Resume

Jay Riddle

[email protected] San Francisco, CA https://jayriddleart.com

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Profile

Art Director and creative leader with 20+ years of experience defining visual direction and leading game art and VFX teams from concept through launch. Built and led the 20+ person art team for Game of Thrones: Dragonfire, a AAA mobile 4X strategy game, through soft launch. Currently working in Human Data at SpaceXSI, training and improving Grok and building tools for team workflows. Experienced partnering with engineering, design, production, and technical art to translate ambitious visual goals into cohesive, production-ready experiences.

Core Competencies

  • Art Direction
  • 4X Strategy Development
  • Visual Development and Worldbuilding
  • Art and Engineering Collaboration
  • Real-Time Asset Pipelines
  • UI/UX and Visual Hierarchy
  • Outsourcing and Vendor Direction
  • Team Mentorship
  • AI Model Training and Workflow Development

Professional Experience

SPACEXSI

January 2026–Present

Tutor, Vision & Audio · Human Data

  • Contribute directly to the training and improvement of Grok through human-data development, evaluation, and daily work with AI tools.
  • Apply visual, creative, and technical judgment to assessing model behavior and output, developing firsthand understanding of AI capabilities and limitations.
  • Write practical internal tools for Human Data workflows; several have been widely adopted by peers.

WARNER BROS. GAMES

2021–2025

Boston, MA / Remote from San Francisco

Director of Art — Game of Thrones: Dragonfire

  • Defined the visual direction and quality bar for a AAA mobile 4X strategy game rooted in cinematic worldbuilding.
  • Built and led a globally distributed team of 20+ artists from initial concept through soft launch.
  • Aided the transition of the title and art production to the live-service team.
  • Partnered with engineering, design, product, and production to align visual goals with 4X gameplay, technology, and schedule.
  • Provided visual direction, review, and actionable feedback across art disciplines; directed external partners to maintain visual consistency.
  • Negotiated access to HBO VFX assets and reference material to stay true to the show.
  • Established a GenAI experimentation sandbox to evaluate emerging workflows, educate stakeholders, and identify practical production applications.

ADLIVEN

2020–2021

San Francisco, CA

VP, Creative

  • Led creative production at a global agency, directing interactive and video ad campaigns for Activision (Call of Duty Mobile), Supercell, and 2K.
  • Introduced operational and quality standards that increased revenue by 80% within a year.

ZYNGA

2016–2019

San Francisco, CA

Senior Art Director

  • Directed visual development for an unreleased AAA mobile game.
  • Managed in-house and offshore teams, establishing visual standards and production pipelines.
  • Created in-game assets for research and marketing while working hands-on in Unity.

MUTI LABS

2012–2016

Santa Monica, CA

Founder / Creative Director / Art Director

  • Co-founded and staffed a game development studio of designers, artists, and engineers.
  • Developed Days of Discord, a sci-fi IP and mobile card battler built in Unity.
  • Sourced and directed visual, audio, and narrative content, including external partnerships; created UX/UI assets and integrated 3D game assets.

DISNEY INTERACTIVE

2006–2012

Glendale, CA

Director, Visuals

  • Led internal art directors and coordinated with third-party developers on art quality.
  • Oversaw art direction for Toy Story 3, TRON: Evolution, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, and Epic Mickey.
  • Built relationships across studios and Disney divisions to maintain visual quality and brand fidelity.

ELECTRONIC ARTS

2000–2005

Redwood Shores and Los Angeles, CA

Principal Art Director

  • Directed art for James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire and James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing.
  • Mentored senior art talent and instituted best practices across EA studios, emphasizing cinematic presentation and visual fidelity.

Selected Film Credits

CG Supervisor
The Abyss and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Industrial Light & Magic)
VFX Supervisor
Starship Troopers (Tippett Studio) and Cliffhanger (Boss Film Studios)

Technical and AI Experience

Real-Time and Production
  • Unity
  • Perforce
  • Jira
  • Figma
Art and Direction
  • Photoshop
  • Substance Painter (familiar)
  • Maya (review/directional use)
  • Blender (light use)
Current AI Work
  • Grok training and evaluation
  • Human Data workflows
  • Internal tool development
Prior AI Experimentation
  • Stable Diffusion
  • ComfyUI
  • Midjourney
Additional
  • Photogrammetry
  • Polycam
  • RealityCapture

Education

University of Southern California, School of Cinematic Arts

Bachelor of Arts — Cinema/Television Production