Creative Administrative Staff & Freelance Animator
Washington D.C. Metro Area
- Current
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- Receptionist at Travel Channel
- Past
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- Freelance Character Animator at Framework
- Freelance Animator at TheSailingChannel.tv
- Sakura Matsuri Volunteer at Japan-America Society of Washington DC
- Freelance Graphic Designer at Ikenobo Ikebana Society of America
- Student Volunteer at ACM Siggraph
- Visual Arts Department Office Assistant at University of Maryland Baltimore County
- ArtWeek Committee Chair at UMBC
- Freelance Graphic Designer at Ikenobo Ikebana Society of America
- Student Volunteer at ACM Siggraph
- Animator and Production Manager at Charlestown Retirement Community
- Intern at Imaging Research Center
- Community Artist at Baltimore Museum of Art
- Illustrator at KAIROS
- Student Volunteer at ACM Siggraph
- Education
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- CGWorkshops
- Travel Channel Academy
- University of Maryland Baltimore County
- Universidad Politécnica de Valencia
- Recommended
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1 person has recommended Katie - Connections
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155
connections
- Industry
- Broadcast Media
Katie Better’s Summary
Screen Credits:
2009 - "Sailing Channel Theater" - Animator
2009 - "What's Your Trip with Andrew Zimmern" - Graphics
2008 - "America's Scariest Halloween Attractions 3" - Graphics
Red Cross Certified Instructor:
Adult/Child/Infant CPR, AED & First Aid
Katie Better’s Specialties:
Professional: Animation, Conceptualization, Design, Problem Solving, Leadership, Organization, Communication, Documentation // Technical: Windows, Mac, Microsoft Office, Autodesk Maya, 3DS Max, Adobe Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, Flash, Premiere, Final Cut Pro, Gamebryo
Katie Better’s Experience
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Receptionist
Travel Channel
(Privately Held; Broadcast Media industry)
June 2008 — Present (1 year 6 months)
- Assistant to Facilities Manager, phone reception, processing mail, scheduling meetings, welcoming and handling visitors and other miscellaneous tasks.
- Coordination and graphic design work for employee and office initiatives.
- Motion graphic work and digital footage archiving for in-house Short Form Video production.
- Globetrotter Winner, Q2 2009. Blogged, photographed and filmed travel content in Salt Lake City, UT.
- Member of Brand Understanding Group (BUG) Committee, Summer 2009.
- PA/Runner for Ghost Adventures Live, October 2009. -
Freelance Character Animator
Framework
(Privately Held; Financial Services industry)
October 2009 — October 2009 (1 month)
Character animation in Maya for the Happy Madison production, "Grown Ups."
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Freelance Animator
TheSailingChannel.tv
(Online Media industry)
June 2009 — June 2009 (1 month)
Concept, design and animation of the title sequence for "Sailing Channel Theater," featured in the first 5 pilot episodes. Adobe Photoshop & After Effects.
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Sakura Matsuri Volunteer
Japan-America Society of Washington DC
(International Affairs industry)
April 2009 — April 2009 (1 month)
Assisted with the traditional Performing Arts stage and MCed the Sumo Tournament.
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Freelance Graphic Designer
Ikenobo Ikebana Society of America
(Arts and Crafts industry)
January 2009 — February 2009 (2 months)
Designed and produced a promotions piece for the DC Chapter of the Ikenobo Ikebana Society of America's yearly exhibition at Brookside Gardens in Rockville, MD. This was my second year designing for them.
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Student Volunteer
ACM Siggraph
(Non-Profit; 51-200 employees; Motion Pictures and Film industry)
August 2008 — August 2008 (1 month)
Worked as a SV for the 2008 ACM Siggraph Conference in Los Angeles from August 11th to August 15th. Siggraph is a digital graphics conference and duties included assisting visitors, exhibitors with setting up the conference, selling merchandise, providing information and navigating the Los Angeles Convention Center.
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Visual Arts Department Office Assistant
University of Maryland Baltimore County
(Educational Institution; 11-50 employees; Education Management industry)
October 2006 — May 2008 (1 year 8 months)
Worked as a front desk receptionist and assistant to Visual Arts Department faculty. I handled important documents, typing, coping, faxing, sorting mail, phone reception and miscellaneous office tasks.
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ArtWeek Committee Chair
UMBC
(Educational Institution; Higher Education industry)
January 2008 — April 2008 (4 months)
Was the lead in organizing and executing the yearly event, ArtWeek, where all of the University's students are invited to submit their artwork for a week long exhibition in the UMBC Commons. Duties include: locating and scheduling performers, arranging advertising and AV services, installing exhibition gallery and documentation.
