Neil Helm

About Neil Helm

I\'m a feature film animator with a technical lean, an eye for expressive physical performances, and a passion for mentorship, teaching, and culture-building. Over my 16 years in Pixar\'s animation department, I experienced firsthand the impact of a supportive, innovative workplace and had the flexibility to contribute across a wide range of projects. At heart I\'m an animator, but I\'m consistently drawn to performances that involve complex technical challenges. That curiosity has led me to partner with colleagues across departments — working with crowds pipelines, motion capture, and emerging tools and workflows. I find real thrill in discovering clever solutions that make the seemingly impossible look simple, and in building solves that give artists more time for iteration and less time battling the computer. Now I\'m channeling that same curiosity into the next generation of animation tools. Working across Cartwheel and Unreal, I\'m helping shape what animation production looks like as AI and new technology reshapes the craft. It\'s a thrilling moment to be in this space — bringing an animator\'s perspective to the tools being built, and helping ensure the next era of animation stays rooted in performance, storytelling, and the artists who bring it to life.** Award winning films and project variety **- InsideOut 2 (2024)- Crowds Animation Supervisor - Elemental (2023)- Animator - Lightyear (2022)- Animator - Turning Red (2022)- Animator - Soul (2020)- Animator- Onward (2020)- Animator - Toy Story 4 (2019)- Crowds Animation Supervisor - Bao (2018)- Animator - Blade (2017-18)- Animator (Dev project utilizing motion-capture for story reels)- Coco (2017)- Animator and Crowd Animator- Cars 3 (2017)- Animator- Nemo & Friends SeaRider (2016)- Animator (Tokyo Disney theme park attraction)- Finding Dory (2016)- Animator and Crowd Animator (Motion-tree, houdini dev)- Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014)- Animator - Toy Story of Terror (2013)- Animator - Monsters University (2013)- Animator - Cars 2 (2011)- Animator - Toy Story Toons: Hawaiian Vacation (2011)- Animator - Toy Story 3 (2010)- fix/technical animator, crowds animator, promoted to animator - Up (2009)- fix/technical animatorCharacter Animation Demo Reel: https://vimeo.com/user13•••49/reel2024IMDB:

Experience

1. Animation Tools Innovator

   Cartwheel

   May 2025 — Present

Education

• Northern Michigan University

  BFA, Art and Design: Electronic Imaging

  2001 — 2005

• Savannah College of Art and Design

  MFA, Animation

  2005 — 2008

Skills

• 3d
• Animation
• Premiere
• Visual Effects
• Cinematics
• Character Animation
• Traditional Animation
• Shading
• Facial Animation
• Cinema 4d
• 3d Modeling
• Computer Animation
• Maya
• Digital Illustration
• Mel
• Photography
• Xsi