Peter Tsacle
183 Fair Oaks St, San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 706-0899 ptsaykel@gmail.com
Game Industry Experience
Free Range Games 2019 – Present
Lead Animator | Unannounced AAA UE5 project (2024-25)
Animation Director | The Lord of the Rings: Return To Moria (2022-24)
Lead Animator | MVP Football: The Patrick Mahomes Experience (2021)
Senior Animator | Callisto Protocol (2020)
Animation direction, team management, character animation, motion capture direction and cleanup; Unreal and Unity for console/PC/VR titles
As Animation Director (Return to Moria) – Managed all animation assets, pipeline, schedule and external partners; UE4 integration for gameplay, locomotion and combat animation
As Animation Lead (2024) – Boss animation, character interactions, UE5 motion-matching asset integration
Telltale Games 2006 – 2017
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 – Layouts and final character animation; supervised internal and external animation teams; managed animation asset list and schedule; managed proprietary character 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 Cinematic Artist – Camera, lighting, and character setup; animation asset integration
Shaba Games/Activision 2004 – 06
Senior Animator | Shrek Super Slam (2005), Over the Hedge (2006), Shrek 3 (2007) – Character animation, cinematics direction
Stormfront Studios 2003 – 04
Senior Cinematic Artist | Demon Stone (2004) – Cinematics layout, character animation
Freelance 2000 – 03
Flash developer – Design/animation/UI for online and broadcast 2D promotional content; clients included Universal Records and Lonely Planet
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; character design, modeling, animation; art/animation team supervision; rendering, vfx
Lead Artist | Herc’s Adventures (1995) – Character design, 2D character/vfx animation
Animator | Full Throttle (1994), The Dig (1995) – 2D character/vfx animation
Awards
The Walking Dead was named 2012 Game of the Year by numerous industry publications, including Wired and Polygon
Grim Fandango won 1998 PC Game of the Year/Special Achievement in Art Direction, and ranks among Gamespot’s “Greatest Games of All Time”
Teaching Experience
Academy of Art University 2018 – 2019
Full-time Faculty, School of Game Development – Production coordinator supervising Unreal/Unity student projects and pipelines; developed 3D Animation curriculum focused on body mechanics, creature animation and game cinematics; undergraduate and graduate courses in 3D animation, low-poly modeling, and collaborative game production
The Animation Workshop, Viborg, Denmark 2001 – 2015
Instructor – Bachelor degree course modules, film supervision, and professional training courses in 3D character animation
Savannah College of Art & Design 2007 – 08
Professor of Animation – Full-time undergraduate faculty in the School of Film & Digital Media, Atlanta campus
Personal Data
I’m an animation and cinematic specialist with over thirty years of professional experience in games and interactive media. I offer a team-oriented, product-focused approach, along with a deep understanding of all facets of game production. Collaborative, flexible, and self-reliant, I try to maintain 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 the Effects Animation/Optical Department
3D: Unreal, Unity, Maya (character animation, rigging, lighting/rendering, modeling), 3ds Max (character animation) 2D/Production: Photoshop, Illustrator, Animate/Flash, ToonBoom, DaVinci Resolve, Perforce, Shotgrid, JIRA