What it's like to be a mentor at CG Spectrum

INDUSTRY MENTORSHIP

Inspire the next wave of industry-ready film and game artists

At CG Spectrum, our mission is to ensure graduates are the best trained and prepared for a career in their chosen field. That's why we match students with industry professionals who have been in their shoes and gone on to work on some of the world's greatest film and game titles.

Industry mentorship helps students get an insider's perspective of what it's like to work in the industry; progress faster as artists, and graduate with the job skills and confidence to pursue their dream career.

"The ability to work from home, with home being anywhere in the world, has been a fantastic opportunity. And working alongside extremely talented individuals and industry professionals has been a humbling and exciting experience." CGS Mentor

MENTOR BENEFITS

Flexible schedule to suit you

As a global online school with students and mentors in 60+ countries, CG Spectrum offers more flexibility over your work schedule. Whether working full time at a studio or taking time out between projects, you choose the hours and how many classes you'd like to take on.

Benefits of working at CG Spectrum:

Flexible hours and 100% remote (work from anywhere!)
Competitive industry salaries
Small classes (max 4 students, or 1-on-1)
Amazing culture and supportive online community
Training and development opportunities

"As an industry vet with a couple decades worth of experience on high profile/high pressure projects, mentoring at CGS has been like a dream come true. One of the most rewarding aspects of the job is having the opportunity to pay-forward the things I’ve learned in my career to eager students fascinated by the world of digital motion graphics. Working with these students re-invigorates my own love of the craft I’ve dwelled in all my life while also giving me an opportunity to continue working from a place that is convenient and low-pressure. The benefits are many but include working at your own pace in your own time. After nearly 10 years at CG Spectrum I can’t recommend it enough." Scott Claus, Animation Manager

MENTOR FAQS

We do things a little differently at CG Spectrum! Most of our 100+ mentors work in the industry and have families and other commitments to tend to. So unlike traditional schools, we like to keep hours flexible to create an accommodating (and super fun!) work environment. Here are some of the common questions we get about working at CGS.

"One thing about mentoring at CG Spectrum that really surprised me is the sheer level of engagement - mentor to mentor, student to student, faculty and students to the industries we focus on. The amount of discussion, collaboration and sharing of information, mostly through Slack, is kind of astonishing. I’ve taught at brick and mortar colleges and, sitting at my desk in my office at home, I’m more connected than I ever was in those schools." Scot Bayless, Game Development Manager

"Solid pay, freedom to work on my own schedule, and collaborative environment for both students and employees! I've had a lot of great conversations with other employees regarding career growth, mentoring students, etc." CGS Mentor

Mentors are here to guide students throughout their time at CG Spectrum, and share their own experience of working in the industry.

Each week, you'll critique student assignments and have a 1-hour weekly Q&A call to go over student work and troubleshoot challenges students are facing.

The curriculum has already been created, so you don't need to worry about lesson plans!

However, we do update the curriculum regularly to stay in line with industry standards. So if contributing to the curriculum is something you are passionate about, let us know!

CGS mentors are passionate about nurturing and inspiring the next wave of creators.

Here's what we look for in mentors:

Several years of industry experience (preferably on AAA games and/or feature films/TV production)
Specialization in at least one of our key areas: Realtime 3D, Virtual Production, Visual Effects, Compositing, Concept Art & Illustration, Game Design, Game Programming, 3D Modeling, 2D or 3D Animation.
Experience giving constructive feedback to juniors
Great attitude!

CG Spectrum has a unique educational model which allows students to excel by providing:

Direct access to industry mentors who have worked on major films and games
Personalized job-focused career training and support
Private 1-on-1 or small group classes (max 4 students)
Recorded video critiques and live weekly Q&A calls with industry mentors
100% online classes

Watch the video to see how it works:

Beyond this, CG Spectrum is a supportive community of students, alumni and mentors all over the world.

The courses run for 10 months, so we ask for a commitment of at least this length of time to mentor your students from the beginning to graduation.

As for the hours each week, this is up to you!

