Wade Ryer:
Animator, Rigger, Handsome Devil

Originally from Binghamton, NY, Wade Ryer has 10 years of experience in design and animation. Wade at a young age had a talent for drawing cartoons. He was always the class artist/clown drawing caricatures, year book covers and murals at his high school.

Wade attended Syracuse University , originally as an Illustration major with hopes of someday being a cartoonist. He soon found computer graphics and switched his major. His first stint behind a keyboard was interning for the Syracuse Newspapers. The following summer during college, was spent working for Building News in Southern California doing layout and design. Wade graduated with a BFA in Computer Graphics in 1997. While at Syracuse Wade was a contributing cartoonist to the Daily Orange, active in intramural sports, SU snowboard team, Disc Jockey, and pizza delivery man.

After graduation in 1997, Wade started off in web design and went to work for Parade Magazine in New York City doing layout and design for their online magazine, React. He took several night and weekend classes in Softimage at Future Media Concepts. He soon realized that 3d Animation is what he wanted to focus his career towards.

He then landed an animation position with JuniorNet in Boston, MA in 1999 doing 2d and 3d animation. There he worked up to Senior Animator for JuniorNet's content provider Sports Illustrated for Kids. He designed and animated their games and activities for subscribers. Soon the dot com bomb hit and the company laid off all their workers. He took a job doing corporate design and animation with LuxorMedia in Waltham, MA, a suburb of Boston. They too were not immune to the downturn in technology.

In 2001, Wade moved back to New York City doing freelance design and animation work. Shortly after taking a full time position with Interact Multimedia, in Princeton, NJ. While at Interact, Wade took on a more technical role programming backends of websites and CD roms as well as working on corporate videos. Missing the 3d aspect, he enrolled at the School of Visual Arts, taking night classes in Maya. He spent every free second of his spare time learning Maya and creating his own characters and animations with aspriations of becoming a 3d animator. He learned Maya so well, he realized that he was talented at the technical side of animation and focused on character rigging.

In 2003, Wade then was contacted by Reel FX Creative Studios to come to Dallas, TX, 1500 miles from NY, to work on their upcoming movie, "Valor vs. Venom". Wade seized the opportunity and packed up for Texas. While at Reel FX, he worked as a rigger setting up characters, vehicles, props, and accessories on several other projects.

While in Dallas, a neighboring studio, DNA Productions began production on their upcoming feature film, The Ant Bully. Wade couldn't resist to work on a feature film and to have his work seen on the big screen. Wade then went to work at DNA Productions as a Character Technical Director in 2004. While at DNA, Wade work on several character for The Ant Bully, including Lucas, the main character of the movie. While rigging work wrapped up, Wade moved to the Special Effects department to help out. Shortly before the production wrapped up, DNA Production announced that their well had run dry and that they would be laying off the entire staff of over 200 people.

Not being a stranger to layoffs and moving, he then took the opportunity to work in video games and accepted a position with Electronic Arts in Chicago, IL in 2006, where he worked as Senior Character Animator on titles Def Jam Icon, Marvel Fighter, and Def Jam Icon 2.

In 2007, Wade was offered the opportunity to work in feature films again with Framestore CFC, in London, England. An opportunity that couldn't be turned down. Where he has begun working on "The Tales of Despereaux" as a rigger.

In his spare time, he enjoys weightlifting, video games, scuba diving, and watching Yankee baseball and rooting for the Chicago Bears.

Wade has worked in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Dallas, Princeton, Chicago and London on Feature Films, Broadcast, CD roms, Web and Graphic Design, and next generation video games. Currently he works for Framestore CFC and resides in London, England.