A 20-year veteran of VFX and animation, Chris Covelli began his career in New York City as a freelance generalist, tackling everything from modeling to animation for film and advertising. His first professional credit was creating and animating the ghostly creature in the indie horror film The Last Winter, directed by Larry Fessenden and starring Ron Perlman. From there, Chris contributed to commercial campaigns for brands such as American Express, Coca-Cola, Crayola, and Newsday, as well as the award‑winning short film Danny and the Wild Bunch.
In 2013, Chris relocated to Vancouver and shifted to cartoon animation, joining the team on Blaze and the Monster Machines. Starting as a Modeler, Chris grew into the role of Modeling Supervisor over 12 years on the series. When asked why he stayed on one show for so long, Chris would say it was his admiration for his team, amazing cross‑department collaboration, and the rare stability of a production that largely retained its crew across eight seasons. With Blaze now mostly wrapped, Chris has been spending the past several months expanding technical and creative skills while looking toward the next long‑term project.
Beyond studio work, Chris is the creator and co‑owner of Species 3D, a unique character framework for Maya that unifies modeling and rigging into a more intuitive, artist‑friendly workflow. Species has been a passion project in development for over a decade, and in recent years Chris partnered with Costantino Fracas to push it forward. Together, they are running an ongoing beta test, gathering feedback and building new features to support production‑ready character creation.
Chris is also the co‑creator, illustrator, and writer of Children of Gaia, an epic sci-fi/fantasy saga where magic, nature, and civilization collide with ruthless imperialism. As cultures fight for survival and power, invaders and natives alike uncover a deeper bond that could reshape both their worlds. Children of Gaia is a vast universe of epic fantasy/sci-fi tales told across illustrated novels, comics, and art books through indie publisher Oneshi Press.
RESUME
CHRIS COVELLI
Modeling Supervisor
🍁Permanent Resident
🔗 linkedin.com/in/chriscovelli
📧 chris@polypusher-inc.com ☎️604-358-3976 📍Coquitlam, BC
SUMMARY
3D Artist with a focus on Modeling/Surfacing. 20 years professional experience, 7+ years as Supervisor. My aim is to push boundaries and create stunning work for exciting 3D projects, to grow in skill and knowledge, and contribute to a collaborative work environment.
EXPERIENCE
Modeling Supervisor
Wildbrain Studios
📆 01/2018 – 06/2025 📍Vancouver, Canada
Project – Blaze and the Monster Machines
•Brought team on-schedule by introducing proxy modeling and previs
•Worked with pipeline TD’s to ensure tools met the needs of my team
•Established standards for materials, environment themes, best practices
•Organized internal meetings to deliver instructions to team per episode
•Worked with other departments to streamline workflows for all teams
•Published training materials for both Modeling and Design departments
Modeler, Senior Modeler, Lead Modeler
Wildbrain Studios
📆 01/2014 – 01/2018 📍Vancouver, Canada
Project – Blaze and the Monster Machines
•Created organized sets of assets that would later become environment themes (forest, jungle, city, ect)
•Petitioned for access to Zbrush which improved the quality of the show
•Modeling and surfacing for largest, most challenging environments
•Modeling and surfacing for characters and props
3D Generalist
Freelance
📆 03/2005 – 01/2014 📍NYC
Projects – Various
Modeling, Surfacing, Rigging, Animation for broadcast advertisements
•Studios – Quietman, Superfad, Pure, Smoke and Mirrors, Speakeasy FX
•Clients – Coca-Cola, American Express, Crayola, NFL Draft, Febreeze
Modeler/Animator
Janimation
📆 01/2008 – 04/2008 📍Dallas, TX
Project – Duke Begins Game Trailer ( Duke Nukem franchise)
•Modeling and surfacing for characters and props
•Character animation and motion capture performance for Duke character
•Particle work for blood spray FX
Modeler/Animator
Glass Eye Pix
📆 04/2005 – 04/2006 📍NYC
Project – The Last Winter
•Character modeling for main movie monster including external skin and internal skeleton
•Character animation for main movie monster
•Modeling for background creatures and props
EDUCATION
BFA – Printmaking, Sculpture
Purchase College, SUNY
📆 08/1999 – 05/2003
COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS
🔧Species 3D
Species is a 3d character design software solution that unifies the processes of character modeling and character rigging into one innovative workflow.
⚔️Children of Gaia
Children of Gaia is a vast universe of epic fantasy/sci-fi stories told across multiple media, including illustrated novels, comics, art books, RPGs, and more.
🎞️Danny and the Wild Bunch
A children’s book author is told that her new manuscript needs to be ‘darker’, but when her revisions piss off the characters in the book, they come back to make some changes of their own.
SKILLS
Project Management
Production Workflow
Interpersonal Communication
Team Building
Character Modeling
Environment Modeling
Alembic Pipelines
Look Dev
Surfacing
SOFTWARE
FPT/ShotGrid
Maya
Softimage
Zbrush
Photoshop
Substance Painter
Vray
Arnold
Unreal Editor