Steve Tatham is executive creative director for Universal Creative, based in Orlando. He started his theme park career at Walt Disney Imagineering as a showset designer within weeks of completing his masters of Architecture at UCLA. He was at Disney for 28 years in the roles of show designer, show writer, copywriter, manager of advanced projects, senior manager of connected experiences, and principal at Walt Disney Imagineering R&D.
In 2014, Tatham was approached to lead a team for Universal Studios Japan, which he agreed to after much discussion and moved to Osaka almost a year after he was initially asked to do so. And while it was a difficult decision to leave Disney, he never looked back, spending four productive years in Japan before being offered a role leading development of new projects in Orlando.
He has held weekly “Creative Inspiration” sessions with his various teams in Glendale, Osaka and Orlando over the years that have included guests from outside organisations like Cal Arts and Google as well as interviews with Disney legends, such as Imagineering leader Marty Sklar, animator Floyd Norman and composer Richard Sherman, all of whom worked directly with Walt Disney.