Tex Kadonaga

Tetsuo "Tex" Kadonaga is a visual effects artist and digital set designer who worked as digital set designer on  and .

On 2009's Star Trek, Kadonaga designed the digital sets aboard the Narada including the bridge, the cargo bay and the torture chamber. 

On Into Darkness, he worked closely with James Clyne and Kasra Farahani on the 3D models of the  bridge including its consoles and the corridor consoles, the Vengeance exterior look, the initial concept model of the K'normian trading ship interior, and the garbage barge look for the climatic fight sequence.  For this work, Kadonaga received an ADG Excellence in Production Design Award nomination in the category Fantasy Film in  which he shared with Scott Chambliss, Ramsey Avery, James Clyne, Lauren Polizzi, Kasra Farahani, Michael E. Goldman, Harry E. Otto, Andrew E.W. Murdock, Jason Baldwin Stewart, Natasha Gerasimova, Steve Christensen, Andrea Dopaso, John Eaves, Nathan Schroeder, Ryan Church, Christopher Ross, Victor Martinez, Steven Messing, Karl Strahlendorf, John Chichester, Kevin Cross, Andrew Reeder, Anne Porter, Jane Wuu, Richard F. Mays, Allen Coulter, Karl Martin, Scott Schneider, Lorrie Campbell, Easton Smith, Tammy Lee, Tim Croshaw, Clint Schultz, and Karen Manthey.

According to the IMDb, Kadonaga worked as Set Designer on the  sequel  under production designer Scott Chambliss.

Career

1980s – 2009 
Kadonaga graduated with an Industrial Design Major from the Ontario College of Art in Ontario, Canada in 1988 and with a Production Design Major from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California in 1990. Throughout the 1990s he worked for the effects companies Commotion, Inc. and Landmark Entertainment Group before he joined Rhythm & Hues as CG Artist, Art Director and Designer in 1993. Since 2002 he is also working as Art Director for Electronic Arts located in Redwood City, California.

As part of Rhythm & Hues he worked on concept art for the  shuttle in , but the contract was awarded to another visual effects company.  Other projects as 3D modeler, art director, and artist as part of Rhythm & Hues include the adventure Babe (1995, with James Cromwell) and its sequel Babe: Pig in the City (1998), the comedy The Associate (1996, with Whoopi Goldberg), the fantasy comedy Mystery Men (1999), the science fiction comedy What Planet Are You From? (2000), the science fiction thriller The Sixth Day (2000), the comedies Cats & Dogs (2001) and Scooby-Doo (2002), the action sequel The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), the adventure comedy Night at the Museum (2006), the comedy sequel Evan Almighty (2007), the comedy remake Land of the Lost (2009), and the fantasy film Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009).

Early in his career, Kadonaga worked at Arcca Animation on the television series Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future (1987-1988). His credits as art director include the video games Race for Atlantis (1998), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 (2004).

2010 – today 
Kadonaga worked as costume modeler on the science fiction sequel TRON: Legacy (2010) and as digital set designer on the drama 2012 (2009), 's science fiction blockbuster Avatar (2009), the comic adaptation Thor (2011, starring Chris Hemsworth), the science fiction film Cowboys & Aliens (2011), the drama Real Steel (2011), the thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), and the fantasy film Oz: The Great and Powerful (2013).

In 2010 he received an ADG Excellence in Production Design Award from the Art Directors Guild in the category Fantasy Film for his work on Avatar. He shared this award with fellow Trek artists Robert Stromberg, Dorian Bustamante, Ryan Church, James Clyne, Paul Ozzimo, Daphne Yap, C. Scott Baker, Scott Herbertson, Joseph Hiura, Karl J. Martin, Andrew Reeder, and Gregory Jein. In 2012 he received another nomination in the category Fantasy Film for his work on Cowboys & Aliens and won an ADG Award in the category Contemporary Film for his work on the mystery drama The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

More recent credits as Set Designer include the animated movie Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return (2013) and the science fiction film Tomorrowland (2015, written and produced by Damon Lindelof, music by Michael Giacchino, and production design by Scott Chambliss).

External links 
 Kadonaga.net – official site
 
 Tex Kadonaga at ArtDirectorsGuild.org

Art department
ADG Excellence in Production Design Award nominees