Richard Thompson

Richard Thompson Email and Phone Number

Technical Director at Netflix @ Netflix
Richard Thompson's Location
Glendale, California, United States, United States
Richard Thompson's Contact Details
About Richard Thompson

Experienced Technical Director with a demonstrated history of working in the animation and visual effects industries. Skilled in Python, PyQt, Maya, Houdini, MEL, Pipeline Development, Look Development, Effects animation and general Computer Graphics. Strong information technology professional with an MSc focused in Computer Animation from Bournemouth University and a PhD in Engineering Science from Oxford University.

Richard Thompson's Current Company Details
Netflix

Netflix

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Technical Director at Netflix
Richard Thompson Work Experience Details
  • Netflix
    Technical Director
    Netflix Jul 2019 - Present
    Los Gatos, Ca, Us
  • Skydance Animation
    Technical Director
    Skydance Animation Sep 2018 - Jul 2019
  • Disneytoon Studios
    Technical Director
    Disneytoon Studios Nov 2015 - Aug 2018
    (Disney shut down DisneyToons in late August 2018)Lead Technical Director for the untitled DisneyToon Studios film project• Interfaced with the Previs/Layout, Look Development and Production Management Teams. Was instrumental in developing the DTS Linux pipeline from its infancy to its production ready state. Early stage collaboration with Disney Feature Animation Technical Directors to port several Feature Animation tools into the DTS pipeline. Tools development was via Python, PyQt5, PySide and MEL.• Helped define and implement the directory structure, develop the Previstools shelf in Maya as well as the custom DTS shelves in Clarisse, Houdini, Mari and Nuke Studio. Extended the publishing infrastructure and the DTS Shotgun API calls so that, for example, the proprietary media viewer's submissions, via publishing, track the source files of those submissions. This data binding would, for example, allow the Maya file that generated a playblast to be launched directly from the proprietary media catalog itself.• Initiated the upgrading of the third party vendor ingestion process to be much more user friendly. Ingestion is the key production management process in an outsourcing model. It was manual via Linux commands prior to this upgrade. The project included making a user interface and reading all task templates, shot and asset data from Shotgun.• Project lead on the auto breakout process. Created tools for submitting shots to editorial from within Nuke Studio and breaking out from the sequence to shot level based on the editorial round trip xml.• Initiated a project to provide an alternative to Shotgun Toolkit. This resulted in a user friendly interface for the artists that removed the need for remembering many of the underlying Linux commands in the pipeline. This increased efficiency and allowed much faster on-boarding of new artists.• Collaborated with Previs/Layout and Look Development artists troubleshooting any scene issues they encountered.
  • Method Studios
    Technical Director - Computer Graphics
    Method Studios Sep 2011 - Sep 2015
    Santa Monica, Ca, Us
    Have worked both in software as a Pipeline Technical Director and production as an Effects Technical Director Software Group/Pipeline Technical Director • Tools development using Python, PyQt and Pyside within an Agile team structure using stash and git for version control. • Senior developer in the pipeline unification initiative between the LA and Vancouver facilities. This Python/Pyside project has allowed artists in the 2 facilities to create assets in a unified directory structure, work seamlessly on the same assets whilst working in different countries and allowed Method Studios to work on shows of much greater complexity. • Improved and reimplemented the Texture Publishing and MariTools (with Python) allowing vastly expanded file format handling and ease of ingesting data from other companies. Redesigned Track Comp allowing simultaneous tracking of all scene cameras, as opposed to sequentially, improving efficiency. Development of Maya asset browsing and publishing. • Solving emergency issues raised and managed through Jira. Quick issue resolution allows shot delivery on time and budget. Effects and Show Pipeline Technical Director Worked on the films Beautiful Creatures, White House Down, Cloud Atlas and Wrath of The Titans. • Developed a Houdini based shot building system using Python/PyQt. This became the backbone of the Wrath pipeline. • As the Cloth Simulation lead, developed Python and MEL procedures to control clothing simulations with nCloth. • Designed node networks in Houdini to calculate effects animation for natural phenomena such as pyroclastic dust.
  • Dreamworks Animation
    Technical Director And Fx Animator
    Dreamworks Animation Aug 2009 - Aug 2011
    Glendale, Ca, Us
    FX Animator and Technical Director for the Dreamworks projects:Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots and MegaMindFX development in Maya, MEL, Houdini, Python and Dreamworks proprietary tools• Developed Python and MEL procedures to create reusable effects simulation modules in Maya. • Created nCloth solutions in Maya to produce deforming objects simulations.
  • Digital Domain
    Technical Director
    Digital Domain Mar 2007 - Aug 2009
    Los Angeles, Ca, Us
    Technical Director at DD for the following DD projects:TransformersThe Mummy 3Transformers 2Tron: LegacyFX animation and development, Look development, Software development and pipeline development• As Pipeline Lead on Transformers 2, led and mentored a team developing Python classes and MEL procedures to set up the animation pipeline. Trained artists in the pipeline usage which improved cross departmental data flow and efficiency. • Built Look Development networks using VEX in Houdini. Used Maya and Houdini to perform Effects Animation. • Designed and implemented a PyQt Maya interface to control Rigid Body Dynamics sims for robot destruction scenes. Developed a Python based interface to control hair simulations via Maya and Shave and Haircut.
  • Walt Disney Feature Animation
    Look Development Technical Director
    Walt Disney Feature Animation Sep 2004 - Feb 2007
    Burbank, Ca, Us
    Look development on the Disney projects:Meet The RobinsonsAmerican Dog (released as Bolt)• Developed procedures in Disney’s proprietary expression language to simulate grass and foliage. • Wrote Perl scripts to propagate surface descriptions through to multiple building assets. • Developed surface shaders using the Renderman Shading Language, particularly in relation to the look of water droplets. • Painted texture maps in Photoshop.
  • Dreamworks Animation
    Look Development Technical Director And Fx Animator
    Dreamworks Animation Feb 2003 - Aug 2004
    Glendale, Ca, Us
    Look development and FX animation for the following Dreamworks project:Shark Tale• Developed Python and MEL procedures to create reusable effects simulation modules in Maya. • Wrote surface shaders in Renderman and Slim widgets using Tcl. The team used the widgets to surface large numbers of under water assets. Painted texture maps with Dreamworks’ paint tool and Photoshop. Developed processes for Mental Ray exposure passes.
  • Pixar Animation Studios
    Technical Director
    Pixar Animation Studios Jan 2001 - Feb 2003
    Emeryville, California, Us
    Global Technology and Effects Technical Director for the following Pixar projects:Monsters, IncFinding Nemo• Intergrated Shake, into Pixar’s pipeline. Developed new Shake nodes to replace Pixar’s existing comp macros, allowing interactive control of compositing for lighting artists. Performed effects animation and fur simulations. • Wrote surface shaders using Renderman. Wrote a Perl based system to port Maya set dressing into Pixar’s proprietary language (called Mdl). Performed Effects and Fur simulations using Maya.
  • Goldman Sachs
    Analyst
    Goldman Sachs Jun 1998 - Sep 1999
    New York, New York, Us
    Analyst in Financial Technology
  • Accenture
    Analyst
    Accenture Jan 1997 - Jun 1998
    Dublin 2, Ie
    Analyst in the Process Competency

