Rick Pearce
A pilot faces a giant machine under a lightning stormA squad of Space Marines advances in blue armourA face set with dark crystals, lit in magenta and blueFigures on a rain-wet rooftop above a neon citySauropods at a prehistoric lake below mountains and waterfallsA machine in silhouette, lit orange against the dark

Director · Creative Director · Creative Technologist

RickPearce

Creative direction across film, animation, games and real-time production.

01 / Point of view

I direct and design cinematic worlds, then help build the real-time systems that make them possible.

From Disney feature animation to LED stages, game engines and my own series.

See the workStart a conversation

02 / Selected work

All work and archive →
Flagship · Original IPCreator / Writer / Director / Producer
Two machines over a ruined city at dusk

Ares Machina X1: ECHO

My six-part adult animated sci-fi series, in development in Unreal Engine 5.

Game trailerDirector / Cinematography / Lighting
Sauropods at a prehistoric lake below mountains and waterfalls

Age of Dinosaurs

Live action, CG dinosaurs and Unreal Engine 5 in one trailer for Sandbox VR.

VR campaignDirector / Cinematography / Lighting
Space Marines burn through a swarm with a flamethrower

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine VR

Shot in camera on an LED volume for Zero Latency's VR experience.

Animated filmArt Director / Technical Director
The Roborovski hamster on the counter of Marvin's Pet Shop

Roborovski

A real-time animated short. Winner of the Yoram Gross Award, Flickerfest 2021.

Interactive worldCreative Director, Spectre Studios
Figures on a rain-wet rooftop above a neon city

Human Park

Creative direction on a multiplayer Unreal world.

03 / Capability

What I do.

Directing on a virtual-production stage01

Direct

Film direction, performance, cinematography, lighting, trailers and visual storytelling.

Age of DinosaursDirectorWarhammer + Outbreak 2DirectorZED RUN cinematicDirector
Ares Machina X1: ECHO character and visual development artwork02

Design

Creative and art direction, visual development, world building, environments, characters and original IP.

Ares Machina X1: ECHOCreator / DirectorRoborovskiArt DirectorHuman ParkCreative Director
A pilot in front of an Ares Machina X1 machine03

Build

Unreal Engine, virtual production, real-time animation, games, interactive worlds and technical pipelines.

Unreal FellowVirtual ProductionFenixUnreal Service PartnerSpectreReal-time / ICVFX R&D
Leading a multidisciplinary production team04

Lead

Creative strategy, multidisciplinary teams, R&D, production planning, partnerships and delivery.

Spectre StudiosCo-founderEmergiSimCo-founder / CTOFenix StudiosFounder / CEO / CCO

04 / Progression

About and career →

A career built around change.

  1. 2001 onwardWalt Disney Animation

    Digital matte painting, feature-animation craft and large-studio production discipline.

    • Matte painting
    • Feature pipeline
  2. Camera to creativeCinematography & Direction

    Live action, broadcast, advertising, VFX, camera, lighting and editorial thinking.

    • Cinematography
    • Lighting
    • Edit
    • VFX
  3. 2016 onwardSpectre Studios

    Co-founded an Unreal, VR and virtual-production studio later acquired by Virtually Human.

    • Unreal
    • VR
    • Capture
    • LED volume
  4. Founder chapterEmergiSim & Fenix

    Applied real-time production to simulation, games, trailers and interactive systems.

    • Simulation
    • Games
    • Studio leadership
  5. NowOriginal Worlds

    Directing cinematic work and developing Ares Machina X1: ECHO, an original animated series.

    • Original IP
    • Writing
    • Series

Toolkit, carried forward

  1. Matte painting · Feature pipeline
  2. Cinematography · Lighting · Edit · VFX
  3. Unreal · VR · Capture · LED volume
  4. Simulation · Games · Studio leadership
  5. Original IP · Writing · Series

05 / Experience

Credits.

Queensland, AU · Working worldwide

Let's build
the next
world.

Available for directing, creative direction and real-time production.

[email protected] ↗