Game Development Program

Max Hulburt

Professor & Chair of Visual Arts

Max is a JPCatholic alumnus and was one of the first students of the school’s Animation and Game Development programs. He received his MFA in Animation and VFX from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Max worked for CBS Interactive - GameSpot.com, creating motion graphics and animations in addition to live video and graphics production at E3 and ComicCon. Max works as a 3D artist for 'Junior Giants Foodiecats,' a series of educational, animated short films for the San Francisco Giants youth program. He specializes in 3D modeling and texturing with additional skills in rigging, lighting, animation, and rendering.

Christopher Riley

Professor of Film

Christopher Riley is a screenwriter, director and author with a career stretching from his groundbreaking 1999 film After The Truth, a multiple-award-winning German-language courtroom thriller, through screenwriting assignments for Disney’s Touchstone Pictures, Sean Connery’s Fountainbridge Films, Paramount Pictures, Mandalay Television Pictures and the Fox television network, to his directorial debut on the award-winning 2022 short film No Time Off for Good Behavior and his feature directing debut, the 2024 family revenge comedy No Reception. He is the author of the classic screenwriting reference The Hollywood Standard and The Defining Moment: How Writers and Actors Build Characters. He has taught screenwriting at the graduate and undergraduate levels for more than 20 years.

George Castro

Adjunct Professor of Animation

George is a Lead Technical Animator at High Moon Studios, where he has worked since 2006 on franchises such as Destiny and Call of Duty. His career has spanned both the video game and animation industries. He began his career in 2003 working in pre-viz and character animation for Sony Cinematics Solutions Group. He worked for Omation Studios as a Character Finaler on the animated feature The Barnyard. He then returned to Sony (SCEA) before moving to High Moon Studios, where he has worked as a cinematic artist and animator. George seeks to create content with a positive message that can express God's will in his life and to share His message of hope and love for all.

Colin Brady

Visiting Professor of Animation

Colin is the Chief Creative Officer at AMGI Studios. He is a director, creative producer and animation supervisor who has worked at Pixar, Industrial Light and Magic, Imagi Studios, Rhythm and Hues, and Pixomondo. Colin graduated from California Institute of the Arts with a BFA in Character Animation. Colin has directed animation for Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ang Lee, John Lasseter and Martin Scorsese. Colin directed on such films as Everyone's Hero, Astro Boy, TMNT, and Toy Story 2. He supervised scenes for The Hunger Games, Hugo, Green Lantern and Spiderman. Married for over two decades, Colin draws much of his inspiration from his 7 children. Whether directing Pixar characters or furthering performance capture techniques, Colin’s passion is the fine-crafting of narrative, dialogue, humor and nonverbal acting that make good stories great through the art of animations.

Brian LaFrance

Adjunct Professor of Animation

Brian has been creating CG imagery for over 30 years in games, animation and live action visual effects. Currently working for Industrial Light and Magic, he has also worked for Atari, Blizzard, Disney, DreamWorks and others on projects including the Star Wars franchise, Stranger Things, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Trolls 2, Destiny 2, and many others. Starting his career focused on look development and lighting, he is now a generalist focusing on environment creation. Brian received a BA in Art from Thomas Edison State University. He lives near Temecula with his wife and five children.

Joe Shoopack

Adjunct Professor of Game Development

Joe is a Game Developer with over 30 years of experience in the creation of Interactive Digital Entertainment. His career includes work at Blue Sky Software / SEGA, 989 Studios, and Sony Online Entertainment: serving as Director of Art Development for 16 years. During his development career he has contributed to over 65 game titles. He holds a BFA in Design from Brigham Young University.

Rodney Figueroa

Adjunct Professor of Game Design

Rodney is a gameplay designer and artist with experience in both cinema and games. He has worked as a Senior Gameplay Designer and 3d Artist for Animate Objects, and was also a Stereo Depth Artist for Legend 3d, creating stereoscopic 3d effects for films such as The Amazing Spider-Man, Man of Steel, and Shrek. His extensive teaching experience includes Mesa College, The Art Institute, and Coleman University.

Paul Rugg

Adjunct Professor of Game Develop,emt

Tom is a veteran video game developer, writer, and artist. Capping a 20+ year career in game development, Tom helped to develop the last two games in the Midnight Club racing series for Rockstar San Diego and was a 3D artist for the 2010 Game of the Year, Red Dead Redemption. He wrote all of the story missions for Blowfish Studios' Phantom Galaxies space shooter while simultaneously editing eight issues of that studio's Winter/Ember comic book series, written by Kevin Grevioux for the launch of the video game of the same name. Tom wrote the graphic novel, P.O.D.: The Nexus (2010, Zondervan Press) for veteran video game and comic book artist Mat Broome. He has also created all of the historically accurate maps for Simonetta Carr's YA historical biographies.

Mikheil Tutberidze

Adjunct Professor of Computer Programming

Mikheil (Michael) Tutberidze is a lecturer with 22 years of experience. After graduating from university, he worked in both business and education, enabling him to develop educational programs closely aligned with business requirements. As a software engineer, he participated in the integration of ERP systems in large companies and also developed new software to implement specific business processes. He assists students in acquiring valuable software development skills that will enhance their competitiveness in the market. His research interests include computational methods for business and engineering, as well as security and data analytics.

Jamie Oliff

Adjunct Professor of 2D Animation

Jamie has been actively involved in the animation industry since 1984, when he graduated with honors from the classical animation program at Sheridan College, which served as a prestigious training ground for Disney animators. He worked in Canada on commercials, feature film, and TV until 1994 when he moved to Burbank, CA to work on the Walt Disney Feature Animation unit. His work there included The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tarzan, Hercules, Mulan, The Emperor’s New Groove, and Fantasia 2000. He was selected from a group of animators to be trained on Maya and animated Mickey’s PhilharMagic, a 4d film attraction at Disney theme parks. In 2001 he left Disney to become a freelance animator, working for many of the top studios in Hollywood. His work includes National Treasure, Green Eggs and Ham, Mary Poppins Returns, and Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters. In 2024 his freelance work brought him back to Disney, animating Donald Duck for the "Hot Ones" YouTube series.

Grant Hall

Adjunct Professor of Game Development

Grant is a JPCatholic alumnus who got his start in the game and animation industry with |drive| studios where he worked as an Unreal Engine Animator and Set Designer. While there, he helped deliver comprehensive sports broadcast packages for F1 Racing, Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football and the World Cup on Fox Sports. He assisted with the design of the Emmy-award winning 2022 World Cup set built by Fox Sports in Doha. Now, he works as a game Environment Artist for High Moon Studios, where he has helped ship several Call of Duty titles across various games modes.