David and DeeDra Parrish were married in 2006.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nFollowing a brief stint with an animation startup company, Parrish moved on to Sony. Faced with a choice of three films \u2014 including \u201cStuart Little\u201d and \u201cSpider-Man\u201d \u2014 Parrish chose \u201cHarry Potter and the Sorcerer\u2019s Stone,\u201d as the book series ranked second only to \u201cStar Wars\u201d on his favorite-things list. Parrish worked on the scene in which a lumpy, club-wielding mountain troll tears up a bathroom, and the high-flying Quidditch scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parrish took a six-month break and wrote a book on lighting and compositing that was part of a 3D-animation book series, then returned to Sony to work on \u201cThe Polar Express,\u201d the first full motion-capture animated film, in 2004. He met the film\u2019s star, Tom Hanks, and worked with another of his heroes, director Robert Zemeckis. (\u201cBig \u2018Back to the Future\u2019 fan,\u201d he said.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An old colleague from ILM and Sony, Kyle Clark, reached out to Parrish about Reel FX, a Dallas-based animation studio. The company wanted to make animated films and build its team in Texas, away from the industry\u2019s base in California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A crucial part of the appeal to return to North Texas: Parrish was in a long-distance relationship, and his girlfriend lived in Fort Worth. <\/p>\n\n\n\nDavid Parrish and his children Wyatt and Audrey at the premiere of “The Book of Life.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn 2004, following \u201cThe Polar Express,\u201d Parrish made the move. He and DeeDra were married in 2006 and have two children, Wyatt and Audrey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Reel FX\u2019s visual effects supervisor, Parrish took charge of the lighting and compositing team and recruited talented artists to leave the West Coast behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He shifted into team-building, starting an artist management group and working with recruiting, developing processes for career paths and performance reviews. In 2013, the company had its first big-screen film, \u201cFreebirds,\u201d with the voices of fellow Texans Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parrish moved into a vice president role as head of production in 2009, helping to build systems that connected artistic output with financial metrics \u2014 \u201ctwo things that are not so easily linked,\u201d he said. That included developing tracking and time-entry systems, and giving artists tools so that they could manage time and resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think that helped the team to empower themselves,\u201d he said. \u201cGive the artists the respect and information that they need and they can utilize to make these decisions themselves. Help them learn. It was a great experience to help with mentoring, which I\u2019ve always loved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2016, Parrish became senior vice president of Reel FX\u2019s animation division, taking on client management including Warner Bros., Netflix, Paramount and Sony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was basically attached to every project we had as an executive communicator, so that when the studio wanted to know how it was going or if there were problems, I was there with our line producer to explain the solutions. I was responsible for new business, profit and loss, keeping the beast fed and making sure the business kept running.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nAt the 2017 SIGGRAPH conference, from left: David Parrish, Curt Miyashiro, Leila Chesloff, Mary Payne and Tim McLaughlin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAggie Roots<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Throughout his career, Parrish stayed in touch with his Aggie roots. When McLaughlin returned to Texas A&M to lead the Visualization program in 2007, he asked Parrish to join the Visualization Industry Partner advisory board, bringing him back to campus twice a year for meetings and updates on the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always felt a special place for Visualization and what it provided to me,\u201d Parrish said. \u201cI was so happy for Tim and impressed with what he\u2019s been able to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now as the program is a part of the School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts, with McLaughlin leading it as interim dean, Parrish considers his new role as \u201ccoming home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parrish said he wants the Fort Worth campus to build on the positive foundation he received in the program, utilizing technology and encouraging artistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor me, that is the key to A&M graduates being so sought after,\u201d he said. \u201cThey have the technical problem-solving skills to figure things out when they break. And they have the artistic and compositional skills to make beautiful imagery. That\u2019s what every studio is after. Ultimately, that is what every employer is after: a creative problem-solver.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parrish emphasizes the importance of the studio-based environment that prepared him for a career in visual effects \u2014 engaging with and working with peers, with a focus on communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat was so valuable to me,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery employer I\u2019ve talked to who has hired someone from A&M says, \u2018They are so good at communicating.\u2019 Those soft skills of knowing how to engage and interact. It sounds simple, but those communication skills \u2014 they don\u2019t come from sitting in a lecture hall and just listening. They don\u2019t come from sitting in your room and reading. They come from engagement. They come from that active problem-solving and that ability to present work, receive critiques and take it as encouragement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moving into the academic world after 28 years in the film industry has come with plenty of adjustments, Parrish said. But he noted that he can lean on his experiences in the entertainment industry and architecture, along with his team-building and mentoring skills, to provide students with opportunities like the ones he experienced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s exciting,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve got a lot to learn. But I\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Top photo by DeeDra Parrish.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The news of Texas A&M\u2019s Visualization program expanding into the university\u2019s developing Fort Worth campus sparked a particularly exuberant reaction from Aggie graduate and visual effects expert David Parrish. \u201cIt was stand on the roof, whoop and wave …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"featured_media":17756,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[250,58,90],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
David Parrish To Lead As Director Of School Of Performance, Visualization And Fine Arts At Texas A&M-Fort Worth - Texas A&M University College of Performance, Visualization & Fine Arts<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n