Peter Tsacle
183 Fair Oaks St, San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 706-0899 ptsaykel@gmail.com
Game Industry Experience
Telltale Games 2006 – 2018
Lead Animator | The Walking Dead: A New Frontier (2016-17)
Lead Animator | The Walking Dead: Michonne (2015)
Lead Animator | Tales from the Borderlands (2014)
Lead Animator | Poker Night 2 (2013)
Lead Animator | The Walking Dead (2011-12)
Lead Animator/Episode Director | Back to the Future (2010-11)
Lead Animator | Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse (2009-10)
Art/Animation Lead | Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures (2008-09)
Senior Cinematic Artist | Sam and Max Save the World (2006-07)
As Lead Animator – created layouts and final character animation; supervised internal and external animation teams; created, scheduled, and managed animation asset list; managed in-engine animation-tree/performance system; recruited in-house and external animation talent
As Director (Back to the Future 102) – directed all art, animation, and cinematics
As Art Lead (Wallace & Gromit) – supervised design and production of all environments, characters, animation and lighting
As Animator (Batman: The Enemy Within, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead: 400 Days) – layout, final animation
As Cinematic Artist – in-game camera, lighting, and character setup; in-game integration of animation assets
(also credited as Peter Tsaykel)
Shaba Games/Activision 2004 – 06
Senior Animator | Shrek Super Slam (2005), Over the Hedge (2006), Shrek 3 (2007): character animation, directed in-game cinematics
Stormfront Studios 2003 – 04
Senior Cinematic Artist | Demon Stone (2004): in-game cinematics layout, character animation
Freelance 2000 – 03
Flash developer | Design, animation, UI for 2D games, online media, and broadcast; clients included Universal Records, Lonely Planet, and THQ
Doublefine Productions 2000
Pre-production consultant | Psychonauts (2005): preliminary character design, gameplay/story development
LucasArts Entertainment Company 1994 – 2000
Lead Artist | Playstation2 Project (1999-2000): pre-production design, art direction; character design, modeling and animation
Lead Artist | Grim Fandango (1996-98): art direction, art/animation team supervision; character design, modelling, animation, rendering, effects
Lead Artist | Herc’s Adventures (1995): character design, 2D character/effects animation
Animator | Full Throttle (1994), The Dig (1995): 2D character/effects animation, cinematics
Teaching Experience
Academy of Art University, School of Game Development 2018 – 2019
Full-time Faculty | Production coordinator supervising Unreal/Unity student projects and pipelines; instituted Shotgun for game project organization; developed 3D Animation curriculum focused on body mechanics, creature animation and game cinematics; taught undergraduate and graduate courses (100+ students per term) in 3D animation, low-poly modeling, and collaborative game production
The Animation Workshop, Viborg, Denmark2001 – 2016
Instructor | Bachelor Department course modules, film supervision, and professional seminars in 3D character animation
Savannah College of Art & Design, Atlanta 2007 – 08
Professor of Animation | Full-time undergraduate faculty in the School of Film & Digital Media
Awards
The Walking Dead | 2012 Game of the Year in multiple publications, including Wired, Polygon, and VGA
Grim Fandango | 1998 PC Game of the Year/Special Achievement in Art Direction; ranks among Gamespot’s “Greatest Games of All Time”
Personal Data
Animation and cinematic generalist with over twenty years of professional experience in games and digital media; collaborative, flexible, self-reliant, with a strong sense of style and an unflinching eye for quality; firmly rooted in traditional design, animation, and storytelling principles.
Education
1993 San Francisco State University | BFA in Film/Animation Emphasis, summa cum laude
Internships: 1992 Industrial Light & Magic | SFSU academic internship in ILM’s Effects Animation/Optical Dept.
3D: Maya (character animation, rigging, lighting/rendering, modeling), 3DSMax (animation), Unreal, Unity
2D/Production: Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe Animate/Flash, ToonBoom, DaVinci Resolve, Perforce, Shotgun, JIRA