Meet Grant Niesner

Grant Niesner is an extremely talented artist and industry veteran across both film and gaming. He brings a broad wealth of knowledge and expertise from his work on The Matrix Trilogy, to a leadership role at Electronic Arts, to join us as the new Art Director here at HakJak Studios!

Read more about Grant’s outstanding career path below.

While growing up in Central NY, I always wanted to be involved in creating new things, machines, creatures, and environments. Drawing, painting and sculpting since as long as I can remember, I marveled at the amazing concept illustrations and models created for movies like Star Wars, Alien, Blade Runner and Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal. Years later, while studying industrial design and traditional animation at Rochester Institute of Technology, I was exposed to 3D computer graphics and knew then that CG was the tool I wanted to use to achieve my artistic goals!

After working at a few different creative studios in the Northeast as a 2D and 3D artist and animator, two wonderful things happened. I met my future wife and began working on my 1st feature film, Starship Troopers, at special-effects house Mass.Illusions. That led to a big move to Los Angeles, a brief stint in Sydney Australia, then San Francisco, and work on more VFX- heavy films including What Dreams May Come and The Matrix Trilogy – a dream come true! I also spent some time exploring new activities like sky-diving (once), rock climbing and character voiceover acting (the latter, after much encouragement from friends and family).

During those years, one of my “regular” activities was playing video games. I had been playing video games ever since I was a kid, but as the technology evolved, so did my future career plans. Working in film was an amazing experience, but I soon realized that all those hours conceptualizing, modeling, animating and compositing added up to a very brief, controlled experience. You could watch a film over and over again, but never experience that imaginary world in any way other than how the filmmakers intended you to. Many video games, on the other hand, could be a new experience every time. Even if you “finished” the game, you could go back in, start fresh, and explore new possibilities.

When most of the VFX work was drying up in Northern California and relocating to LA, my wife and I decided that we needed to settle down and find a more stable life for us and our then 2-year-old son. An offer to be the Art Director for Electronic Arts NCAA Football franchise in Central Florida (near my wife’s hometown), seemed like the perfect opportunity. I also used to dream about living in Florida when I was a kid, chasing lizards and snakes, fishing for largemouth bass and watching out for alligators, not to mention the Disney and Universal parks nearby, so, a no-brainer!

While working at EA and other video game, 3D content and simulation companies in Florida, I’ve had the opportunity to work with both large and small teams on a variety of projects ranging from an experimental Virtual Reality demonstration to an innovative and super fun tabletop game! All those different experiences have allowed me to work with a wide range of tools and technologies and improve my technical skills as a 3D artist, and stay on top of the latest industry trends as an art director. I also explored many freelance opportunities that allowed me to get back to my traditional art roots of sculpting and sketching out concept designs, as well as the usual 3D work, for a number of different projects.

Grant Facts