Richard Thompson Skills

Maya Mel Houdini Computer Graphics Look Development Fx Animation Lighting Visual Effects Pipeline Development Renderman Python Pyqt Fx Development Nuke Computer Animation Compositing Solo Piano Pyside Hom

Richard Thompson Education Details

  • Bournemouth University
    Bournemouth University
    Computer Animation
  • University Of Oxford
    University Of Oxford
    Structural Engineering
  • University Of Cambridge
    University Of Cambridge
    Engineering Science

Frequently Asked Questions about Richard Thompson

What company does Richard Thompson work for?

Richard Thompson works for Netflix

What is Richard Thompson's role at the current company?

Richard Thompson's current role is Technical Director at Netflix.

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What schools did Richard Thompson attend?

Richard Thompson attended Bournemouth University, University Of Oxford, University Of Cambridge.

What are some of Richard Thompson's interests?

Richard Thompson has interest in Football, Exercise, Sweepstakes, Home Improvement, Collecting Art, Reading, Gourmet Cooking, Sports, Watching Basketball, Food.

What skills is Richard Thompson known for?

Richard Thompson has skills like Maya, Mel, Houdini, Computer Graphics, Look Development, Fx Animation, Lighting, Visual Effects, Pipeline Development, Renderman, Python, Pyqt.

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