Summary
Born on the East coast, Michael’s journey in art really began when he headed out west to The University of Arizona to pursue a degree in Fine Arts. After graduating, Michael found his calling in animation when he did his first job painting backgrounds on a television commercial.
Not long after that he was hired at Walt Disney Feature Animation where he produced hand painted backgrounds on such films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Atlantis, Fantasia 2000, Home On The Range, and Beauty And The Beast: Special Edition.
After almost ten years there, Michael left to join Sony Pictures Animation to work on the studio's first release, Open Season, as a visual development artist. Over his fourteen-year span at SPA he also served as the art director on Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs and production designer on Hotel Transylvania 2.
In late 2017, Michael left Sony when approached by Warner Animation Group to production design the first all CG version of Scooby-Doo, entitled SCOOB!
Due to the corona virus, SCOOB! was not released in theaters, but had a successful debut May 15th on VOD.
After twenty-five years in the feature animation industry, Michael remains excited and passionate about the work that he does.
Skills
Software proficiency
