Sean C. Cunningham
- Visual Effects
- Producer
- Writer
I taught myself BASIC programming before my family owned our first computer in 1984. I received a Commodore Amiga as an early high school graduation gift and started teaching myself computer graphics, working all through prom weekend on my first payed animation job. This would be the first of many "all nighters" in my career.
While building a small local client list in the Summer of 1991 I saw James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgement Day and that changed my focus from motion graphics to trying more sophisticated animations and techniques. My experimentation paid off in the form of an acceptance letter to the Character Animation department at California Institute of the Arts. My self-taught work landed me a spot in the school which one semester later landed me a job offer from Academy Award winning Metrolight Studios.
At Metrolight I learned new skills and techniques from some of the earliest innovators in computer graphics and in 1993 I joined the then startup Digital Domain, founded by James Cameron, Stan Winston and Scott Ross. While at DD I learned even more about digital visual effects for feature films, quickly advancing to lead and supervisor roles while developing procedural animation systems. In 2000 I made the first known application of Paul Debevec's image-based rendering techniques in a feature film for Bryan Singer's X-Men while at Digital Domain.
Through the early 2000s I experimented in independent film and would return to Digital Domain in addition to working for renowned visual effects studios like Sony Pictures Imageworks and Rhythm & Hues, then taking a break from the industry for a few years and making a second independent film with my brother Tim in 2010. Later I would join the startup Mighty Coconut, creating work for film and new media clients which also renewed my interest in animation projects. And in 2018 I joined Rooster Teeth Animation for several seasons and two feature length animated films in the RWBY franchise.
Whether film, television, effects or animation, I remain addicted to making imagery.
While building a small local client list in the Summer of 1991 I saw James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgement Day and that changed my focus from motion graphics to trying more sophisticated animations and techniques. My experimentation paid off in the form of an acceptance letter to the Character Animation department at California Institute of the Arts. My self-taught work landed me a spot in the school which one semester later landed me a job offer from Academy Award winning Metrolight Studios.
At Metrolight I learned new skills and techniques from some of the earliest innovators in computer graphics and in 1993 I joined the then startup Digital Domain, founded by James Cameron, Stan Winston and Scott Ross. While at DD I learned even more about digital visual effects for feature films, quickly advancing to lead and supervisor roles while developing procedural animation systems. In 2000 I made the first known application of Paul Debevec's image-based rendering techniques in a feature film for Bryan Singer's X-Men while at Digital Domain.
Through the early 2000s I experimented in independent film and would return to Digital Domain in addition to working for renowned visual effects studios like Sony Pictures Imageworks and Rhythm & Hues, then taking a break from the industry for a few years and making a second independent film with my brother Tim in 2010. Later I would join the startup Mighty Coconut, creating work for film and new media clients which also renewed my interest in animation projects. And in 2018 I joined Rooster Teeth Animation for several seasons and two feature length animated films in the RWBY franchise.
Whether film, television, effects or animation, I remain addicted to making imagery.
