[Self-Made: A Profile on Peter Hunt]

By Hentley Small

Peter Hunt has worked in some of North America’s hottest spots designing computer graphics. Now, the 28-year-old Toronto native is making it in his hometown after stints in California and British Columbia.

He discovered his love for 3-D animation while at Stephen Leacock C.I. in Toronto. It was here he won the 1995 Vince Gentile Memorial Award for outstanding achievement in television production. He got his start making slideshows on closed-circuit monitors – the type found in public places, like the Air Canada Centre or Rogers Centre, displaying the weather or upcoming events.

Since then, he has put in more than his share of time to get where he is. And not only did he skip high school classes to work at it, he skipped out on college and university as well.

“There weren’t schools teaching what I wanted to learn unless I wanted to go to Los Angeles,” Hunt says.

“The only place teaching it at that time in Toronto was Sheridan (College). But they were teaching character animation. I wanted to get more into lighting and seamless effects, things you would never know were a special effect unless someone pointed it out to you.”

Hunt set a one year goal: either make significant strides towards his desired path or enter a school environment he wasn’t keen on.

So he saved up money from his part-time job, bought the necessary equipment and software and committed his mind to learning. Within six months Hunt had made those strides. The result: a demo reel and job offer on the same day. That was back in May 1999.

His first job in the industry was as a freelance animator at Simian Communications where he created over 40 episodes of a little-known educational video series.

Now, his credit list is lengthy. And chances are, you’ve seen his graphic touch on the large or small screen.

Hunt is currently working as a freelance digital compositor at Toronto’s Intelligent Creatures where he’s been since December 2004. Some of his recent projects include The Woods and Mr. & Mrs. Smith starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

During his time in Vancouver, he worked with Rainmaker Digital. His work on Stargate: Atlantis earned the show a nomination for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series from the Visual Effects Society Award for the episode ‘Rising.’

He was also heavily involved in another TV series that garnered a nomination.

Andromeda, also shot in Vancouver, was nominated for a Gemini in 2004 for Best Visual Effects after season four. Hunt was the lead visual effects artist at the time.

Before B.C., Hunt made a short stint in California’s advanced computer graphic industry which led him to Café FX in Santa Maria.

He worked on the feature films League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Torque.
But this effects master is more than just his film and TV credentials. He is so well versed in his craft that he wrote a tutorial for Keyframe Magazine on TV visual effects techniques. This in addition to teaching workshops at both Ryerson and the University of Toronto. Not bad for the self-taught man who never attended university himself.

“I can’t complain about the route I took. I chose my options I thought I had in front of me. I am where I am today based on the choices I made then.”

To see more of Peter Hunt’s work, visit www.peterdhunt.com