Zach Lowery Email & Phone Number

Cary, North Carolina, United States

Irvine, Ca, Us

Drove all external development initiatives by sourcing and building high-quality vendor partnerships, aligning vendor output with studio standards through systematic evaluation and strategic contract negotiations.Established and refined production workflows for live service content in partnership with the Project Art Director, resulting in streamlined scheduling and improved predictability in content delivery.Created a centralized operational tracking system to standardize processes across departments, enhancing data accessibility for onboarding, equipment management, and company-wide events, which reinforced cross-team alignment and operational efficiency.

Bellevue, Wa, Us

Defined and championed Bungie’s multi-year outsourcing strategy, aligning external development capabilities with long-term company objectives, resulting in a cohesive, scalable external development roadmap.Conducted comprehensive project needs assessments to develop alternative development plans, optimizing resource allocation and ensuring alignment with both budgetary constraints and strategic company goals.Built and managed a dedicated External Development team, standardizing contracts, invoicing, and onboarding/offboarding processes, which streamlined reporting to executive leadership and strengthened budget oversight.Led sourcing and partnership initiatives, evaluating vendors to ensure quality and negotiating terms to fit company requirements, facilitating seamless integration and resolving complex cross-company issues effectively.Owned and nurtured key partnerships with external development vendors, fostering long-term relationships that reinforced vendor alignment with Bungie’s production values and goals.

Cary, Nc, Us

Directed the operational success of Art Development across Epic’s 1st Party Games by implementing performance management practices and optimizing resource allocation, resulting in increased team productivity and streamlined development operations.Organized and led a centralized team for Art, Outsource Management, and Partnership Production, harmonizing workflows between internal and external teams to efficiently meet diverse content development needs across all Epic products.Directed hiring and resource management for Art Development, strengthening team structure and ensuring optimal resourcing to meet project demands, while fostering talent growth within the department.

Cary, Nc, Us

Strategically collaborated with development teams to establish and communicate project milestones, enhancing cross-functional planning and proactive risk management, which directly contributed to improved project efficiency and high-quality, on-schedule deliverables.Directed the growth and organization of Fortnite's 80+ production team, implementing best practices in production management and mentoring team members to elevate skill levels, which reinforced the team’s capability to manage a high-volume production pipeline.Strengthened cross-functional collaboration among producers, artists, engineers, and designers, as well as with external partners, creating a more cohesive workflow that improved productivity and ensured alignment across all project phases.Spearheaded Fortnite’s seasonal development roadmap, optimizing schedules to balance creativity with predictability, ensuring high-quality player experiences within established timelines.Identified and resolved key roadblocks across teams, facilitating discussions that balanced project tradeoffs and maintained alignment with high-level objectives, resulting in smoother project execution.Acted as a mentor and coach for Fortnite Discipline Directors, guiding them through complex personnel, organizational, and development challenges to foster a cohesive leadership approach across disciplines.

Cary, Nc, Us

Led end-to-end planning, scheduling, and risk management for Fortnite Art production, overseeing creative direction from concept to execution, ensuring timely, high-quality output that met Epic Games’ standards.Developed a scalable infrastructure that quadrupled Fortnite’s art production capacity by sourcing and integrating global external teams, standardizing processes from vetting and contracting to onboarding and relationship management.Expanded the Fortnite Art Production team from 3 to 20+ producers, implementing robust performance management, structured hiring, and team organization practices that elevated the team’s effectiveness in supporting high-volume art production.Created and scaled art tracking processes in Shotgun to enhance development speed and streamline internal review, extending these practices to external partners for synchronized workflows.Managed intake processes for Fortnite’s external IP partnerships, collaborating with executive stakeholders to deliver high-profile content with partners like Marvel, DC, and Nike, ensuring alignment and quality standards across all collaborations.Collaborated with the VP of Art on strategic planning for team growth, defining structural and leadership needs to support the increasing demands of Fortnite Art production.

Led the end-to-end production of Radical Heights, guiding the team from initial concept to market-ready product release within a condensed six-month timeline, ensuring quality standards despite the rapid cycle.Defined and directed the creative vision for Radical Heights, unifying gameplay, design, and team leadership to ensure a cohesive and engaging player experience, while managing communications and pitches with external publishing partners.Collaborated with team leads to establish a user story-driven development roadmap, prioritizing key features to ensure timely shipping of a minimum viable product within an accelerated production cycle.

In-game animation creation – primary animator responsible for keyframing both First Person and Third Person animation assets for LawBreakers character roles - Enforcer, Battlemedic, Gunslinger, Wraith, and Harrier. Responsible for implementation of animation assets within the Unreal Engine.Created cross discipline plans for our character gameplay team and saw through the execution of these plans to ensure that the teams deliverable hit the scheduled deadlines and all stakeholders on the team were aware of the progress throughout the roles development.Facilitated informed decision making based on vision, schedule, resources, and pipeline prioritization. Communicated frequently with production leads on gameplay development statuses, risks, and opportunities for improvements within our pipelines.

Champaign, Il, Us

Responsible for overall animation quality and direction – internal as well as outsource coordination and directionPlanned, cast, and directed all in-game motion capture shoots as well as 90+ minutes of real time cinematics - character performance, action stunt planning, and fight choreographyManaged a team of animators – Providing critique notes, animation direction, and coordination of schedules. Established workflows and visual animation direction / style theory for all in-game animationWorked in parallel with system designers to ensure that Animation Quality and Gameplay functionality worked well hand in hand

Champaign, Il, Us

Responsible for Overall Animation Quality on Saints Row: The Third.Managed a team of animators – Providing critique notes, animation direction, and coordination of schedules. Established workflows and visual animation direction / style theory for all in-game animationResponsible for Motion Capture asset creation, as well as hand keyed performances where necessary. Areas of focus: Two Person melee & sprint attacks, Vehicle interaction, and Mission moment planning & development.Planned, Cast, and Directed all In-Game Motion Capture Shoots as well as all Cinematic and Facial Shoots.Worked in parallel with system designers to ensure that Animation Quality & Gameplay functionality worked well hand in hand.Designed and Developed the creation of multiple Cinematic In-Game mission moments.Organized outsourcing pipelines and provided Critiques on work to multiple outside vendors.

Champaign, Il, Us