Overview
Van Phan is an interdisciplinary educator, director, and creative technologist whose work bridges storytelling, design, psychology, and emerging technologies to foster transformative “Aha!” learning moments. With a dynamic career spanning animation, games, film, corporate, and education, he has held diverse roles including director, technical director, animator, consultant, curriculum designer, and even an auditor at Ernst & Young.
Van has contributed to globally recognized projects across top-tier studios, including DreamWorks, Naughty Dog, Disney, 2K Games, Sony Imageworks, Epic Games, Paramount, Digital Domain, and Activision. His production credits include beloved franchises like Shrek, Ice Age, Madagascar, How to Train Your Dragon, Harry Potter, Uncharted, and Fortnite.
A passionate educator and curriculum innovator, Van has taught or spoken at over 20 institutions, including Duke University, DigiPen, CalArts, Stanford, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Northeastern University, LSU, and the Academy of Art University. He frequently advises academic programs and creative studios on integrating industry best practices, real-time workflows, and project-based pedagogy into curriculum design. His teaching emphasizes team-based learning, metacognition, and stress-framework thinking to help students build creative resilience and professional readiness.
Van is deeply committed to using data to inform and improve educational outcomes. He regularly analyzes student feedback, performance metrics, and course evaluations to identify patterns, iterate on curriculum design, and better support diverse learning needs.
As a director and storyteller, Van’s work has been showcased at Tribeca, SXSW, and SIGGRAPH, where he received Best of Show honors. He continues to pioneer the application of cutting-edge technologies, including AI, VR, and real-time game engines. Notably, he collaborated with Meta’s VR for Good and the Diana Award to create Upstander, a VR project designed for social impact and currently being studied in behavioral therapy research.
In 2023, Van served as both Technical Director and Instructor for the Unreal Animation Fellowship and consulted with the Art Directors Guild to help veteran artists transition into game engine–based production workflows.
Van has worked as a director, animator, previs artist, technical director, and designer for films and games produced by Dreamworks, Sony Imageworks, Paramount, Digital Domain, Activision, 2K, Naughty Dog ILM, and Blue Sky Studios. His credits include working on such franchises as Aquaman 2, Harry Potter, Shrek, Madagascar, Ice Age, Uncharted, How to Train Your Dragon, Captain America, NBA 2 K, and Thor. In addition, he has also worked as a director or animator on award-winning XR projects screened at the Tribeca, Cannes, and Venice Film Festivals. Van's thesis film had the honor of winning Best of Show at SIGGRAPH, which qualified it for the Academy Award.
His interest in teaching stems from his passion for storytelling, animation, and lifelong learning. His multidisciplinary background and breadth of experience have given him a unique perspective that he incorporates into his classes. Van is dedicated to fostering creativity and equipping learners with frameworks to solve problems, innovate, and develop lasting skills. A passionate advocate for neurodiversity, he uses a strength-based approach to empower all learners, fostering transformative moments that change their identity and help unlock their potential. Van enjoys creating “Aha” moments for these students that can have lasting impacts outside the classroom.
