ABOUT US
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― Degree Pages ―

Our History

CDW Stu­dios School of Visu­al Effects and Enter­tain­ment Design has been run­ning since 2011 and pro­vides artists Aus­tralia wide with the most up to date and rel­e­vant edu­ca­tion avail­able to kickstart their career.

In 2016 we partnered with Flinders University to co-deliver the Bachelor of Creative Arts (Visual Effects and Entertainment Design), a degree that combines the benefits of a university education with the practical, hands-on experience of working in industry. 

All CDW Studios instructors are industry professionals who have worked for a range of international companies such as Disney, Blizzard Entertainment, Rising Sun Pictures, WETA, Wizards of the Coast and Lego among many others.

Our goal is to provide an intense learning experience combined with a friendly and encouraging atmosphere that caters to all skill levels. Our students learn in a realistic studio setting, with all classes delivered in a state of the art multimedia facility. In each class our instructors provide a live demonstration of the week’s task before offering individual advice and feedback to all students. Students not only receive individual art critique each week, but are also able to view their instructors workflow and techniques.

From 3D modeling to 2D character design, CDW Studios is the right place for anyone wishing to pursue a career in the visual effects and entertainment design industry.

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Our Team

These are some of the key members of the team at CDW Studios.  They work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure the Degree and The Studio are a success.

Director

Simon Scales

Director

Simon is the founder and Director of CDW Studios.  He has been working in the industry for over 15 years as an illustrator, environment designer, matte painter & concept artist.  Clients include THQ, EA Games, LEGO, Mighty Kingdom, Animal Logic, Warner Bros and TT Games. His focus is now on further developing a world class education facility in Australia.

Head of Studio

James Marshall

Head of Studio, CDW Animation
James runs production and business development for CDW Animation.  His background includes producing for film, television, video games, and virtual reality, and roles with Technicolor, Yahoo!7, Start VR, and various others.
Manager Education & Training

Zoe Doherty-Dawson

Manager Education & Training

Zoe has worked in the industry for nearly two decades, bringing her wealth of experience in Marketing & Training to CDW Studios.

Phone: 0424 430 439
Email: zoe@cdwstudios.com

Studio Coordinator

Jasmine Rossetto

Studio Coordinator
Jasmine has provided administration, front of house and student support for CDW Studios since early 2016. Highly scrupulous, and has your best interests at heart. She has been working in administration roles for over 15 years and has a lifelong passion for animation, entertainment design, organization and performing arts.

Phone: 0406 635 897
Email: info@cdwstudios.com

Studio Manager

Bryan Lee

Studio Manager, Melbourne

Bryan has a background in industrial design and has been in industry creating designs for vehicles, mechs and tech. He has spent over 10 years in teaching, sharing his knowledge and expertise.
Now at CDW, he aims to create a fun but pragmatic environment to help facilitate students’ growth towards their goals.

Phone: 0413 963 184
Email: 

Studio Manager

Tim McEwen

Studio Manager, Sydney

Tim is an award-winning cartoonist and has produced storyboards and concept art for feature films. With over 15 years of teaching experience and a nurturing approach to students, he is excited to bring his skills to the Sydney CDW Studio. In his spare time Tim continues to work on his award-winning comic series, Greener Pastures.

Phone: 0413 961 429
Email: tim.mcewen@cdwstudios.com

Flinders University Staff

CDW Studios co-delivers the Bachelor of Creative Arts (Visual Effects and Entertainment Design) with Flinders University.  These are some of the members of the Flinders that help to make the degree a reality.

Flinders Course Coordinator

Katie Cavanagh

Flinders Course Coordinator

In addition to being a lecturer and course coordinator for the BCA (Digital Media) at Flinders, Katie is instrumental in the partnership between CDW Studios & Flinders University, helping to shape the curriculum and ensuring the degree remains a success.

Email: katie.cavanagh@flinders.edu.au

Flinders Course Coordindator

Jason Bevan

Coordinator for Visual Effects

Topic Lecturer and Coordinator for Visual Effects, Post Production, Animation, 3D Modelling. Jason’s technical expertise is in editing, compositing, and 3D animation software, although has a working knowledge of all areas of Animation, Visual Effects and Film Production.

Jason co-runs “The Void” at Flinders, ensuring all students in the VFX stream have access to world class expertise and equipment.

Email: jason.bevan@flinders.edu.au

Flinders Lecturer

Shane Bevin

Flinders Lecturer in Digital Media

Co-founder of Adelaide animation studio Monkeystack, Shane has experience in animation project management, render wrangling, 3D production, virtual reality production and software management.

