John Hobbie: chairing creativity

“When my students graduate, they will have made important connections in the industry and they’ll be ready to enter the workforce as prepared professionals,” says John Hobbie, SCAD chair of production design and themed entertainment design.

Hobbie understands what employers and production companies are looking for in rising talent. Before joining SCAD in March, 2020, he was a show production designer and field art director for Walt Disney Imagineering, the creative team at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “I joined SCAD because of the SCAD students I encountered at Disney,” Hobbie explains. “Every time I got to work with them during the Imaginations competitions, they impressed me greatly.”

Hobbie first worked with SCAD students in 2013 at Hong Kong Disneyland, where he was show production designer for a property called Grizzly Gulch, and SCAD students had submitted a concept for a new food cart. “SCAD students came in knowing how to do the job. They were professional, well-spoken, and understood the importance of telling a cohesive story.”

“Those first students I met were able to produce professional level work and talk about it in front of a group comfortably. They blew away the competition.” Two students, Alfred Lee (B.F.A., illustration, 2014) and Katrina Teh (B.A., illustration, 2013), were subsequently hired upon graduation to join the Imagineering team. “The two of them together were a powerhouse,” Hobbie says.

Over the years, SCAD students have achieved success at Imaginations, winning the competition in 2018 and 2019. This is in large part due to SCAD’s first-of-its-kind M.F.A. program in themed entertainment design. The program leverages a curriculum that explores architecture, new media, film, live theater, and augmented and virtual reality that allows students to design attractions from the ground up.

Before coming to SCAD, and prior to his role as a Disney Imagineer, Hobbie worked in New York City as a set designer with United Scenic Artists Local 829. He relished the creative freedom. “As a set designer, you read a script and then get to create a world for everyone to play in. I had the freedom to explore my creative ideas and let go of my ego and be a part of something magical, again and again.”

As chair at SCAD, Hobbie is ready to help students forge their own paths. “Themed entertainment and production design are huge industries,” he says. “Our students will be working on projects from theme parks to Broadway shows to casinos to dressing Macy’s window displays. The options are endless and the jobs are going to be there.”

Hobbie is adamant that SCAD’s programs will continue to set the mark for all other programs globally. He has the industry expertise and the vision to see the unfolding landscape. “I am working towards programs that that speak directly to industry. SCAD students will be known for the value they bring with them on day one and the creativity to tell stories that resonate.”

Disney delight: Hobbie cuddles rooster Heihei with Moana’s approval.

Written by Robert Almand.