A 12 year veteran at Image Engine, Ivan Imanishi joined the software engineering team in 2009 and has been part of the team ever since. Over the years, Ivan’s extensive technical skills and experience have been crucial in the design and execution of Image Engine’s pipeline.
After graduating from São Paulo University in Brazil with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science, Ivan started out his career at Lobo, a renowned motion graphics and animation company in São Paulo, Brazil. As a software developer, Ivan spent four years at Lobo developing educational web-based apps and games, the company website, and their first production management, tracking, and client management tool.
Then Ivan was offered a position as the R&D Lead at Lobo’s sister company Vetor Zero, the largest 2D/3D animation studio for TV commercials in Latin America. Over the next 5 years, Ivan led a small team of software engineers on several projects, which included the creation of their asset management system and worked on research and development for projects in areas such as shading, lighting, FX, and crowd.
To continue his professional career development, Ivan decided to seek opportunities outside of Brazil. At the time, District 9 was recently released and Image Engine was receiving significant praise internationally, putting Image Engine as one of the top VFX studios on Ivan’s list. He joined the Image Engine family as a pipeline developer at the end of 2009 and has never looked back.
One of Ivan’s main legacy has been Image Engine’s asset management system Jabuka, where he was the main architect and developer. Ivan is also heavily involved in the design and implementation of Image Engine’s pipeline and workflow, including the Workflow Template and Bundle Systems, which are all currently in use. Ivan has also collaborated on the open source projects spearheaded by Image Engine called Cortex and Gaffer.
Ivan has helped Image Engine deliver dozens of feature films and TV shows including Snowpiercer, Lost in Space, The Mandalorian, Pokémon Detective Pikachu, Game of Thrones, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Power Rangers, Logan, Independence Day: Resurgence, Jurassic World, Chappie, Elysium, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Zero Dark Thirty, Twilight: Eclipse, Twilight: Breaking Dawn, and more.
As the Software Engineering Supervisor, Ivan designs engineering strategies, supervises execution, and ensures Image Engine maintains a competitive advantage in the global VFX and animation market. Ivan directly supervises a team of Software Engineers and regularly collaborates with digital workflow, CG and other department supervisors, data analysts, IT, and the senior management team in order to form a cohesive technical strategy for the studio.