Shane has been a lecturer for many years & we are lucky to have his expertise in co-delivering the BCA-VEED.

Email: shane.bevin@flinders.edu.au

CDW Instructors

Our school wouldn’t be possible without the skills, expertise and passion that our instructors share.

2D
3D
Animation
VFX
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Peter Yong
Peter Yong
CHARACTER & STORYBOARD ARTIST

Storyboard artist, character designer and concept artist based in Adelaide, Australia. Peter has worked across the world for companies including Disney Toon Studios, Cartoon Network, Pandemic, Defiant and Blue Tongue Entertainment. He's most proud of his work on original platform video game Deblob 2.

Storyboard artist, character designer and concept artist based in Adelaide, Australia. Peter has worked across the world for companies including Disney Toon Studios, Cartoon Network, Pandemic, Defiant and Blue Tongue Entertainment. He's most proud of his work on original platform video game Deblob 2.

Simon Scales
Simon Scales
CONCEPT ARTIST

Simon is the founder and Director of CDW Studios. He has been working in the industry for over 15 years as an illustrator, environment designer, matte painter and concept artist. Clients include THQ, EA Games, LEGO, Mighty Kingdom, Animal Logic, Warner Bros and TT Games. His focus is now about creating a world-class education facility in Adelaide, Australia.

Simon is the founder and Director of CDW Studios. He has been working in the industry for over 15 years as an illustrator, environment designer, matte painter and concept artist. Clients include THQ, EA Games, LEGO, Mighty Kingdom, Animal Logic, Warner Bros and TT Games. His focus is now about creating a world-class education facility in Adelaide, Australia.

Simon Scales
Bryan Lee
CHARACTER & CONCEPT ARTIST

Bio Needed

Concept artist, illustrator and teacher, Bryan graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and has worked for THQ, Amaze Entertainment, Otis College of Art and Design, Concept Design Academy and Pic1 Studio, among others.

Simon Scales
Cody Foreman
ENVIRONMENT CONCEPT ART

Cody is a Concept Artist specialising in environment design for video games based in Adelaide, Australia. Previous clients include, Lionsgate, Ready At Dawn, Facebook (Meta), Adglobe Montreal and Tripwire Interactive.

He has worked on various unannounced titles but most recently shipping Lone Echo 2.

Cody is a Concept Artist specialising in environment design for video games based in Adelaide, Australia. Previous clients include, Lionsgate, Ready At Dawn, Facebook (Meta), Adglobe Montreal and Tripwire Interactive.

He has worked on various unannounced titles but most recently shipping Lone Echo 2.

Ned Rogers
Ned Rogers
SENIOR CONCEPT ARTIST

Adelaide based concept designer and illustrator. Currently Art Director at CDW Animation. Previous clients and employers include Monkeystack, Bosskey, Technicolour, Wizards of the Coast, 20th Century Fox and Legendary and Ridley Scott Associates. Specialises in pre-production pitch design, world building and environment design.

Ned is an Adelaide based concept designer and illustrator who has worked in the entertainment industry for more than 7 years. He specialises in pre-production pitch design, world building and environment design. His clients include Bosskey, Technicolour, Wizards of the Coast, 20th Century Fox and Legendary and Ridley Scott Associates. Throughout his classes Ned focuses on the fundamentals of idea development for film, games and animation and efficient visual storytelling as well as the core concepts of draftsmanship and design.

Tim McBurnie
Tim McBurnie
ILLUSTRATOR & CONCEPT ARTIST

Tim is a freelance concept designer, illustrator and author based in Australia, specializing in character design and story development. He has worked in the French comic book market as well as animation and video games. His client list includes companies such as Editions Delcourt, Gunfire Games, Animal Logic, Ankama, Blur studios, Blizzard Entertainment, and Wizards of the Coast.

Tim is a freelance concept designer, illustrator and author based in Australia, specializing in character design and story development. He has worked in the French comic book market as well as animation and video games. His client list includes companies such as Editions Delcourt, Gunfire Games, Animal Logic, Ankama, Blur studios, Blizzard Entertainment, and Wizards of the Coast.

Tim is a freelance concept designer, illustrator and author based in Australia, specializing in character design and story development. He has worked in the French comic book market as well as animation and video games. His client list includes companies such as Editions Delcourt, Gunfire Games, Animal Logic, Ankama, Blur studios, Blizzard Entertainment, and Wizards of the Coast.