Spring 2006, ArtWeek Committee Member, ArtCOM Representative
Spring 2007, ArtWeek Committee Member, ArtCOM Representative & Asst. Chair
Spring 2008, ArtWeek Committee Chair -
Freelance Graphic Designer
Ikenobo Ikebana Society of America
(Arts and Crafts industry)
January 2008 — February 2008 (2 months)
Designed and produced a promotions piece for the DC Chapter of the Ikenobo Ikebana Society of America's exhibition at Brookside Gardens in Rockville, MD.
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Student Volunteer
ACM Siggraph
(Animation industry)
August 2007 — August 2007 (1 month)
Worked as a SV for the 2007 ACM Siggraph Conference in San Diego from August 5th to August 9th. Siggraph is a digital graphics conference and duties included assisting visitors, exhibitors with setting up the conference, selling merchandise, providing information and navigating the San Diego Convention Center.
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Animator and Production Manager
Charlestown Retirement Community
(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Individual & Family Services industry)
June 2007 — August 2007 (3 months)
Coordinated with an actor, muscian and a senior tech crew to visually embellish the Red Baron scene in an inter-generational production of "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown!" A dialogue, music and sound-synched animation of clouds, explosions and gunfire was projected behind the Snoopy actor to give the illusion he was battling the Red Baron mid-air.
Animation made in Flash MX.
Audio edited in Adobe Audition. -
Intern
Imaging Research Center
(Educational Institution; 1-10 employees; Computer Games industry)
February 2007 — May 2007 (4 months)
Created conceptual illustrations for the world environment and developed game-play for a massive-multiplayer video game currently titled "Field Trip."
http://irc.umbc.edu/research/current.html -
Community Artist
Baltimore Museum of Art
(Museums and Institutions industry)
October 2006 — November 2006 (2 months)
A project funded by an Undergraduate Research Award from the UMBC for research in community art, interactive art to create a sculpture for the month-long siteMaryland exhibit at the BMA. Worked as a collaborator, designer, sculptor and researcher to create the interactive sculpture titled "Traum Baum (Dream Tree)" with artist Christina Ralls.
We then presented our findings and the artwork to the UMBC academic community at the Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) in April 2007.
http://www.umbc.edu/window/bma.html -
Illustrator
KAIROS
(Online Media industry)
September 2006 — September 2006 (1 month)
Collaboration with Jody Shipka and Bill Chewning.
Comic strips accompanying a webtext titled "Live Composition: Four Variations of a Telling" that has been published in the 11.3 Special issue of the special topics journal, KAIROS.
http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/11.3/binder.html?topoi/prior-et-al/about/abstract_jodybill.html
http://english.ttu.edu/KAIROS -
Student Volunteer
ACM Siggraph
(Animation industry)
July 2006 — August 2006 (2 months)
Worked as a SV for the 2006 ACM Siggraph Conference in Boston from July 30th to August 3rd. Siggraph is a digital graphics conference and duties included assisting visitors, exhibitors with setting up the conference, selling merchandise, providing information and navigating the Boston Convention Center.
Katie Better’s Education
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CGWorkshops
Lighting & Rendering in Maya 2009 — 2009
September to November 2009.
http://www.cgsociety.org/
http://workshops.cgsociety.org/courses/000115/ -
Travel Channel Academy
Short Form Video Production 2008 — 2008
October 2008
http://www.travelchannelacademy.com -
University of Maryland Baltimore County
BA , Imaging & Digital Art: Animation , 2004 — 2008
Minor: Art History
Certificate: Communications & Media Studies- Activities and Societies:
- Visual Arts Council of Majors (ArtCOM), ArtWeek, Undergraduate Research Award (URA), Undergraduate Research & Creative Achievement Day (URCAD), Freedom Alliance, Down & Dirty Dawg Band, The Weekly Retriever
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Universidad Politécnica de Valencia
Study Abroad , Fine Arts: Conservation & Restoration , 2007 — 2007
Additional Information
Katie Better’s Interests:
animation, motion graphics, television, comics, new media, culture studies, interactive art, video games, museums, art history, traveling, reading
Katie Better’s Groups:
ACM SIGGRAPH, Japan-America Society of Washington DC
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UMBC Alumni Network -
ACM SIGGRAPH -
Animation, Media & Entertainment -
Travel 2.0: Interactive Travel Industry Professionals -
Women in Animation
Katie Better’s Honors:
Undergraduate Research Award, National Society for Collegiate Scholars
Katie Better’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- career opportunities
- consulting offers
- new ventures
- expertise requests
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
