BIOGRAPHY

Drew is an art & creative director specializing in international entertainment design. Working across cultures, languages, and time zones, Drew has art directed and launched projects around the globe, from family entertainment centers and retail locations to e-ticket attractions and long term development plans. From original content to treasured IP characters, Drew has brought guests into exciting new worlds or faithful adaptations of familiar ones.

VIEW RESUME +/-

DREW FOSTER

Art Direction & Design

EXPERIENCE

Universal Studios Japan – Creative

Designer

Part of the Placemaking Department, an international team within USJC, charged with executing permanent build improvements to the park at budgets of $2mil USD or below. Creative lead from concept to opening day for Universal’s Pink Cloud, a dessert drink shop design specifically for Universal Citywalk Japan. In collaboration with Food and Merchandise departments, directed and actively generated original content from graphics and souvenir cups to crew wardrobe and architectural thematic designs. Worked across multiple languages, departments in Japan and the US, IP-holders, and numerous local fabrication vendors.

Additional projects include:

• Art directing design and install of Universal Studio Select retail refurbishment

• Assisting senior art direction on parkwide improvements

• Providing creative direction for multi-year development plans in collaboration with internal departments

• Assisting senior art direction with oversight and comment for all permanent IP-based installations outside the park

• Lead designer on a large-scale multi-million dollar confidential renewal project

Universal Studios Japan – Design Studio

Art Director

Part of the Design Studio, an international team within USJ, charged with executing seasonal attractions and temporary installations within the park, Citywalk, and adjacent resort properties. Creative lead from concept to opening day for the Universal Studio Store, a multi-floor retail shop situated at the heart of Citywalk. In collaboration with the Merchandise department, directed and actively generated content from graphics and crew wardrobe to architectural thematic designs. Worked across multiple languages, departments in Japan and the US, IP-holders, and numerous local fabrication vendors.

Additional projects include:

• Project managing Final Fantasty XR Ride, a multi-million dollar VR attraction overlay, in collaboration with IP holder Visual Works and Square Enix

• Creative lead for It’s So Fluffy retail store design, in collaboration with IP holder Illumination

• Creative lead for Sesame Character 4U retail store re-design, in collaboration with IP holder Sesame Workshop

• Art direction for various confidential speculative projects park wide

• Assisted senior art direction with oversight and comment for all seasonal IP-based installations outside the park

Sixth Sun Investment Co.

Creative Director

A startup location-based entertainment and property development firm in Beijing, Sixth Sun creates technology and gaming driven entertainment concepts for a domestic audience. Provided recruitment, hiring, and team management of western talent in the startup Beijing office. Developed a slate of six concept portfolio projects for potential investors in collaboration with the CEO and managing director. Directed designers and technicians to produce concept art and designs for projects across China, produced narrative and presentation materials.

Thinkwell Group

Art Director

An international experience design and production company, Thinkwell specializes in the planning and execution of theme parks, resorts, events, museums, and live events. Provided art direction from concept to detail design phase for e-ticket attraction Batman: Knight Flight and Scooby Doo and the Museum of Mysteries at Warner Bros World, Adu Dhabi. Working with teams of artists, designers, and technicians to develop the look and feel of each ride from storyboards and concept artwork to color elevations, ride track layouts, and technical schematics.

Additional projects include art direction for:

• On site fabrication and installation of all thematic elements and attractions at Warner Bros Fun Zone, Macau

• Divergent and The Hunger Games area development zones at Lionsgate Entertainment World, Zhuhai through schematic design

• Parade float, costume design, and storyboarding for spectacles and parades at Eon Time World, Harbin

• Parkwide design for an indoor snow park in MENA region

• Parkwide concept design for IP-based family entertainment center with global roll-out

• Parkwide concept designs for original IP-based and educational family entertainment centers in China

• Parkwide concept design for city-sized retail, dining, sports, and entertainment district in MENA region

Drew Foster Design

Art & Creative Direction

Specializing in design for live performance, scope of work varies from regional theater to international productions, traditional theater venues to living spaces like a European city square, an active cemetery, to a 50 seat movable theater venue. Develops design solutions for myriad challenges, from scenery and costumes to props and set dressing, along varying timelines from on-site problem solving to over seven years of development. Approaches designs with a background in dance, theatre performance, and acting for stage and camera.

Projects have been presented at: Wuzhen Theatre Festival, Prague Quadrennial of Design, REDCAT, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, OC Fair & Event Center, Irvine Great Park, and numerous regional theatres across the West Coast.

Select clients include: Mycotoo, Thinkwell Group, Sixth Sun Creative, PSQ Productions, Katana Marketing & Entertainment, First Class Events, HIXARC Industries, TakeOff Entertainment, Rich & Tone Productions, CycLAvia, Travis Preston, Chalie Otte, Es Devlin, Michael Curry, Matthew McCray, Jean Baptiste Sastre, Mark Danielewski, Whit Maclaughlin, Jonathan Walters, Marina McClure, Olga Sanchez, Philip Cuomo, etc.

EDUCATION

MFA – Theatre Scenic Design
California Institute Of The Arts, CA
Studied theatre scenic design under Tony Award winner Chris Barreca, costume design under Ellen McCartney, painting under Marjan Hormozi, and film criticism under Lewis Klahr

BA – Theatre Performance
Willamette University, OR
Studied acting, scenic design, costume design, technical direction, painting, found art sculpture, western and eastern art history, philosophy of art, eastern religion, and French

Art History/Theatre Criticism
Roehampton University, London, UK
Studied avant-garde theatre, surrealism in art history, and contemporary theatre criticism

ACADEMIA

California Institute of the Arts, CA

Curricular Lead – Entertainment Design, Calarts China
Adjunct – Vectorworks, Sketchup, Perspective Illustration
Guest Lecture – Entertainment Design in Asia, Digital Rendering

Kean University, NJ

Guest Lecture – Entertainment Design

DaVinci Arts MS, OR

Guest Lecture – Public Art

Chemeketa Community College, OR

Guest Lecture – Puppetry In Performance

SKILLS

Photoshop, Indesign, Lightroom, Illustrator, Sketchup, Layout, Lumion, Enscape, Octane, V-ray, Word, Excel, AutoCAD, Vectorworks, 3DS Max, hand illustration, painting, scenic painting, scale models, presentation through translation