Gunjan Kathale

About Me

Surfacing Supervisor and Look Development Technical Supervisor with 18+ years of experience across feature animation and VFX. Equally artistic and technical, with a strong ability to translate complex art direction into production-ready 3D assets. Proven track record designing scalable surfacing and asset workflows, leading multi-disciplinary build teams, and supporting studios through pipeline evolution. Proficiency in Supervising Surfacing teams and capable of spearheading Build departments across characters and environments.

Resume created on DoYouBuzz

Professional Experience

Confidential Feature Animation Project
Supervising a Surfacing team of 15+ artists on a feature animation production
Responsible for asset quality, consistency, planning, and delivery
Working closely with Modeling, Grooming, Rigging, Lookdev, and Lighting to ensure cohesive asset builds
Actively mentoring artists and supporting career growth within the team

Confidential Feature Animation Project
Led Surfacing for a short-form production under tight schedules
Ensured high-quality asset delivery and team coordination
Acting Build Supe working with Mod, Surf, Rig, Lighting and Comp to strategise sequences and all challenges across the board
Developed the Tree Leaves system for this show along with the Studio Lookdev Supervisor

Operated effectively at Head of Surfacing capacity, partnering closely with:
- Head of Characters
- Head of Environments
- Head of Groom/ Groom Supervisor
Designed, planned, and tested studio-wide surfacing and asset workflows to support current and future productions
Drove cross-department initiatives around:
- Asset workflows
- QC standards
- Material libraries
- Tooling improvements
- Documentation and training
Oversaw maintenance and evolution of:
- Katana surfacing toolkits
- Generics / crowds surfacing system
- Eye shader and related shading frameworks
- Surfacing QC workflows
Supported all running shows from both a technical and artistic standpoint, helping teams interpret stylized and PBR looks within pipeline constraints
Led bi-weekly Surf Tech Check sessions across all productions, creating a consistent feedback loop between artists, supervisors, and pipeline
Worked extensively with Modeling, Grooming, Rigging, Lighting, Pipeline, and Production to align expectations and requirements
Co-developed a cross-training curriculum allowing:
- Surfacers to learn Grooming fundamentals
- Groom artists to understand Surfacing workflows
- Increased team flexibility, resilience, and growth opportunities
Actively supported and co-managed the Groom department during a period of limited leadership coverage
Involved in show planning, bidding, recruitment, crewing, documentation, and training
Acted as a bridge between Surfacing, Pipeline, Lighting, Modeling, Grooming, Rigging, and Production
Directly supervised one dedicated TD and provided technical leadership to a department of 50+ surfacing artists

Garfield - Alcon Entertainment

Energalactic - Netflix
Promoted mid-show from Lead Surfacing Artist to Character Surfacing Supervisor
Led character surfacing on a highly stylized feature animation
Translated strong, graphic 2D art direction into consistent 3D surfacing solutions
Balanced artistic goals with technical constraints in a evolving pipeline
Supported team growth, look consistency, and technical problem-solving
Developed Look of Picture for the show and Surfaced main Character - Jabari

Ron’s Gone Wrong - Locksmith Animation
Played a fundamental role in designing and implementing DNEG Animation’s first Generics / Crowds Surfacing System
Collaborated with Pipeline to introduce USD-based workflows into the studio (2019)
Designed indexing systems to drive colors, patterns, and textures in Katana, resolved at render time
Developed Houdini-based randomization workflows to generate large-scale crowd variation
Iterated over multiple production cycles to improve robustness and scalability of the system
Designed and implemented eye shaders and window box shaders still in use today
Acted beyond role scope to:
- Design workflows
  -Support tool development
  -Assist artists and leads
Began formal leadership trajectory during this production

Animated Features:
Trolls (2016), Penguins of Madagascar (2014)
Internal R&D and Short Film (2014-2015)
Shading, texture painting and fur grooming. Large environments and hero assets.
Modeling and UV Layout on internal projects.

Creating FX elements in Houdini
R&D and Production on Feature Films:
Planes: Fire And Rescue, I (Tamil Movie by S.Shankar)

R&D in Blender(lighting, shading and rendering) for
architectural visualization
Production on feature film: R.I.P.D

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Production on Feature Films:
R.I.P.D, Snow White and the Huntsmen, IHop, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Yogi Bear, Fultwanti(Internal Project)
Training and R&D on fur

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Production on Feature Films:
Alvin And the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Night at the Museum : Battle of the Smithsonian, Aliens in the Attic, Vampires Assistant

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Skills

Mentored artists from junior to supervisor levels
Actively develops future leads and supervisors
Built long-term team resilience through training and documentation
Successfully transitioned a TD into the Lookdev Technical Supervisor role
Trusted point of support across productions over multiple years

Strong artistic eye with deep expertise in texturing, materials, and shading
Skilled at converting art direction into practical, scalable 3D builds
Comfortable leading and reviewing work across Build : Surfacing, Grooming, Modeling, Rigging
Experience across painterly, stylized, and PBR pipelines

Katana
Mari
USD
Houdini
Maya
Figma
Blender
Renderman
Arnold
Shotgrid

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Surfacing Supervisor

Surfacing Supervisor

Surfacing Supervisor

Look Development Technical Supervisor

Character Surfacing Supervisor

Character Surfacing Supervisor/Lead Surfacing Artist

Senior Surfacing Artist

Surfacing Artist

FX TD

FX Lighting TD

Lookdev Artist

Lighting Artist

LEADERSHIP & MENTORSHIP

ARTISTIC & TECHNICAL STRENGTHS

Software