Effects
Michael Raphaelovich
Online Coordinator School of Animation & Visual Effects

Spring 2024 Part-Time Faculty

Faculty MemberEducational Background
Alex WaldoOklahoma Christian University, Edmond, Oklahoma (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Graphic Design - Illustration)
Allan Hawkes27+ yrs. experience in lithography, digital imagery, and art
Allison RutlandMcMaster University, Ontario, Canada (Bachelor of Arts, Multimedia )
Amrinder JassarAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Master of Fine Arts, Animation and Visual Effects)
Amy GohalAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Animation)
Andrea ChenAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Master of Fine Arts, Animation & Visual Effects)
Annie WongCalifornia College of the Arts, Oakland, California (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Individualized)
Billy BurgerArgosy University, Orange, California (Master of Education, Curriculum Design)
Brent JentzschAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Animation and Visual Effects)
Brett SchulzAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Computer Animation)
Bruce NicholsonUniversity of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California (Bachelor of Arts, Social Science)
Charlie Canfield30+ yrs of experience as an artist and animator
Christopher CangaAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Illustration)
Craig DauteriveAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Master of Fine Arts, Animation and Visual Effects)
Daisy ChurchSouthern California University, Whittier, California (Master of Fine Arts, Animation & Digital Arts)
David Fremont20+ yrs experience in Animation
Ease OwyeungUniversity of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona (Bachelor of Arts, Architecture)
Francine LandesColumbia University, New York, New York (Master of Arts, Education)
Garrett MooreUniversity of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California (Bachelor of Arts, Architecture)
George PafnutieffSan Francisco State University, San Francisco, California (Bachelor of Science, Information Systems Mgmt.)
Gibby Gibbons25+ years experience in Animation
Jean-Denis HaasAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Computer Arts)
Jessica MadsenRhode Island College, Providence, Rhode Island (Bachelor of Arts, Film Studies)
John BlalockAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Master of Arts, Fine Arts)
John Lee17+ years of experience as an animator
Jonathan GilbertAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Master of Fine Arts, Animation and Visual Effects)
Linda BelSheridan College, Sheridan, Wyoming (Bachelor of Arts, Computer Animation)
Michael VicknerAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Illustration)
Nickolas RosarioAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Bachelor of Science, Animation)
Norm DeCarloMinneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Sculpture)
Paulo Alvarado24+ yrs exp animation & art and a certificate in illust from RIngling Coll of Art & Design
Rachel McAlisterAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Master of Fine Arts, Visual Development)
Rey HernandezCalifornia State University, Fresno, Fresno, California (Bachelor of Arts, Fine Art Sculpture)
Robert RevelsAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Illustration)
Samuel FlemingUniversity of North Texas, Denton, Texas (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting and Drawing)
Scotland BarnesAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Master of Fine Arts, Animation & Visual Effects)
Shaun Chacko14+ yrs. exp. in animation and a certificate in classical animation from Sheridan College
Shaun FeatherstoneUniversity of Lincoln, Lincoln, United Kingdom (Bachelor of Arts, Animation )
Shauna LacosteAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Master of Fine Arts, Animation & Visual Effects)
Simon ChristenAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Animation and Visual Effects)
Stephen PlayerCamberwell College of Arts, London, United Kingdom (Bachelor of Arts, Illustration )
Stephen WongGeorgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia (Bachelor of Science, Computer Science)
Steve GalgasColumbus College of Art & Design, Columbus, Ohio (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Media Studies Time-Based)
Stewart LewArt Center College Design, Pasadena, California (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Illustration)
Tan BiAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Animation Modeling)
Terry SongAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Character Animation)
Thomas GronbuktAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Illustration)
Thomas MeadeBoston University, Boston, Massachusetts (Bachelor of Science, Film Production Art History)
Van PhanUniversity of Southern California, Los Angeles, California (Master of Fine Arts, Cinematic Arts)
Yi Ting TsaiAcademy of Art University, San Francisco, California (Bachelor of Fine Arts, Animation & Visual Effects)

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