Adam Bezark
Discipline: Writing / Creative Direction Company: The Bezark Company Learn more about Adam
Adam J. Bezark is an award-winning writer, creative director and business owner who combines a wide variety of media and technologies in pioneering forms. His experience ranges from theme park rides and attractions, to film and video, to major museum exhibits, to live entertainment and special events. Adam’s firm, The Bezark Company, Inc., creates and produces immersive entertainment experiences around the world. From his early days with Epcot’s IllumiNations... to Universal’s T2:3D...the Hong Kong handover Spectacular...and the more recent Shanghai Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure, among so many more, Adam’s work has entranced millions of visitors to theme parks, attractions and special events. Well before themed entertainment began to emerge as a recognized field and degree program, Adam designed his own interdisciplinary curriculum at USC, focusing on theme park design. Internships at Disneyland Park gave him exposure to the design and production process; other early roles included Universal Studios Tour Guide and puppeteer training with Sid and Marty Krofft. He gained further experience at Landmark Entertainment Group and Walt Disney Imagineering. In 2011, after years of success as an independent creative director and project leader, Adam began to build up The Bezark Company into a full-blown creative studio serving theme parks, museums, visitor centers, and immersive brand experiences. Based in L.A.’s Atwater Village, some 20 writers, producers, creative directors and technical specialists currently make up the Bezark team, with a slate of projects in production from the US to Asia. Having been mentored by some of the industry’s greatest legends, today Adam tries to return the favor by finding time to meet with, encourage, and guide students, recent graduates and careerchanging professionals who aspire to careers in themed entertainment. He has taught and lectured at CalArts, Art Center and his alma mater USC. He has long supported and served in many capacities within the TEA and is also a highlyregarded industry “spokesvoice.” Adam continues to lead and inspire, as he embraces new and emerging arts and technologies, always keeping in mind the emotional chords and surprises that delight, and entertain visitors, guests, and audience members. 
Wayne Hunt
Discipline: Graphic Design Company: Hunt Design (Retired) Learn more about wayne
Graphic designer Wayne Hunt has brought wayfinding and thematic graphics to theme parks and entertainment for 40+ years. He was one of the first to organize directional signage into strategic wayfinding programs for large park sites. Starting with signage for Universal Studios and the first hotels at EPCOT in the 1970s, Wayne has been a design consultant to more than 50 theme parks and entertainment destinations, spanning 11 countries. “In addition to providing functional information for guests, creative signage can set the scene, advance story lines and enhance the guest experience. Good signage delivers disproportionate value for money spent.” Wayne says. In 1977 he established Hunt Design, specializing in identity, signage and environmental graphics programs for entertainment, theme parks, public spaces, cities and hospitality. The firm grew to be a top design resource for the themed entertainment industry. The relationship between Hunt Design and WDI started in 1979 with Space Mountain and has continued through Shanghai Disneyland. The firm designed signage and branding for Disney’s Pleasure Island, in 1988 - gone now but considered by many to be the original destination RD&E (Retail-Dining-Entertainment), now standard at most major theme parks. With Universal Studios, Hunt Design has contributed to projects starting with Universal CityWalk in 1989 and most recently in Beijing and Orlando. The client list also includes Busch Gardens, Knott’s, Warner Bros., Six Flags, Sanrio, Lotte World, Fox, Paramount Parks and others. Wayne has authored three books on environmental graphics and is on the faculty of Art Center College of Design. He is past president of Ryman Arts and both the Art Directors Club of Los Angeles and the Society for Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD). In 2004 he was named a Fellow of SEGD and 2016 a Fellow of the American Institute of Graphic Arts Los Angeles chapter. He has been a guest critic at the USC Schools of Architecture, Design and Film and lectured at multiple universities including UCLA, University of Illinois and Harvard Graduate School of Design. Three posters designed by Hunt are in the permanent decorative arts collection at Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In 2015 Hunt began to share his ongoing personal mixed media art with friends and associates and in 2017 had a successful one-person show debut at Andlab Gallery in downtown Los Angeles. He mounted a second Andlab show in 2019 and will be featured in a show at Collum Gallery in Sacramento in 2020. His work is in many private collections. 
