Contact info:

Craig Grasso
925.370.6413

San Francisco, CA

Career Goals: A career that utilizes my artistic strengths which include, illustration, sculpture, painting, character design, character posing, and cinematography (visual story telling).

Employment History:

Pixar Animation Studios : July 2005 - current

Story Artist:
Work directly with directors and other story artists to interpret the script and put it in a visual format.  The end product is to satisfy the script and the director of the film.  This responsibility includes coming up with new ideas to make the story more visually interesting, funny and strong.

Blue Sky Studios: February 2004 - July 2005

Visual Development Designer:
Create pre-production conceptualization of environments that envelop the look and feel of the director's vision for the story. Develop the look and feel of the sets which are utilized by story and the modeling departments. Develop and oversee the set designs which are used by modeling, materials, and lighting departments to create finished 3d environments. I use many traditional and computer mediums to accomplish this goal. As a member of a team I work with the film directors, producers, art directors and department heads, to develop the best look and feel for each part of the film.

Disney Feature Animation August 1993 - February 2004
Journeyman Layout Artist:
My role as a journeyman is to take the storyboard (script) and turn it into a movie. This includes set design (backgrounds), character and prop designs, character posing in an environment (for animators to follow), a finished value drawing (for background painters), and cinematography for finished camera moves; which gives animators an idea of timing and acting for a scene.

Responsibilities include:
• Workbook - background, character poses and camera moves
• Rough final drawings - background and poses
• Finished backgrounds - highly rendered background drawings
• Visual Development of set props, background scenes, and locations.
• Character Designs
• Leadership skills include working with Directors to come up with the best cinematography possible. Following ideas through production to see that the workbook ideas are evident to each department. Delegating and following through the execution of the backgrounds/set designs and character action within the department of Layout.

Layout movies: My Peoples (cancelled)), Brother Bear, Lilo and Stitch, Kingdom of the Sun (cancelled), Mulan, Goofy Short

Animation Services - Key Assistant in Cleanup/ Rough Animator/ Layout Artist
In Animation services we worked on special projects which involved animated characters. This allowed the opportunity to work across several functions of animation.
Projects include:
• Lion King Circle of Life - short film about conservation, currently playing in Epcot's The Land.
• Lion King Video Game
• Pocahontas DVD/ Video Game
• Mickie Mouse and Aladdin, Fanta commercials
• Maximo - educational animation about inoculating children
" The Manatee Project - educational film about protecting the manatee.
• Lion King - feature film clean up

Mike Peters Creative Group (Mother Goose and Grimm Comics) May 1992 - August 1993
Art Director
• Merchandising designs, including cards, towels, and gift wrap, etc.
• Painted comic cells and assigned colors to Sunday morning comic strips
• Began and ran an internship for college students - 15-17 students during an internship.
• Ordered supplies, came up with less expensive alternatives for current processes.
• Various sculpture creations.
• Overall responsible for ensuring that everything ran smoothly in the studio.

Freelance:

• Funny Pages, inc. - Background illustration designs for an independent comic book.
• Dizzy Fish Studios - Children book illustrations, sign designs, storyboards
• Tuflex - Industrial designs for fiberglass products
• Sculptures - busts of a 8 month old baby and a 5 year old girl

Education:

• Ringling School of Art and Design: May 1992 - B.F.A in illustration
• Broward Community College: May 1987 - AA Degree - General Study; Set Designs for Drama
• Internship: Disney Feature Animation - July 1993 - 3 month internship which covered the basics of animation.
Military: Army August 1981- August 1985

Digital Experience: Adobe Photoshop, Alias Maya, Corel Painter, Animatic Workbooks

* References are available upon request.