“Daniel Montoya, in addition to being an excellent Environment Artist showed himself to have inexhaustible motivation and demonstrated effective leadership skills. Daniel was one of the go-to people on the LEGO Universe art team for handling complex tasks, r&d, and challenging aesthetic problems in addition to his regular responsibilities. For some areas of the game Daniel was trusted to take on the art production for entire levels. Daniel was an effective mentor for less experienced or recently on-boarded artists. In many cases Daniel was trusted to handle many facets of a SR. Artist position. Once a task is finished he is right there with his Lead asking in which way he can contribute next!” November 22, 2011
Brian Mullaney, Lead World Artist, LEGO
managed Daniel at LEGO Group
managed Daniel at LEGO Group
“Daniel's passion for what he did while working on LEGO Universe was blazingly apparent. He continuously seeked improvements in work flow and game efficiency and was more then willing to go above and beyond what was asked of him on a day to day basis. He is a terrific mentor and teacher of his craft. At one point, Daniel was tasked to teach another employee and I how to 3D model. Though the task seemed overwhelmingly daunting to me, Daniel's incredible patience and thorough knowledge of Maya proved a great platform for us to learn. He offered his help and encouragement whenever we felt stuck and before we knew it, we were modeling in Maya! I would recommend Daniel for anyone looking for a dedicated and passionate team member who truly puts their all into what they do.”November 10, 2011
Alexa Abrams, User Interface Artist, LEGO Group
worked with Daniel at LEGO Group
worked with Daniel at LEGO Group
“Daniel Montoya is an incredible artist with an incredible work ethic. Watching him work is inspiring, in both the quality of work he creates and his level of dedication to the project. He always knew what to say, how to approch a problem, and what to do to improve the quality. Somehow during all of this he also found time to help train a small team of newly hired artist. Daniel has the makings of an future art director, he can lead a team and deliver quality. That alone should convince you that he is great for your studio. However I'm sure that if you hired him, you will find ten more reasons why you made the right choice in choosing daniel.” November 9, 2011
Michael Aviles, 3D Artist, LEGO Group
worked directly with Daniel at LEGO Group
worked directly with Daniel at LEGO Group
“I would highly recommend Daniel Montoya.
Working with him over the course of the last few years I found his commitment to his job and responsibilities to be of the highest caliber. He's motivated and focuses on the task at hand. He is meticulous, and detail oriented when needed, but keeps the larger goal of the company in mind at all times and doesn't need to be reminded to do so.
Daniel is a calming and positive presence within the team, which makes working around him easy, and enjoyable. He leads by example. He has ascended within every group that he was associated with despite having less seniority, in almost every instance. Although Daniel has considerable experience I believe that one of his greatest assets is his ability to learn on the fly in order to find solutions to problems that could not be anticipated. This skill is invaluable within any industry but particularly so when viewed in context of his role as a World Artist. This in my opinion was absolutely paramount in achieving the highest quality work at all times, and releasing it.
I am sure that this recommendation will be one of many that Daniel will have at his disposal and I was excited to have a chance to write it. When you work with someone that you like, and works has hard or harder than you do it's an easy and fun thing to do. I'm very confident that Daniel will continue to do great work, and have continued success in the near future, and well beyond that. Having this opportunity has been the best of times, and given the chance to do the same I believe you will share in that opinion as well.
Paul Kooi
Sr. UI / UX Engineer
Time Warner Cable” November 9, 2011
Working with him over the course of the last few years I found his commitment to his job and responsibilities to be of the highest caliber. He's motivated and focuses on the task at hand. He is meticulous, and detail oriented when needed, but keeps the larger goal of the company in mind at all times and doesn't need to be reminded to do so.
Daniel is a calming and positive presence within the team, which makes working around him easy, and enjoyable. He leads by example. He has ascended within every group that he was associated with despite having less seniority, in almost every instance. Although Daniel has considerable experience I believe that one of his greatest assets is his ability to learn on the fly in order to find solutions to problems that could not be anticipated. This skill is invaluable within any industry but particularly so when viewed in context of his role as a World Artist. This in my opinion was absolutely paramount in achieving the highest quality work at all times, and releasing it.
I am sure that this recommendation will be one of many that Daniel will have at his disposal and I was excited to have a chance to write it. When you work with someone that you like, and works has hard or harder than you do it's an easy and fun thing to do. I'm very confident that Daniel will continue to do great work, and have continued success in the near future, and well beyond that. Having this opportunity has been the best of times, and given the chance to do the same I believe you will share in that opinion as well.
Paul Kooi
Sr. UI / UX Engineer
Time Warner Cable” November 9, 2011
“Daniel was the very first artist I hired for my art team in creating LEGO Universe and remained one of my favorites through his 3 years working on the game. Daniel has a great ability to learn quick and apply what he has learned to many aspect of game creation helping his fellow team members whenever asked. He went out of his way to help the team any way he could even if that meant coming in on days off and holidays or if someone was falling behind. Daniel rose through the ranks of the Game artists to become of of the best on the team. He has a great eye for art and is equally impressive running a team. I would highly recommend Daniel for any studio looking for a all around artist who can come in and hit the ground running and be contributing to your project in a month. I hope to work with him again in the future.” November 9, 2011
Rich Vargas, World Lead, NetDevil
managed Daniel at LEGO Group
managed Daniel at LEGO Group
“I had to rely on Dan many times to provide models or mockups for LEGO Universe, and he never let me down. He's fast, eager, and has a very solid skillset both as an amazing modeler and a willing investigator into new ideas and processes.
He's got a fantastic personality, a willingness to exceed expectations, and was a truly integral component to the LEGO art team.” November 7, 2011
He's got a fantastic personality, a willingness to exceed expectations, and was a truly integral component to the LEGO art team.” November 7, 2011
Erik Beyer, Lead Animator, Playwell Studios
managed Daniel indirectly at LEGO Group
managed Daniel indirectly at LEGO Group
“Daniel is one of the hardest working people in the industry. He has business smarts, an eye for detail, and a pure passion for what he does. I have known Daniel for many years, even in college, he worked very hard for everything. If you are lucky enough to have Daniel on your team, you will quickly realize how much of a hard, smart worker Daniel is. I can not only recommend Daniel, I endorse him for his future career path. Daniel will get the job done right. I hope he and I can begin working together again soon. Thank you for leading by example!” November 7, 2011
Christopher Thigpen, Live Release Coordinator (LEGO.com/LEGO UNIVERSE), LEGO Group managed Daniel indirectly at LEGO Group
“Daniel is an outstanding artist and a great game developer. His attention to detail and work ethic is a boon to any project he works on. Daniel is the kind of developer who cares about everything he does and puts the same amount of care and detail in each and every asset he touches. I really hope I get the opportunity to work with Daniel again.” November 7, 2011
Michael Edwards, Senior System Designer, LEGO Group
worked with Daniel at Lego Group
