Detailed work history
Langley, Washington • (206) 696-2501 • jwaske2@comcast.net
Jason Waskey | LinkedIn • https://www.jasonwaskey.net
Experience
Creative professional with 20+ years of experience leading teams to deliver superb award-winning experiences under tight deadlines for disparate brands. Proven ability to delight customers, while keeping production on budget and on schedule. I help establish the conceptual direction of a project and its brand identity; recruit, lead, and mentor a strong creative team; and build the product from ideation, through production, to release. For the last fifteen years I have been focused on turning cutting edge technology into amazing human centered experiences. I have both experience with in-house and 3rd party agency work.
Principal Creative Director, Microsoft, 02/2018 – 03/2023
Programs and products shipped: Mixed Reality Capture Studio • Holoportation
Creative direction, branding and strategy for the human hologram capture team.
Worked on business strategy as part of core leadership team.
Worked directly with clients on bidding and sales as both a producer and program manager.
Worked with clients to develop, interpret, and implement their creative vision.
Helped build and support our licensee ecosystem of volumetric capture stages around the world.
Built and managed the creative team, with a diverse set of skills to meet client and market needs.
Key member of development team on forward looking telepresence technologies (Holoportation).
On set art, creative, and performance direction and management of captures for next generation mixed reality experiences.
Creative Director, Run Studios LLC for Microsoft, 06/2016 – 01/2018
Programs and products shipped: Mixed Reality Capture Studio
While I was pursuing painting as a professional artist, I continued to consult for my old group, ultimately returning to work full time.
Creative direction for the human hologram capture team.
Partner and vendor management.
Provided on-set technical supervision and performance direction for mixed reality capture sessions.
Worked closely with clients to develop, interpret, and implement their creative vision.
Helped design and implement experiential prototypes that demonstrate best-in-class visual results.
Built and led the creative team, with a diverse set of skills to meet client and market needs.
Creative Break to pursue oil painting professionally, 11/2015 – 06/2016
Principal Creative Director, Microsoft, 04/2009 – 11/2015
Programs and products shipped: Avatar Kinect • Holograms • Mixed Reality Capture Studio
Creative direction for various black box incubation efforts for Microsoft’s now defunct SBG group (a part of Microsoft Research, which was ultimately merged with the Mixed Reality team lead by Alex Kipman, focused on HoloLens V1 and V2 development.
Managed balance between emerging/shifting technologies (e.g., HoloLens) and compelling customer experiences.
Cross organization support and development of human hologram use for multiple internal Microsoft teams.
Partner, vendor, and outsource management as both a producer and program manager.
On set art, creative, and performance direction and management of captures for next generation mixed reality experiences.
Managed 4-6 team members on multiple, concurrent projects in different stages.
Art Director, Aquent LLC for Microsoft, 06/2008 – 03/2009
Consulted on a variety of issues for Microsoft’s ACES games studio
Creative Break to pursue oil painting professionally, 01/2008– 06/2008
Studio Art Director, Microsoft, 12/2004 – 12/2007
Programs and products shipped: ESP 1 • Train Simulator 2 • Flight Simulator X Acceleration • Flight Simulator X
Defined the artistic direction, creative team management, and visual identity for ACES games studio.
Grew art group from eight full-time employees to a fully staffed department of 30, including building a character animation department, and an interaction design team.
Managed multiple, concurrent projects in different stages.
Trained, supervised, and provided art direction for contingent and full-time staff, managing teams ranging from 8-30 people, with more than $2.5 million in outsource budget over this period.
Created cost effective novel content creation pathways, including an internship program and repurposing of other MGS first party content assets.
Helped drive the creation of a forward-looking community relations team.
Art Director, Microsoft, 05/2001 – 12/2004
Programs and products shipped: Flight Simulator 2004 • Flight Simulator 2002
Led the artistic direction, creative team management, and visual identity for the Flight Simulator franchise.
Maintained production schedules and delivered on time and on budget for each title.
Trained, supervised, and provided art direction for contingent and full-time staff, managing teams from 4‑12 people, and over $1 million in outsource budget over this period.
Recruited and hired creative talent, building a stable team of high-producing artists.
Was studio point person for marketing collateral and visual direction.
Managed the introduction of increasingly complex advancements in f/x, weather, scenery objects, lighting, and terrain tiling systems.
Art Lead, Microsoft, 08/1998 – 05/2001
Programs and products shipped: Combat Flight Simulator 2 • Flight Simulator 2000
Led the environment teams for two award-winning titles, from preproduction to RTM.
Collaborated with development team to invent a new terrain system for a planet scale sandbox game title.
Trained, supervised, and provided art direction for contingent and full-time staff, managing teams from 4‑12 people.
Created an outsource vendor production pipeline for first party content, the first group within Microsoft Game Studios to do so.
Education
1990- 1992 B.F.A., Bachelor of Fine Arts (with distinction), University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
1988- 1990 Illustration Program, Parsons School of Design, New York City, NY
Recognition
o Automatic scenery object generation - Patent number: 7414629
o Automatic scenery object generation - Patent number: 7038694
o Efficient scenery object rendering - Patent number: 6952207
o Efficient scenery object rendering - Patent number: 7158135
o Multi-Mode Display System - Publication number: 20150193102
Served on the Arts advisory board for the Art Institute of Seattle, and as an instructor for 2 years.
Was selected three years in a row for Microsoft’s Senior Leader High Potential program.
Selected conference speaking and panel appearances:
GDC, SIGGRAPH B of F, AWE, VRARA, SXSW, VIFF, CES, MSFT Production Summit and Volumetric Filmmakers NYC