CDW Studios values having Tim as a teacher and mentor to our students, sharing his unique wealth of knowledge, helping to develop design skills and a strong work ethic. Tim’s best advice when asked on how to improve is to simply ‘draw more’.

DM Cornish
D.M Cornish
AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR

D. M. Cornish is an award winning fantasy author and illustrator of the Monster Blood Tattoo book series.

David has also worked as an illustrator on numerous children's books and within the advertising industry for the past 20 years. David teaches our instructed figure drawing workshop and also teaches, Character Design, Illustration and Bootcamp workshops.

D. M. Cornish is the award winning fantasy author and illustrator of the four volume Monster Blood Tattoo book series.

David has also worked as an illustrator on numerous children's books and within the advertising industry for the past 20 years. David teaches our instructed figure drawing workshop and also teaches, Character Design, Illustration and Bootcamp workshops.

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Alex Colvin
ALEX COLVIN
SENIOR 3D MODELLER

Yo Alex, We need some blurb here!

Alex Colvin is a Senior Artist with 14 years industry experience in television, video games and collectables. Alex specializes in character art and has worked with companies like Team Bondi, the PRA, Flying Bark, Mighty Kingdom and Team Cherry. Throughout the years Alex has led many teams as both lead 3D artist and Lead Artist. Alex brings his wealth of experience to our students, making sure they have the know-how, skills and direction required to meet the needs of the Entertainment Industry.

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Joseph Roberts
JOSEPH ROBERTS
3D MODELLER & VFX ARTIST

3D modeller and character artist based in Adelaide, Australia, working at Rising Sun Pictures. Previous work on productions including: Logan, Thor Ragnarok, Ford v Ferrari, Spider-Man: Far From Home, The Boys, Mortal Kombat, and Captain Marvel. Previous employers include Monkey Stack, Iloura, and WeMadeAThingStudios.

3D modeller and character artist based in Adelaide, Australia, working at Rising Sun Pictures. Previous work on productions including: Logan, Thor Ragnarok, Ford v Ferrari, Spider-Man: Far From Home, The Boys, Mortal Kombat, and Captain Marvel. Previous employers include Monkey Stack, Iloura, and WeMadeAThingStudios.

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Steve Sexton
STEVE SEXTON
LEAD VFX ARTIST

Steve is a Senior VFX Artist and is head of VFX at Resin: Animation and Visual Effects Studio. Resin has worked with some major clients such as Disney, Braun, Mitsubishi Motors, Jacob's Creek, Michelin, Bridgestone and Foxtel. Steve's favourite work came from being involved in VFX on Red Dog or Hunters. Steve's advice for aspiring artists is to 'Learn to problem solve'.

Steve is a Senior VFX Artist and is head of VFX at Resin: Animation and Visual Effects Studio. Resin has worked with some major clients such as Disney, Braun, Mitsubishi Motors, Jacob's Creek, Michelin, Bridgestone and Foxtel. Steve's favourite work came from being involved in VFX on Red Dog or Hunters. Steve has studied for many years undertaking a Cert 4 in Multimedia, Diploma of Screen (CGI/Visual effects), Adv Diploma of Screen and Bachelor of Creative Arts (Majoring in screen studies). He has beat the odds to teach himself how to use Nuke.

Steve's advice for aspiring artists is to 'Learn to problem solve'. "We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them." Albert Einstein.

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Bryan Wynia
BRYAN WYNIA
CREATIVE DIRECTOR

3D modeller with a specialty in character modelling and face sculpting, currently Senior Modeller at CDW Animation. Previous clients include Chocolate Liberation Front, Flying Bark Productions, Mighty Nice and Hahn Entertainment.

3D modeller with a specialty in character modelling and face sculpting, currently Senior Modeller at CDW Animation. Previous clients include Chocolate Liberation Front, Flying Bark Productions, Mighty Nice and Hahn Entertainment. He has worked on projects including The New Adventures of Figaro Pho, BotterSnikes and Gumbles, Blinky Bill and Dota 2.

Alex Owen
ALEX OWEN
SENIOR 3D MODELLER

3D modeller with a specialty in character modelling and face sculpting, currently Senior Modeller at CDW Animation. Previous clients include Chocolate Liberation Front, Flying Bark Productions, Mighty Nice and Hahn Entertainment.

3D modeller with a specialty in character modelling and face sculpting, currently Senior Modeller at CDW Animation. Previous clients include Chocolate Liberation Front, Flying Bark Productions, Mighty Nice and Hahn Entertainment. He has worked on projects including The New Adventures of Figaro Pho, BotterSnikes and Gumbles, Blinky Bill and Dota 2.

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