QUALIFICATIONS
- Award-winning Art Director with over 13 years experience in the games industry in both Japan
and the US.
- In-depth knowledge of the entire game
production cycle gained from developing a variety of games and leading teams of
up to 70 employees
- Numerous roles held, including Art Director, Creative Director and Producer;
each emphasizing creativity and establishing effective production goals.
SKILLS
Core
Competencies: Senior-level Art Direction , Concept
illustration, 3D modeling and animation, Project Planning/Scheduling, strong work ethic.
Software expert: Maya, Lightwave, Softimage3D, Photoshop, ZBrush
Software intermediate: 3ds Max, Illustrator,
After Effects, Unreal 3, painter, Vue, Terragen
Software Business: MS Project, Excel, PowerPoint, Word
EMPLOYMENT
HISTORY
Applied Research Associates, Virtual Heroes Serious game Division, Raleigh, NC
Art
Director (2007/6 - present
- Responsible for Art Direction of all aspects
of artistic design across all projects. Led concept team as well as conducting visual
design efforts on my own, achieving exceptional client satisfaction
- Responsible for scheduling, planning, and
successfully delivering various projects ranging from $100k to $5 million,
delivering over 20 games within two years
- Helped spearhead the definition of the new
"Serious Games" genre both internally and for clients
Electronic
Arts, Los Angeles, CA
Producer (2006/8 – 2007/5)
Tiberium (Xbox 360,
PS3) canceled one year after I left EA
- Responsible
for the creation and completion of 50% of the game’s missions
- Maganes assets, resources and budgets.
- Worked with the Central Technology Group and
craft leads to establish pipelines and manage technical solutions
Art
Director (2003/2
- 2006/8) 3years 6months
Tiberium (Xbox 360,
PS3) (2005 - 2006) canceled one year after I left EA
- Led the Art Team to create complete a new and
original universe, taking responsibility for overall visual quality
- Worked with the Character Technical Director
to establish the studio’s standard rig and facial expression system
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (Playstation2, Xbox, Game Cube) (2003 – 2004)
- Led
efforts to translate the ambitious ideas of six creative producers into
captivating artwork, completing the project within 19 months
- Hired
and art-directed a team of 70, collaborating with internationally-renowned
artists such as Ken Adam, Kim Barret to generate high-quality visuals
- Only four months before shipping, managed a
sweeping re-design of all art content as requested by a new incoming Executive
Producer
Konami
Corporation
Studio Creative
Director, Konami of America (2002/1 – 2003/2)
- Streamlined
and redirected staff in an effort to position the studio to produce executable
ideas Designed a mind map chart used at all meetings to focus on essential
game-play features and pre-production organization
- Guided American studio and creative teams to
meet needs and expectations of Japanese headquarters
- Initiated the incorporation of marketing goals
and research into product development for the first time in the company’s
history
CGI
Director, Konami, Tokyo and Konami of America (1999/6 – 2001/12)
Silent Hill 2 (Playstation 2, Xbox, PC)
- Pursued relocation to the U.S. to spearhead development of international
best selling games, taking the initiative to lead both art and creative
direction
- Focused Silent Hill 2‘s creative team on
creating a strong game design with commercial potential. Composed the story line, game system and
scope, and led all pre-production
- Silent Hill 2 shipped on time to
exceptional reviews, establishing a large and dedicated fan base
CGI Director/CGI Artist Konami, Tokyo (1996/9 – 1999/6)
Silent Hill (PS1)
- Played key role in character, environment, and
mood design, as well as the story creation for the ground-breaking 3D survival
horror game Silent Hill
- In 2.5 years, completed all of the game’s
award-winning CGI cut scenes singlehandedly and without staff assistance. Work
included all aspects of CGI, including the creation of high-rez characters,
environment modeling, texturing, animation, and lighting
- Silent Hill has sold over two
million copies, spawning six sequels and a feature-length film
Artist/Animator, Konami, Tokyo (1996/4 - 1996/8) 5months
Sexy Parodius (PS1,
Sega Saturn)
- Created numerous animations for the port of Sexy Parodius to the Sony
Playstation and Sega Saturn, maintaining high art quality despite significantly
reduced specifications
EDUCATION
Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan
Bachelor of Fine Art / Oil Painting
INTERVIEWS,
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, AND ART EXHIBITS
- 2009: Feature article "The art of character building"for Game
Developer Magazine 2009 December issue
- 2009: Panelist for panel discussion "future of serious games"
for NHK (Japanese government owned TV station)
- 2009: Character design for "Fem-fatale", an indy game for Tale
of Tales, Belgium based company.
- 2007:Speaker at Digital Game Expo
- 2006 Guest Teacher at TrueMax CG Animation school in Denmark
- 2005: Maya Master Class, Siggraph,
- 2001: Speaker at SoftImage User's Meeting,
- 1999: "CG's Worth in the Future" at Osaka Digital Arts Festival,
- 1999:Feature article, Graphics World,
- Led and perticipated Art Exhibit, Tama Vavin, Tokyo 1996; Tama Vavin Art
Exhibits, Tokyo 1994 and 1995; Sixibition Art Exhibit, Tokyo 1993.
Interviewed by numerous of gaming magazines and publications including
The LA Times, Gamers Republic, Official Playstation Magazine, IGN, Next
Gen, Edge, Official X-Box Magazine, Joypad, CG World, Nikkei CG, Flickers,
Famitsu, Graphic World, Gamasutra.com, and the book Game Design: Secrets
of the Sages.
Three most recent web interviews
http://coregamer.web.simplesnet.pt/sato.html
http://tale-of-tales.com/blog/interviews/interview-with-takayoshi-sato/
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20050825/sheffield_01.shtml
AWARDS