David Hecker Email & Phone Number

Cape Town, Wc, Za

Working with and leading a dedicated team of talented artists and developers, making games that resonate with audiences and continue to push boundaries.

Banbury, Oxfordshire, Gb

As the Chief Operating Officer at RenderHeads, I play a pivotal role in driving operational excellence and fostering a thriving working environment. Here's an overview of my key responsibilities:I'm committed to nurturing a friendly yet efficient workplace culture, from initial interviews to handling new staff staff onboarding. Employee safety and well-being are paramount, and I provide the necessary support and counselling through regular mental health check-ins to create a positive work environment.I lead our company in operational growth initiatives, such as the addition of online services and the efficient management of asset assignments. Project assessment and the cultivation of strong client relationships are central to our long-term success. Furthermore, I oversee employee career development and training programs, ensuring our teams are well-equipped for success in a rapidly evolving industry.My role involves fostering operational excellence through efficient processes. This includes leading productive meetings, optimising workflows, and carefully managing resource allocation. I set overall project schedules and maintain project roadmaps to ensure projects stay on track.I handle various logistical aspects of our operations, including travel arrangements and approvals for new hardware. Additionally, I provide mentorship for team leads and support absenteeism management. My role extends to maintaining a comprehensive overview of projects, ensuring timely updates for reporting to The Board.

Banbury, Oxfordshire, Gb

I am a passionate and results-driven Senior Producer with a proven track record in leading the creation of visually stunning and immersive interactive experiences for high-profile brands, museums, science centers and corporate clients. I am driven by a relentless pursuit of delivery, innovation, and impact.My skills encompass every stage of project development.Having worked across all portions of a team (including technical and creative) I understand what is needed to get the best out of any expanded team, motivating cross-functional teams of designers, developers, and content creators, to fostering collaboration and creativity.I'm adept at managing project budgets and resources efficiently, optimising every aspect of production.My commitment to quality ensures that every interactive experience meets the highest standards, from user interface design to performance optimisation.Building and maintaining strong client relationships is integral to my approach. I pride myself on understanding clients' unique needs and delivering solutions that exceed their expectations.At RenderHeads, I've had the privilege of spearheading projects that have left a mark on both clients and audiences. Some notable examples include:Petrified at the Spier Light Art Festival. This was an internally-funded art project that provided the showpiece for the event in 2022.MOSTI at KAUST: Complete refurbishment of the existing museum technologies, delivering 45 applications over an eight month period.Dubai Ports World Pavilion at Expo 2020: Various highly impactful interactive areas in the DPW pavilion, including the massive Atrium screen connected to the interactive waterfall.Amazon Digital Catwalk: A 12.5m interactive LED wall, using Azure Kinect cameras that allowed users to try on digital clothing sets. I not only worked as a producer on this, but also art directed our internal team of 3d artists to deliver a highly realistic set of over 100 digital clothing assets.

Banbury, Oxfordshire, Gb

Banbury, Oxfordshire, Gb

Cape Town, Western Cape, Za

RetroEpic is dedicated team of independent developers based in South Africa. The team specialised in offering top quality development services to national and international clients for projects ranging from educational software to downloadable games on a variety of platforms.My main duties here included:Looking for new opportunities to create partnerships in both service work and own IP.Sourcing new clients and projects.Client liaison for existing projects.Production management for both the code and asset teams, to help streamline internal processes and stimulate productivity.Taking care of the Niggly Little Things (TM) that developers and artists don't have the time or inclination to do.

Sg

I was tasked with setting up a new 2D pipeline in ToonBoom Harmony for a new show, Shutterbugs, for Big Jump Productions and Amberwood Entertainment.Provided additional ToonBoom training for new staff. This included animation and more technical technical Harmony training.Designed the pipeline, workflow and processes for all departments.Created new libraries from existing elements according to new conventions.Checked existing assets and character rigs for consistency.Created templates and tools for various departments to ease their workflow.Assisted the Producer and Animation Supervisor to ensure the production started off smoothly.

