Firm enlists creative help of former Disney animator

by Talk Business & Politics ([email protected]) 332 views 

inVeritas, a communications and public affairs company headquartered in Little Rock, has hired educator and former Walt Disney Feature Animation artist David Kersey as part-time senior creative director.

Kersey, also executive director of the New Design School in Fayetteville, since July, will lead creative projects for inVeritas from the firm’s Rogers office, which opened last year.

Before moving to Northwest Arkansas in 2015, Kersey was a look development artist at Disney in Burbank, Calif., working on animated shorts and the feature films “Tangled,” “Wreck-It Ralph” and the Academy Award-winning movie, “Frozen,” according to his website, www.davidwilkeskersey.com.

“David’s skills and talents will elevate the firm’s creative capabilities to a whole new level,” inVeritas CEO Ruth Whitney said, according to a company press release.

“His extensive design, animation and digital experience, along with creative partners at the New Design School, will allow us to build strategically on the work we are doing every day for our clients,” she said.

Born in Little Rock and raised in Texarkana, Kersey earned his bachelor’s degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia.

His film animation career began in 2003, when he was senior technical director at Sony Pictures Imageworks in Culver City, Calif. There, his work was featured in “The Polar Express,” “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” and “Beowulf,” according to his website.

Kersey also teaches graphic design and animation courses at NorthWest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville and Arkansas Arts Academy in Rogers.

“I returned to Northwest Arkansas because of the creative energy encompassing entrepreneurship, art and education in the region,” Kersey said, according to the press release. “I am excited to join the inVeritas team and believe we can offer a unique creative service for businesses all over the world.”

inVeritas’ primary practice areas are government relations, market research, brand management and public relations — including design and digital media, according to the press release.