We have mentors and students covering almost every time zone. You let us know what hours you'd like to work, and we match you with students with the same availability.

The minimum time commitment for one class per week would be approximately 2 hours and you can decide how many classes you wish to take on.

All we ask is to commit to those same hours each week, to create a routine for your class.

Mentoring is bringing out the most in a student. it's working with them to reach their potential.

Where teaching is giving out the same lecture over and over, mentoring is breaking down the lecture and working towards truly understanding the content.

Of course! If you know you have a big project coming up, just let us know.

The longer programs are 10 months, so we just ask mentors to stay with their class until students graduate.

Yes! We have students and mentors all over the world. As a mentor, all you need is a reliable internet connection and a quiet space to work from. No complicated visa applications or packing up boxes to relocate.

It's awesome. No kidding!

The CG Spectrum community is a supportive and lively community of mentors and students who all want to see each other succeed.

The community is on Slack, and it is where you'll have access to your class channels, as well as specialty channels (e.g. 3D modeling, animation, visual effects, jobs, etc).

Our Teaching Assistants are very active and provide additional support for mentors by helping students, sharing resources, holding regular drop in sessions, hosting weekly art challenges and more.

Watch our recent Open Day to learn more about CG Spectrum.

Meet some of our mentors

We have more than 100 industry professionals mentoring our students. Get to know some of your future colleagues!

"Mentoring upcoming game designers is a very rewarding time for me. Helping them understand such a complex subject, helping them learn how to bring their ideas to life, seeing them creating their dream ideas, and learning about what they like benefits both of us. I find it helps me also continue to expand my own skills, learn new things, and try out more experimental ideas." Troy Dunniway, Game Design Dept Head

Spectra

Spectra has been animating for almost a decade at Playstation, Digital Domain and Ubisoft on projects such as Far Cry 6, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, and Advantageous.

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Mentor of 3D Animation

Known for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

Hong Chan Lim

Hong is a Principal Lead Character Artist at Blizzard focusing on character and creature art. He also worked as an artist at Google and Amazon, and a 2D/3D artist at Atari.

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Mentor of 3D Modeling

Known for Overwatch 2

Justin Mohlman

Justin has brought dozens of games to life in his 2-decade career. Credits include Tony Hawk, Mortal Kombat, and other AAA titles like Singularity and Stranglehold.

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Mentor of Foundations

Known for Mortal Kombat Franchise

Deepak Chetty

Deepak is the Producer for film, TV, and virtual production at Epic Games' Unreal Online Learning platform and is sharing his real time production expertise with students at CG Spectrum.

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Mentor of Virtual Production

Known for Gen: Lock

Genevieve Camilleri

Gen is an Oscar-nominated VFX Supervisor & Compositor who has worked at ILM, Mill Film, and Animal Logic. Credits: Love and Monsters, Doctor Strange, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Mad Max: Fury Road.

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Mentor of Nuke Compositing

Known for Love and Monsters

Firas Hosn

While at Ubisoft, AAA programmer Firas released almost a game a year including Far Cry 3, 4, 5, Assassin's Creed 3, Your Shape, Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Watchdogs 2 and 3.

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Dept. Head of Game Programming

Known for Assassin's Creed 3

Ambre Maurin

Ambre has worked as an animator in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, USA, and Canada on projects like LEGO Avengers, Happy Feet Two, Avatar and Where the Wild Things Are.

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Mentor of 3D Animation

Known for Avatar

Troy Dunniway

Troy is an award-winning game designer and executive with over 25 yrs of game development experience at major companies like Microsoft, Ubisoft, Insomniac, EA, Disney, and Samsung.

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Dept. Head of Game Design

Known for Resistance: Fall of Man

Bryan Bentley

Bryan's award winning experience includes lead positions at ILM and Rhythm & Hues working films like The Golden Compass, Rango, Pacific Rim, and Transformers 2 and 3.

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Dept. Head of 3D Modeling

Known for Pacific Rim

Simon Warwick

Simon has been working in the game industry since 2005, and was credited as the only technical cinematic animator for Batman: Arkham City at Rocksteady Studios.

