Terrence Masson is a

computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images and art with the aid of computers. Computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, digital art, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. ...

educator, producer, and lecturer, specializing in animation, storytelling and executive leadership. He is the chair of the MFA Computer Arts Department at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

(SVA) in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He was also founder and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Building Conversation, an augmented reality company located in Boston, MA. He was both the ACM

SIGGRAPH SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) is an annual conference centered around computer graphics organized by ACM, starting in 1974 in Boulder, CO. The main conference has always been held in North ...

2006 Computer Animation Festival Chair and 2010 Conference Chair. He also wrote the book ''CG 101: A Computer Graphics Industry Reference'', and has contributed to films, television programs, and video games.

Education

Masson graduated from the

University of Massachusetts Lowell The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell and UML) is a Public university, public research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, with a satellite campus in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is the northernmost member of the University of M ...

in 1989 with a BFA in

Graphic Design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

and a minor in Art History, followed by

William Paterson University William Paterson University, known as WP, officially William Paterson University of New Jersey (WPUNJ), is a public university in Wayne, New Jersey, United States. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Founded in 1855 an ...

in 1990 with an MFA in

Computer Animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating Film, moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Virtu ...

Career

Masson was the Founder and

of Building Conversation, an

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...

company serving the

architectural engineering Architectural engineering or architecture engineering, also known as building engineering, is a discipline that deals with the engineering and construction of buildings, such as environmental, structural, mechanical, electrical, computational, e ...

& construction (AEC) and real estate industries. He came up through the ranks with credits in approximately 20 feature films, including three ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' movies, ''

Hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

'', ''

True Lies ''True Lies'' is a 1994 American action comedy film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Harry Tasker, a U.S. government agent, who struggles to balance his double life as a spy with his familial duties, ...

'' and ''

Interview with the Vampire ''Interview with the Vampire'' is a gothic horror and vampire novel by American author Anne Rice, published in 1976. It was her debut novel. Based on a short story Rice wrote around 1968, the novel centers on vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac ...

''. Masson began his own consulting company "Digital Fauxtography" in 1994, working as a

Creative Producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In films, ...

Director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

, and VFX Supervisor. Masson's interactive projects have included ''Siberia 2'', ''

Sim City 4 ''SimCity 4'' is a city-building simulation computer game developed by Maxis, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts. The game was released in January 2003 for Microsoft Windows and in June 2003 for Mac OS X. It is the fourth major installment in the ...

'', '' Batman: Dark Tomorrow'', and '' Alter Echo'' and the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

launch title '' Bruce Lee: Quest of the Dragon''. As an award-winning Director and Producer his short animated film ''Bunkie & Booboo'' won first place in the World Animation Celebration in 1998. from

Animation World Network Animation World Network (often just "AWN") is an online publishing group that specializes in resources for animators, with an extensive website offering news, articles and links for professional animators and animation fans. Content Specifically ...

. As

, he consults with major production studios worldwide on creative development and pipeline efficiency. Masson has also served as an on-camera image analysis expert for the History Channel's ''Ancient Aliens'' and ''

UFO Hunters ''UFO Hunters'' is an American television series that premiered on January 30, 2008, on The History Channel, produced by Motion Picture Production Inc., and ran for three seasons. Jon Alon Walz was the executive producer of the show and was resp ...

''. As Founding Director of Creative Industries at Northeastern University in Boston (2008-2013), Masson oversaw seven combined majors in Game Design and Interactive Media as well as the Creative Industries minors. He is a longtime member of the

Producers Guild of America The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing the interests Television producer, television producers, Film producer, film producers and emerging media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership inclu ...

, the

Visual Effects Society The Visual Effects Society (VES) is an entertainment industry organization representing visual effects practitioners including artists, animators, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and p ...

and has been active in

since 1988, as Outstanding Service Award Chair, 2006 Computer Animation Festival Chair and

2010 Conference Chair. Masson is a Master of Animation and Film Special Effects with the Beijing DeTao Masters Academy (DTMA), a high-level, multi-disciplined, application-oriented higher education institution in Shanghai, China.