Philip Vaughan
Discipline: Art / Creative Design Company: Independent Contractor, Freelance Sculptor and Paint Learn More About Philip
Philip Vaughan was brought up in Le Havre, France and went to English boarding school at the age of 9. He met Gordon Taylor, his first mentor at Brighton College, who started him on a lifelong love of architecture and painting and sculpture. He went to Cambridge University to study architecture and then transferred to art school graduating from Chelsea School of Art. After completing his two years as a graduate research assistant at Northumberland Polytechnic art school, Philip built his first large public sculpture in London - the 45ft tall Hayward Gallery Neon Tower in 1972. He worked as a sculptor in England and as a fine art lecturer in a number of British art schools, including two years teaching at the London Metropolitan University while he experimented with inflatables and kinetics and built an ocean-going sailing boat in Rotherhithe, in east London. In 1979 he sailed that boat across the Atlantic with his wife Alice. Shortly after landing in Florida he started working for WED Enterprises (later Walt Disney Imagineering) designing and fabricating dinosaurs, rides and sets for theme parks. He worked as field art director in Japan for Tokyo Disneyland and then went on to work as creative director at Universal Studios and as design director for Supertek at Taejon Expo 93 in Korea. In 1988 he set up his own design company, Vertex Productions, to work on museums, cultural projects and theme parks and he has been running that company since that time to the present. The firm designs work principally for the Asia and the Far and Middle East markets and is a specialist in technical design solutions including ambitious public art projects. Philip currently consults on entertainment projects and continues his fine art work from his studio in Pasadena. |
Zsolt Hormay
Discipline: Rock Work / Sculpting / Paint Company: Walt Disney Imagineering Learn More About Zsolt
Zsolt Hormay is a highly skilled, world-renowned expert in the design, creation and construction of themed environments for theme parks, resorts and other settings. As creative portfolio executive with Walt Disney Imagineering, Zsolt has played an integral role in major projects located in China, France, Japan and the United States, and has had the opportunity to work with notable clients designing and building one-of-a-kind themed projects. He currently oversees a number of projects in the U.S., Japan and China. During his 15-year career with Walt Disney Imagineering, Zsolt has worked on a wide variety of projects in four major theme parks on three continents. Several of his projects serve as focal points in the parks, including the Tree of Life at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Mysterious Island at Tokyo DisneySea. He was also the field art director responsible for creating the Cadillac Mountain Range at Cars Land at Disney California Adventure and Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Additionally, Zsolt is the creative executive for the Themed Finishes Art Studio at Walt Disney Imagineering, encompassing four major disciplines in placemaking: rockwork, character paint, character façade and hardscape. His unique skills include the development of innovative, realistic and highly-durable finishes and materials that are utilized in the design and installation of artificial and natural rock formations, water features, artificial foliage and various themed environments. Zsolt is a great thought partner to the organization and strongly influences the design phase of projects. Zsolt’s creativity extends to a special interest in nature, photography and the art of origami, as well as to playing Native American and Hungarian flutes, classical and acoustical guitar and the Renaissance lute. He speaks English, French, Hungarian and Japanese and played hockey for two years on the Hungarian National Hockey team, representing Hungary at the 1981 European Championships. 
Lisa Passamonte Green
Vice Chair, 2023 TEA Masters Discipline: Lighting Design Company: Visual Terrain, Inc. Learn More AbouT Lisa
Recognized as a leading international lighting designer, Lisa Passamonte Green has worked on over 1,000 projects on six continents. Lisa’s history includes lighting design for world expos, theme parks and individual attractions, 3D, 4D and 5D attractions, museums, traveling exhibits, casinos, municipalities, public art, zoos and other animal environments, and retail and restaurants. She has overseen the development and management of parkwide lighting and control systems and standards for six theme parks in the Middle East, China and the United States. Born and raised in San Diego, California, Lisa attended San Diego State University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Drama with an emphasis in design for television and film. In 1990, Lisa launched her career creating lighting for themed environments at Walt Disney Imagineering. Lisa founded Passamonte Lighting Design, Inc. in 1995, and incorporated in 1997. In 2001, Lisa merged her company with Moody Ravitz Hollingsworth Lighting Design, Inc. and Visual Terrain was born. In 2010, Lisa became co-owner, CEO and Principal in Charge of Visual Terrain, alongside her husband, David Green, who serves as COO and President. Visual Terrain is preparing to celebrate its 25th year of lighting design for architecture, attractions and the arts. She has worked on 12 projects that received TEA Thea Awards for Outstanding Achievement. Additional honors include 20 Lumen West Awards of Merit, nine Lumen West Awards of Excellence, a Light for Living Award, and two IIDA Awards of Excellence. Visual Terrain was the 2006 Lumen West Firm of the Year. In addition to telling the story of every project with light, Lisa’s mission in life is to restructure the way lighting designers work with their clients and lighting suppliers. The processes Lisa has developed with Visual Terrain’s strategic partners have saved clients millions of dollars in equipment costs, without a significant increase in design fees and time. Lisa is a longstanding member of the TEA and has served on the TEA International Board of Directors and the Thea Awards Nominating Committee. She is also a member of IAAPA, IALD, IES and AIA. |
