# Michael Khoury > Creative Director Black Squirrel Productions VR Location: United States, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/michaelkhoury -Game industry pioneer with 20 years of experience in concept development, system design and 3D art production -Expert in 3D and 2D software tools and 3D engines for prototyping -Shipped multiple titles and products across platforms: PC, Mobile, Console -Background and formal education in Visual Art and Illustration, with a degree in Industrial Design -20+ years of experience using 3d engines and developing art for Realtime games and interactive products -Breadth of experience in new emerging tech with a focus on User Generated Content ## Work Experience ### Creative Director @ Black Squirrel Productions VR Jan 2020 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area ### Art Director @ ZTX Jan 2023 – Jan 2024 | San Francisco Bay Area ### 3D Artist - Social VR @ Facebook Jan 2017 – Jan 2021 Key artist in the creation and conceptualization of environments for Horizon games and interactive performances teams, helping to set the bar for quality and best practices. Working cross functionally with art team, product designers, engineers, and producers to create original content in VR using the Horizon tools and engine. Close collaboration with designers, engineers and tech art team to help develop and design the internal tools for UGC content creation in Horizon. 3d Artist on Facebook Horizon Avatars team, created early proposals for a character hair system. Conceptual Art Direction and 3d content creation on several future Facebook and Messenger VR projects to create and visualize a vision for the future of VR and the Metaverse ### Digital Product Designer @ Autodesk Jan 2015 – Jan 2016 | Tinkerplay Team at The Pier 9 Tech WorkShop Collaborated internally within Autodesk, and with several offsite teams (Iceland, Toronto, Shanghai, Los Angeles) to create an easy and fun to use modular toy and 3d printing experience on phones and tablets called Tinkerplay / Thingmaker I had two roles on the project, first was the content team technical artist, managing and setting up assets for the app in Unity, and helping to direct and test the content creation and pipeline tools. I worked with the project director and engineering team to explore new app features, prototype new types of 3d content, and envision the next generation of interaction design for the product. My second role was as an industrial designer working with the design team at Mattel and internally to design and create the parametric content for easy, support-less 3d printing from the app. We used proprietary tools in Unity and I learned JSCAD scripting as well as modeling in Fusion 360 to design and create the solids geometry for use in 3d printing as well as for visualization on a mobile device. ### Art Director @ Electronic Arts (EA) Jan 2003 – Jan 2015 | Emeryville, California Worked closely with the Creative Director to envision and set the critically acclaimed look and feel for the game. Worked with the Development Director to define and scope the content production plans for the game. Responsible for creating the foundational style guide for Buildings and Environments that was later scaled by the leads from each discipline on the team. Worked cross functionally to develop, prototype and enhance our tools and pipelines in Maya, or in-engine applications. Led a team of internal artists and several global outsource teams, to direct the production of hundreds of game ready assets from 2d concept and design, to review, to 3d textured models using a proprietary highly technical pipeline. SimCity ; Cities of Tomorrow Expansion Pack : ▪ PC ▪ Art Director As Art Director, I set the look and feel for the “futurization” of this first expansion pack for SimCity. This included creating style guides that fit within the design criteria, as well as working closely with the art team to conceptualize the tone of the game and communicating that to key stakeholders, and directing teams to create the content in a very tight timeline. Spore ▪ PC ▪ Art Director Partner to Lead Art Director, working with Creator Will Wright on early concepts and prototyping to establish the look and feel of Spore. Art Direction for the Spore editors and environments. Maintained visual consistency across many different editor types including Creatures, Buildings, and Vehicles. Collaborated closely with key designers and programmers on the functionality of the Spore Editors and the overall user experience of the product. Art Lead 10 internal artists, and oversaw the creation of over 600 individual editor parts, from early concept through rough prototyping and testing and into final production. Spore Expansion Pack ; Galactic Adventures ▪ PC ▪ Art Director ### Senior Environment Artist @ Crystal Dynamics Jan 2000 – Jan 2002 Title:Disney's 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue Platform: PC, PS 1 Role: Senior Environment Artist: Created levels for game as well as concept art for 2 PS2 game proposals. Release Date: November 2000 Title:Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain Platform: PC, Xbox , PS2 Role: FX artist: Created visual fx for in game action sequences using in house scripting system. Release Date: Q1 2002 ### Senior Environment Artist @ Infogrames Jan 1998 – Jan 2000 Title: Slave Zero Platform: Sega Dreamcast, PC Role: Senior Environment Artist: Created levels for Game on PC and Dreamcast systems. Release Date: November 1999 ### Art Director @ Cyclone Studios / 3DO company Jan 1995 – Jan 1998 Title: Uprising Platform: PC Role: Art Director Release Date: September 1997 Title: Battlesport Platform: 3DO Role: Concept Artist Release Date: September 1995 ### Storyboard Artist @ I.L.M. Art Department Jan 1995 – Jan 1996 I worked as contract artist on several commercials; Intel, Owens Corning, and AT&T as well as background concept art for the trailer for Casper / Amblin Entertainment ## Education ### Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design; Transportation ArtCenter College of Design ### Pratt Institute ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mikekhoury - Portfolio: https://www.mikekhouryart.com/ - Portfolio: https://www.blacksquirrelprod.com/ --- Source: https://flows.cv/michaelkhoury JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/michaelkhoury/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13