Tom
has worked for two decades in television, advertising, and feature
film animation. Tom was Character Sculptor and Effects Animator on
the Warner Bros/Lorimar Gumby Adventures‚ TV series (1987-1988)
and Gumby Movie‚ the stop-motion feature film (1991). In 1991
at Colossal Pictures, Tom's Animation Direction debut Coca-Cola Watch‚
won a Clio Award. In 2000 he became Co-Partner at Way Out West Prods
in San Francisco. Tom joined Maverix Studios in October of 2002 and
is a dedicated principal member of the group.
THE
STORY GOES...
Tom began his career as Art Director on a series of independent feature
films in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1982 to 1990. He was also
recognized for his sculpting skills and ability to design for prosthetic
make up and physical effects. It was on Commercial Pictures/Zoetrope’s
1988 release of Live-Action Feature ‘CLOWNHOUSE’
that Tom wore the hats of concept designer, storyboard artist and
effects designer. His main role as Art Director on the project wasn’t
his only credit—he was also credited in the make-up effects category.
Tom's sculpting talent brought him to PREMAVISION INC. in Sausilito
and the ‘GUMBY ADVENTURES’ television series in 1987.
He was hired on the spot to head up the main character department.
Soon after having reorganized the department, he was promoted to design
and sculpt props and additional stop-motion characters. After 1 1/2
years of Tom's departure to television production, PREMAVISION kept
a small crew on board to produce the ‘THE GUMBY MOVIE.’
It was on this project that Tom migrated back to feature work,
giving him the chance to revisit 2D FX animation that he had trained
for years before under then DON BLUTH STUDIOS’ veteran
Bruce Heller.
In 1991, Tom joined the team at Colossal Pictures to continue his
stint with similar materials called for in stop-motion design. He
sculpted and prop finished on a series of 'NABISCO' and
'PILLSBURY' television commercials headed up by Director Henry
Selick. Later, he joined the Colossal animation department. For the
9 years that followed, Tom assisted and animated on numerous animation
projects and eventually, he was elevated to Animation Director status.
He debuted in this new role, heading up an animation crew for
COKE
‘WATCH',
a Clio Award winning television commercial. Tom continued to help
develop Colossal's mixed media BLENDO technique until the studio closed
its doors in August of 1999.
Once the gloomy fog cleared after the closure of one of the world's
premier animation studios, and a short freelance foray at Wild brain,
Inc, Tom co-founded the animation boutique, Way Out West with the
talented Animator Ricardo Barahona. For nearly 3 years, the small
crew continued to generate diverse works for a dozen or so companies
from around the U.S., which included, Turner Learning, Atlanta GA.,
Frog Design Inc. SF., Multimedia Games Inc., Dallas TX., Macromedia,
SF., Calpine, Mendocino, CA., Clicksafety, Oakland, CA., Sun Microsystems,
Santa Clara, CA. and Drumbeat Digital, NY, New York, to name a few.
Tom has recently joined the dynamic and diversely talented Maverix
Studios group and is now a principal partner.