top of page
Search

Rising Stars: Meet Kevin Wang

  • Writer: Kevin Wang
    Kevin Wang
  • Nov 10
  • 5 min read

Updated: Nov 10


ree


Kevin Wang’s journey started 30 years ago with a passion for telling stories through his lenses. Kevin’s journey of life started earlier than that, being born and raised in Taiwan and enjoying the world through a little boy’s eyes. Whether by choice or by luck, after his parents were divorced at age of 11, he moved to the Western world with his father, soaking in the culture and visuals of Costa Rica, New York, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, and most recently San Diego. 


After reaching Southern California at 1997, Kevin shared a room with a roommate closed to UCSD, at the time Kevin was scooping ice cream at UTC mall to pay for his rent and make a living, one day during a casual conversation with is roommate, Kevin found out he was working in the video game industry as a game tester, this sparked Kevin’s interest as he always had a passion in games, a few month later, Kevin got an opportunity to join his roommate’s working company Midway Home Entertainment as a game tester, and after being a game tester for 2 years, Kevin’s father at age of 55 was hospitalized with a massive stroke, as an only child in the family, Kevin had to take over the situation, when Dr. told him the outcome is not positive even by operation, sitting at the hospital for 2 whole weeks, Kevin finally had to accept the reality of his father’s passing, at the end Kevin did not make enough income to prep for the funeral, so his uncle called in the radio station to host a donation, throughout the hardship, Kevin got the support he needed, there are kind hearted people who donated $2000 to help with the funeral and another amazing human being donated a spot at the mausoleum for his dad’s ashes to be rested, Kevin tried the best way he could to find out those supporters so one day he could pay back this debt, but none of them are willing to share their names, all they have said is ” When you are able to help someone else in need one day, please pass on this gesture to the ones in need”. Kevin knows this is what he will do for sure when he is able to later on in his life and slowly got back on track in life. 


Kevin transitioned to the IT dept after 2 years of being a game tester, worked in the IT dept for 5 years, and got an opportunity to take charge of the motion capture stage they were building to help making animation easier with their games at the time Motion Capture was something that wasn’t quite popular and available to the general public, being a director at the motion capture stage for a few years to learn the pipeline and experience, Kevin is ready for a bigger adventure. 


Sony Imageworks started to make motion capture movies around early 2000s; at the same time, they were looking for motion capture talents to help with their movie “Monster House”. Sony had headhunters playing video games and looking for motion capture talents under credit list to headhunt and join the movie production team; Kevin was approached during that phase and soon moved to Los Angeles and started his experience in movie industry. 


Kevin found his career in feature film and video games to coincide at times with his photographic passions; while on the movie Beowulf (2007), he was privileged to work directly with Robert Zemeckis and the Director of Photography Robert Presley, absorbing decades worth of experience about photography and motion. Later in life, after working with James Cameron and contributing to films such as Avatar (2009), Kevin went back to reside in San Diego, working on the cinematic visuals and virtual production that tell the stories of high-profile video games and capturing the stories of real people through photography, as an executive director, Kevin builds and runs virtual production stages and teams for Chinese companies such as Tencent and Netease, bridging the culture gaps as well as communication to come up with the most efficient pipeline across the globe, during his spare time he also contributes back to the society and offer helping hands as much as he can with his kids and family to help carrying on the kind gesture from his past supports and hope to affect more people to bring more positive energy to this amazing world. 


We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?


Nothing is ever a smooth ride. I have ran into lots of obstacles, and I have explained a few in the last story of my life, to me I always believe when a door close, a window will open for you; always take the time to reflect and to re-focus, take the best out of it and know not to make the same mistake again in the future, everything happens for a reason, and there are always 2 sides of a story to look at, always look towards the positive side and spend your energy on manifesting a positive future instead of spending your time in worrying and having anxiety, we cannot control what happens to us, but we can control our attitude towards what happens to us, and in that, we will be mastering changes rather than allowing it to mater you. 


Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?


I am an executive director of virtual production, specializing in Motion Capture technology and photogrammetry (3D scanning) 


I am known for my supportive personality, determination, and leadership, which can bring a team towards a brighter future. 


I am most proud of the experience I learned next to working with directors such as Robert Zemeckis (Beowulf) and James Cameron (Avatar) 


Speaker of Beijing Tsinghua University on motion capture technology 


Speaker of TGDC 2020 


What sets apart me from others is my interest of never stop to learn and experience in life. I got an opportunity to visit Magic Castle 15 years back, and it opened my eye to wonders; due to how exclusive this club is, I went on YouTube for 2 month during my spare time and learn to do magic myself to audition at Magic castle to become a magician member, at age of 47, I learned how to solve a Rubik's cube to start thinking outside the box, I love how much in life there is to learn, and I enjoy learning new skills every chance I get. 



So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?


Anything regarding virtual production, from scanning to building a motion capture stage, or to even understand what virtual production means, I am always opened to share my experience to help others, even by encouraging and sharing my life experience and stories to help other people in need, I am more than glad to be a helping hand. 


Contact Info:


 
 
 

Comments

bottom of page