Let’s Talk
Dan is a Seattle resident and game design director who attempts to stay dry with his lovely wife, daughter, and dog.
Dan also loves finding good music, Sharp Writing, passionate people, and the Palm desert.
Biography
I care about deconstructing the essence of each moment. I care about assembling new ideas from those disparate parts. Most of all, I care about delivery over theory. I started off like most children of my generation, making internet videos at the dawn of the millennium. After graduating from film school, I decided to further my education by attending Savannah College of Art & Design. In 2010, I graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design with a Master of Fine Arts degree in motion media design.
Immediately after getting my degree, my life took a swift left turn, and I was whisked off to Seattle, Washington to work at Microsoft for 12 years. First, marketing Halo, then creating apps and new technology for Xbox, then directing the Halo Infinite story across trailers, levels, cinematics, and emergent experiences.
Now, I work on a brand new I.P. with the hopes of creating enigmatic worlds to explore and new characters to love. With every opportunity, I aim for elegance, wonder, and depth. I service the story through design, the spoken word, and the desire to keep the audience feeling considered and crucial to the unfolding narrative. I service moments. I service the drive to find the larger meaning, the larger story, all for the larger good. Let's make moments more resonant, more inspired, more understood. Let's make ideas into mythology. Let's make something beautiful together.
PRESENT
_01
Game Experience Director
UNANNOUNCED Game \\
Jar of Sparks. Seattle, WA
October 2022 – Present
Story, Cinematics, and Level Design Director
_02
NARRATIVE EXPERIENCE DIRECTOR
Halo FPS Shooter Team \\
343 Industries (Microsoft). Seattle, WA
August 2017 – September 2022
Created plans, specifications, and pre-visualizations for Halo Infinite's narrative experiences across cinematics and gameplay. Oversaw all cinematic narrative sequences, ensuring optimal performance. Served as a voice-over director for select talent. Directed the creation of all in-game narrative sequences, including their artistry, technical design, sound design, music, lighting, and special effects representations. Reviewed and consistently provided feedback throughout the writing and pre-visualization phases. Wrote narrative design specifications for discrete levels during the pre-production and production stages of development. Collaborated with the creative director to establish the pacing of dialogue and audio throughout the single-player campaign. Generated extensive documentation outlining narrative goals and methodologies for casting directors, actors, UI team, graphics team, QA team, and the entire studio across the narrative production pipeline. Guided the entire narrative cinematic presentation daily until the game's release.
_03
Creative DIRECTOR . EXPERIENCE DESIGNER
Halo Transmedia Team \\
343 Industries (Microsoft). Seattle, WA
May 2015 – July 2017
Led an incubation team to figure out the direction and experiential facets of future projects that the Halo transmedia team may have wanted to greenlight. This manifested as interactive TV app development, short-story creation, and VR project creative direction.
_04
Director
Halo Transmedia Team \\
343 Industries (Microsoft) + Scott FreE. Seattle, WA
February 2014 – December 2014
I directed 15 short films for the Halo: Nightfall series that premiered on the Halo Channel.
_05
Creative Lead + Experience Designer
Halo Transmedia Team \\
343 Industries (Microsoft). Seattle, WA
December 2012 – May 2015
I provided creative direction on an interactive television experience for the Halo franchise. The goal was to create something completely additive to the game and a platform that did not use gimmicks for the sake of creating an interactive television experience.
_06
Lead Video Motion Designer & Editor
Halo Transmedia Team \\
343 Industries (Microsoft). Seattle, WA
January 2011 – December 2012
I created all the behind-the-scenes documentary materials and 90% of the motion graphic materials for Halo Anniversary and Halo 4.
_07
Staff Designer
Imaginary Forces. New York, NY
September 2010 - January 2011
Full-Time Staff Designer and Animator. I was responsible for rebranding the Canadian W Network and worked on the rebranding project for Spike TV. Additionally, I created the logo for Dreamwork's film 'Real Steel.' Throughout my tenure, I also worked on several internal branding projects.
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Designer
King and Country,Santa Monica, CA
June 2009 - August 2009
I modeled 3D elements for the Comedy Central Roast of Joan Rivers. I designed pitch boards for the Comedy Central Roast of Joan Rivers. I animated chocolate swirls and peanuts that were mixed with shot elements for Kellogg's Fiber Plus. I modeled a high polygon eye machine for the pitch of the Oprah Winfrey Network
_09
Designer
Loyalkaspar. New York, NY
June 2008 - September 2008
Animated Disney XD bumpers were fixed for grammar and spelling errors and put in past tense. Constructed billboard print ads were fixed for grammar and spelling errors and put in past tense. The real-world motion graphic transitions for Disney XD were spearheaded. A Loyalkaspar internal video for their 5th year anniversary was assembled, animated, and designed.
_10
Designer / Editor
Major League Gaming. New York, NY
July 2006 - October 2007
I have assembled, animated, shot, and 3D modeled more than 15 different web promotional videos for Major League Gaming. I fully produced a one-minute commercial that aired on G4TV and ESPN.com.
_11
Assistant Editor
Film Oasis / Bungie StudioS. Kirkland, WA
July 2006 - August 2006
Spearheaded pre-production on the Halo 3: ViDoc’s. Captured early-game HD footage for ‘Et Tu Brute?’ video documentary. Assembled first Bungie podcast.
_12
Intern
Film Oasis. Santa Monica, CA
June 2004 - September 2004
I captured game footage for the Halo 2 Documentary. I edited and constructed the 'First Look' featurette on the DVD. I assembled rough edits for use with DVD commentary.