Frank Sabia Jr
Nashville,TN
Summary
Principal Creative Technologist / Senior Technical Artist Real-Time Visualization • Lighting & Rendering Systems • AI-Enabled Pipelines Former Associate Director (Wayfair) | Senior IC (Meta)
Senior principal-level creative technologist specializing in real-time visualization, lighting systems, and scalable 3D pipelines. Operates as a hands-on senior IC with platform-level ownership, bridging art and engineering to deliver high-fidelity visuals, efficient workflows, and AI-enabled creative systems at scale.
Overview
22
22
years of professional experience
Work History
Strategic Art Lead & Lighting Manager
Meta
03.2023 - Current
- Operated as a senior IC with organization-level ownership, founding Meta’s first dedicated Lighting discipline spanning real-time and offline rendering pipelines.
- Defined lighting standards and workflows adopted across multiple product and platform teams.
- Designed and integrated AI-enabled lighting workflows, including the Virtual Lighting Assistant (VLA), reducing iteration time and improving approval convergence.
- Owned lighting and look development for Meta Connect and the 2025 Keynote, delivering high-fidelity environment and avatar lighting at global scale.
- Built reusable lighting rigs and validation workflows, driving ~50% improvement in rendering efficiency across real-time and offline imagery.
- Partnered closely with engineering on rendering architecture, tooling, and performance trade-offs.
- • Authored self-service tools and documentation that scaled lighting and rendering expertise across Art and Engineering organizations.
Associate Director / Art Manager
Wayfair
01.2020 - 01.2023
- Led technical direction for large-scale 3D visualization platforms supporting high-volume ecommerce imagery.
- Designed and scaled end-to-end visualization pipelines integrating DCC and real-time rendering workflows.
- Improved visual quality standards by ~30% while enabling predictable delivery of thousands of production-ready assets per month.
- Partnered with engineering and TPM teams on forecasting, capacity planning, and platform roadmap alignment.
Lead Lighting - Lookdev - Textures
Sony Pictures Imageworks
01.2015 - 01.2020
- Led lighting and look development for principal characters on The Mitchells vs. the Machines and Smallfoot.
- Managed and mentored lighting teams of up to 15 artists under aggressive production schedules.
Look Development Supervisor
Iloura
01.2014 - 01.2015
- Directed Look Development and Texture teams for Gods of Egypt.
- Enabled a 200% increase in full-CG character production by establishing early, high-fidelity character standards that improved scalability and pipeline efficiency.
Senior Lighting Artist
Walt Disney Feature Animation
01.2013 - 01.2014
- Senior lighter for Academy Award–winning Frozen and Big Hero 6.
Lighting Supervisor
Rising Sun Pictures
01.2010 - 01.2012
- Served as Lighting Supervisor on the live-action feature Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.
- Served as Lead Lighting TD on Green Lantern and Academy Award–nominated Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.
Lead Lighting TD
Weta Digital
01.2009 - 01.2010
- Served as Lead Lighting TD on James Cameron’s Academy Award–winning Avatar, owning lighting setup, compositing, and shot finaling to help define the visual look of key sequences on a landmark VFX production.
Lead Lighting
DreamWorks Animation SKG
01.2004 - 01.2009
- Served as Lead Lighter on animated feature films including Flushed Away, Madagascar 2, Bee Movie, Monsters vs. Aliens, and Turbo.
Education
Associate of Arts - Computer Animation And Technology
The Art Institute of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA01.1998
Skills
- Applied AI for Creative Workflows
- Process optimization
- Template and asset management
- 3D visualization acceleration through automation
- 3D visual effects creation
- Compositing for visual effects
- Color correction proficiency
- 3D visualization skills
- Character development
- Collaboration in motion graphics development
- Cross-functional team leadership
AI, Automation and Workflow Optimization
Creative and Technical Capabilities
Leadership and Collaboration
- Strategic leadership
- Team building
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Nuke
- Maya
- Unreal Engine
- 3ds Max
- Katana
- Mari
- Substance
- V-Ray
- Arnold
- NVIDIA Omniverse
Software and Tools
Timeline
Strategic Art Lead & Lighting Manager
Meta
03.2023 - Current
Associate Director / Art Manager
Wayfair
01.2020 - 01.2023
Lead Lighting - Lookdev - Textures
Sony Pictures Imageworks
01.2015 - 01.2020
Look Development Supervisor
Iloura
01.2014 - 01.2015
Senior Lighting Artist
Walt Disney Feature Animation
01.2013 - 01.2014
Lighting Supervisor
Rising Sun Pictures
01.2010 - 01.2012
Lead Lighting TD
Weta Digital
01.2009 - 01.2010
Lead Lighting
DreamWorks Animation SKG
01.2004 - 01.2009
Associate of Arts - Computer Animation And Technology
The Art Institute of Pittsburgh