In this episode, we talk with Tad Leckman, a multi-talented artist who is now teaching and guiding new art students into their future careers.
With a background both in entertainment and education, Tad Leckman has spent the past twenty years focused on the learning and development of artists, designers, writers and engineers. After a successful career as a digital artist and supervisor at Industrial Light and Magic, Tad changed his focus to teaching full-time, and has taught at Academy of Art University, Savannah College of Art and Design, NYU, Escape Studios and University of California Santa Cruz.
In 2008, Tad returned to Lucasfilm as Director of Training, overseeing The Jedi Masters Program, staff development and internships for the company's combined animation, visual effects and game development studio in Singapore. Tad has held senior learning and development roles at Blizzard Entertainment and Riot Games. Tad is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at UCSC, teaching graduate and undergraduate game development and professional practices classes.
Tad has lectured at SIGGRAPH, SIGGRAPH Asia, The Brooklyn Art Museum, AnimFX/NZ, CG Overdrive, Games Asia, Seoul International Animation and Cartoon Festival, DigiPen, Savannah Film Festival, VES Festival of Visual Effects, National Youth Leadership Forum on Technology, Port Townsend Film Festival, QuickTime Live!.
Tad's Website: http://www.leckman.com/tad/
Tad's Twitter: https://twitter.com/tadleckman
Frank’s Twitter: twitter.com/phoenixred
Kristen’s Twitter: twitter.com/MiniWhiteRabbit