Cape Town, Western Cape, Za

I primarily looked after the Digital department at Sunrise, which involved games and web. My main focus was on the games side where I took the lead in various areas:Game Design- Develop initial concepts to pitch to clients- Develop existing concepts to make them more viable- Define game design documents and game specifications for developers- UX/UI and design mockups- Provide feedback from white boxing phase to ensure the game is funProject management- Define overall timeline for projects- Manage internal design team for delivery of UI and 3d assets to developers- Manage external development teams- Liaise with clients regarding features, schedules, testing and deliveries- Manage release of games and updates in the app stores, including marketing materials and ASOTesting- Lead testing of all games- Allocate and manage testing teams- Manage feedback of all testers and liaise with developers to refine bug lists and feature priorities- Game balancing to ensure the best experience for the userI also got to provide input to various other parts of the company:Pipeline Development- Designed a new 3d pipeline before a rapid expansion- Defined the folder structure as well as data flow throughout the system- Involved in discussions about pipeline re-organisation as we planned for further expansion and larger projectsGeneral- Involved in Story/Tech planning sessions to catch issues before episodes went into production- Set up and managed various company-wide Google Docs, including staff leave calendars and production schedules- Defined budgets and timelines for Digital department- Handled recruiting for Digital and provided input on applicants for other departments TrainingFacilitated a weekly training session for all staff. This covered a wide range of topics from Houdini Basics to drawing for animation, but also softer skills such as How to Present Effectively. I managed the curriculum and helped the lecturers to prepare for their sessions.

Cape Town, Western Cape, Za

I ensured that the animation pipeline ran smoothly and also managed interactive media projects, working on various sports brands creating digital mascots and content for them.

I spent some time as freelance operator, working on animation, motion graphics and general design work. Some of this included commercials and the creation and art direction of real time and pre-rendered assets for games.

Za

I was Senior Animation Director at Clockwork Zoo, responsible for the smooth running of the general animation pipeline while assisting the the Animation Directors and Lead Animators. I was involved in the storyboard, animatic and layout processes and with the help of the production staff took various productions through to completion. New shows always required new staff, so I was involved in training them in ToonBoom as well as providing refresher and update training to our experienced team of animators. I have a particular interest in using the camera as a storytelling device and love teaching people ways to make their work both better and faster. Setting up new pipelines and finding the most efficient ways of working are extremely enjoyable exercises and I enjoy writing production manuals and technical documentation. I firmly believe that productivity and creativity are not mutually exclusive items and that they happily can co-exist in the right environment.I directed animation on the following shows:Florries Dragons, Disney Channel, Wish Films (UK) - 52x10minCaillou, Cookie Jar Entertainment (Canada) - 26x24minVarious pilots for unannounced projectsTests for co-production opportunities

Full-time, part-time and individual instruction on Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Combustion.Product demonstrations and client presentations for Adobe and Autodesk products.Technical and installation support.Workflow support and on-site problem solving.I ran the full time programme in animation for three years. This involved a small class of first and second year students who received instruction daily.I ran afternoon classes and workshops for corporate entities with specific training requirements.I ran evening classes four nights a week, providing short course instruction a primary and intermediate levels.All curriculum and testing methodologies were devised by me.I received my Autodesk Certified Instructor status each year.

Senior 3D ArtistConceptualised new bingo and casino brandsResearched new game play methodologies and recommended changes and implementations based on resultsManaged various on-line gaming brands from concept to implementation from a design point of viewManaged a team of designers for both 2D and 3D artworkImplemented assets in a custom game engine using our in-house scripting language and toolsCreated assets for online marketing campaignsWorked closely with the development team to conceptualise new features and find creative solutions to deploy with the least effort

Involved in various aspects of interactive media production, from animation to testing, including R&D and proofreading. Responsible for video editing and camera assistance as well.This was the early days of the interactive revolution. We made lots of interactive speaker support presentations, interactive CD-ROMS (including the MWeb Big Black Box and Yebo Internet In A Can), and many first websites for large corporates, including I&J.

Production assistant to the video department, where my responsibilities included taking bookings for edit suites and camera equipment. I would also go out on shoots as a camera assistant when required and was the personal assistant to the Managing Director.

Johannesburg, Gauteng, Za

Research stock footage items for use in local and international commercials from our internal library and those licensed from othersFulfil creative briefs from agenciesProvided ad-hoc technical support