Works

Films

*''

'' (1991) *''

Color of Night ''Color of Night'' is a 1994 American erotic mystery thriller film produced by Cinergi Pictures and released in the United States by Buena Vista Pictures (through its Hollywood Pictures label). The film was directed by Richard Rush, was join ...

'' (1993) *''

'' (1993) *'' Under Siege 2: Dark Territory'' (1994) *''

Judge Dredd Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of the British weekly anthology Comic book, comic ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' (1977). He is the magazi ...

'' (1994) *''Woodstock: 25th Anniversary'' (1994) *''

Batman Forever ''Batman Forever'' is a 1995 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. It is the third installment of the ''Batman'' film series, acting as a standalone sequel to ''Batman Returns''. Directe ...

'' (1995) *''

Cutthroat Island ''Cutthroat Island'' is a 1995 adventure swashbuckler film directed by Renny Harlin and written by Robert King and Marc Norman from a story by Michael Frost Beckner, James Gorman, Bruce A. Evans, and Raynold Gideon. It stars Geena Davis, M ...

'' (1996) *''

Anaconda Anacondas or water boas are a group of large boas of the genus ''Eunectes''. They are a semiaquatic group of snakes found in tropical South America. Three to five extant and one extinct species are currently recognized, including one of the l ...

'' (1996) *'' The Lord Protector: The Riddle of the Chosen'' (1996) *'' The Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition)'' (1996) *'' Return of the Jedi (Special Edition)'' (1997) *''

Spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawning, the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** ''Spawn: Armageddon' ...

'' (1998) *''

Small Soldiers ''Small Soldiers'' is a 1998 American action comedy film directed by Joe Dante. It stars Kirsten Dunst and Gregory Smith, along with the voices of Frank Langella and Tommy Lee Jones. It depicts two factions of toys which turn sentient and sa ...

'' (1998) *''

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace ''Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' (also known simply as ''Star Wars: The Phantom Menace''), is a 1999 American Epic film, epic space opera film produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was written and d ...

'' (1999) *''

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four, often abbreviated as FF, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism i ...

'' (2004)

Videogames

*''Cyberia 2: Resurrection'' (1994),

Virgin Interactive Avalon Interactive Group, Ltd., formerly known as Virgin Interactive Entertainment, was a British video game distributor based within Europe that formerly traded as the video game publishing and distributing division of British conglomerate the V ...

*'' Bruce Lee: Quest of the Dragon'' (2002), Universal Interactive *''

'' (2002),

Maxis Maxis is an American video game developer and a Division (business), division of Electronic Arts (EA). The studio was founded in 1987 by Will Wright (game designer), Will Wright and Jeff Braun, and acquired by Electronic Arts in 1997. Maxis is ...

*'' Alter Echo'' (2003),

THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initial ...

*'' Batman: Dark Tomorrow (2003),

Kemco , from Kotobuki Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Ltd., is a Japanese video game developer and publisher established in 1984. It is headquartered in Kure, Hiroshima. Its best known franchises are the '' Kid Klown'' and ''Top Gear'' series, the ...

*''

Midnight Club II ''Midnight Club II'' is a 2003 racing video game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sequel to '' Midnight Club: Street Racing'', published for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows and first in ser ...

'' (2003),

Rockstar Games Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Foun ...

Television

*''

'', (2008–2009),

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

*''

Ancient Aliens ''Ancient Aliens'' is an American television series produced by Prometheus Entertainment that explores the pseudoscientific hypothesis of ancient astronauts in a non-critical, documentary format. Episodes also explore related pseudoscientific ...

'', (2012),

Books

* *

Special venues

*''Luxor (ride film)'' (1993), Trumbull Co. *''Mars Odyssey (ride film)'' (1995), Simex Digital Studios

References

External links

Terrence Masson's official website
*
Terrence Masson's School of Visual Arts pageBuilding Conversation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masson, Terrence 1966 births Living people University of Massachusetts Lowell alumni William Paterson University alumni American visual effects artists American film producers American animated film producers Northeastern University faculty School of Visual Arts faculty