David Kersey
CFX & Look Development Artist · Creative Project Manager
Multifaceted tech and design professional with over 20 years of experience across feature animation, VFX, and emerging digital design. Skilled in hair grooming, cloth simulation, and surfacing for hero characters and environments. Contributed to multiple Academy Award–winning Disney films (Frozen, Feast) and most recently served as CFX Hair Lead on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Now expanding into AI-assisted design and product visualization — integrating machine learning tools to streamline creative workflows, generate design concepts, and enhance storytelling through data-driven and generative systems.
Responsible for textures, shading, and material properties defining character and environment appearance; rendering optimization for large-scale environment assets.
Look development across hero assets — surface detail and material response to light.
Also: Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, Beowulf, The Polar Express, Kung Fu Panda 4, Trolls Band Together
- Defined the textures, material properties, and shading networks that determine how hero characters and environments look on screen — from skin and fabric response to light, to the fine surface detail that makes a character feel real and tactile.
- Optimized rendering of large-scale environment assets including grass, foliage, trees, and other proxy geometry, balancing visual fidelity with production pipeline performance.
- Converted Frozen hair shading assets from RenderMan to Hyperion for Frozen Fever, ensuring franchise-consistent look across renderer changes.
- Served on a specialized team handling complex simulation and shading for Rapunzel's iconic hair sequences across Tangled and follow-on productions.
- Built a golf-tech and lifestyle brand combining sport, technology, and entertainment.
- Directed brand identity, UI/UX design, visual content, and apparel development.
- Led integration of AI tools for concept design, product rendering, image generation, and marketing automation, improving design turnaround and creative consistency.
- Developed AI-assisted workflows for UI prototyping, promotional content creation, and motion design visualization, bridging design and technical execution.
- Managed app development, partnerships, investor materials, and digital ecosystem strategy.
- Delivered branding, product visualization, motion/video, and presentation design for startups and nonprofits.
- Applied AI-driven concept generation and visualization techniques to accelerate design exploration and storytelling across digital campaigns.
- Co-led the hair team for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, managing simulation and grooming workflows.
- Groom lead on major characters including Miguel O'Hara (Spider-Man 2099) and over ten additional key characters.
- Mentored artists, improved shot pipeline tools, and provided artistic direction for complex hero simulations.
- Produced hair and cloth simulations for Kung Fu Panda 4 and Trolls Band Together.
- Designed simulation rigs and managed performance consistency across high-detail hero sequences.