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Dept. Head of Real-Time 3D

Known for Batman: Arkham Knight

Eric Wilkerson

Eric is an illustrator/concept artist for film, TV, advertising, publishing, comics and games. Clients include Wizards of the Coast (Magic: The Gathering), Weta Workshop, Marvel, Upper Deck, Scholastic and Disney.

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Mentor of Illustration

Known for Magic: The Gathering

Brittany Piacente

Brittany has 50+ film & TV credits to her name including three Star Wars films, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Black Panther, Mad Max: Fury Road, Blade Runner 2049.

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Mentor of Nuke Compositing

Known for Loki

Mike Thompson

Award-winning artist Mike has worked with clients such as Marvel, Hasbro, Dimension Films, HBO, Electronic Arts, Warner Bros, Mattel, DC Comics and Cartoon Network.

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Mentor of Concept Art

Known for Black Panther

Gyuri Kiss

Originally from Hungary, Gyuri's work has taken him all over the world: from Weta in Wellington, to Animal Logic in Sydney, Method in Melbourne, and now Mainframe in Vancouver.

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Mentor of Houdini FX

Known for Mad Max: Fury Road

Esther Wu

Triple-A game concept artist Esther has worked on titles like Forza 6, Destiny 2, Call of Duty Black Ops 4, and Back 4 Blood while at studios like Turn10, 2K Games, High Moon, and Turtle Rock Studios.

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Mentor of Concept Art

Known for Back 4 Blood

Rajbir Dhalla

Australian based 3D artist Rajbir has worked at D-Neg, ILM, Digital Domain and Rising Sun on features like Spider-Man: Far from Home, Thor: Ragnarok, Alien: Covenant, Logan, X-Men: Apocalypse, and Godzilla.

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Mentor of 3D Modeling

Known for Alien: Covenant

Jorge Razon

With almost 2 decades in the industry, VFX Supervisor Jorge has more than 50 credits to his name including Game of Thrones, Wonder Woman and Tomb Raider.

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Mentor of Foundations

Known for Umbrella Academy

Alfredo Cassano

Alfredo is a 2D animator and storyboard artist who has worked on feature films like Klaus (Lead Animator on Jesper), Song of the Sea, The Secret of Kells, and several TV shows.

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Mentor of 2D Animation

Known for Klaus

William Faucher

William is a Real-time TD and Unreal Artist. He shares his passion for Unreal Engine with artists and creators through his highly popular tutorials.

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Mentor of Real-Time 3D

Known for Unreal Engine Education

Hubert Lapointe

Montréal-based Hubert Lapointe has worked as an animator and animation supervisor on hit shows like Rick & Morty and The Ollie and Moon Show, and as a software instructor for ToonBoom.

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Mentor of 2D Animation

Known for Rick and Morty

Interested in becoming a mentor?

We are always on the lookout for outstanding mentors with relevant industry skills and the desire to pass on their industry knowledge to up and coming artists. If this sounds like you, send your CV to careers@cgspectrum.com and let us know why you'd like to become a CGS mentor.

"I've watched this school grow from inception and I'm continually grateful to see that a school focused on student advancement can not only succeed but thrive." - CG Spectrum Mentor

Become a CG Spectrum mentor

Have years of film and game industry experience? Want to share your knowledge? Apply to become a mentor!

Inspire the next wave of industry-ready film and game artists

Flexible schedule to suit you

MENTOR FAQS

Meet some of our mentors

Spectra

Hong Chan Lim

Justin Mohlman

Deepak Chetty

Genevieve Camilleri

Firas Hosn

Ambre Maurin

Troy Dunniway

Bryan Bentley

Simon Warwick

Eric Wilkerson

Brittany Piacente

Mike Thompson

Gyuri Kiss

Esther Wu

Rajbir Dhalla

Jorge Razon

Alfredo Cassano

William Faucher

Hubert Lapointe

Interested in becoming a mentor?

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