Washington DC · Defense & Federal

MATTHEW
DANESE

I make motion graphics
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The Reel

Ninety seconds of
what I do.

▶
2026 SHOWREEL — IN THE EDIT
Selected Work

Complex systems,
made watchable.

Launch Video

DoD Marketplace Product Launch

Five-minute product film for a defense software platform on DoD’s Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace. Written, designed, and delivered end to end — kinetic typography, cinematic b-roll, and broadcast voiceover, carried from first script to final master.

GenAI Pipeline

AI-Assisted Production System

A storyboard-driven pipeline where script, voiceover, on-screen text, and edit assembly flow from one source of truth — generative imagery and broadcast VO directed frame by frame, assembled through After Effects tooling I built myself. Cut revision cycles from days to hours.

Brand Tools

Creative Operations Suite

Designed and built the operations platform for the graphics team I lead: onboarding, process, and standards docs, a graphics library with custom classification for reuse across contract vehicles, and a workload-planning platform that leadership now uses to see capacity and plan staffing across the proposal organization.

Proposal Graphics

Federal Capture Visuals

22 FEDSIM pursuits. Solution architectures, OV-1s, operational maps, and infographics that translate engineering into evaluator-ready visual arguments under hard deadlines.

3D / Animation

Systems in Motion

3D product and concept animation for platforms that can't be photographed: maritime systems, sensors, and software made tangible.

Environmental Digital

Trade Show Experiences

Motion design for physical spaces: LED wall and screen animations, product displays, and booth media planning and layout for major defense trade shows in DC and abroad.

Capabilities

One person,
full pipeline.

01

Motion Graphics

Kinetic type, animated infographics, launch films. After Effects native, storyboard-disciplined, deadline-proof.

02

Generative AI Production

Generative imagery, video, and voice, run through pipelines I built — at production scale, with verification gates, not as party tricks.

03

Brand Systems

Identity stewardship, template systems, brand portals. Guidelines people actually follow.

04

3D Animation

Product visualization and concept animation for hardware and software that can't sit for a photo.

05

Proposal & Capture Visuals

Federal acquisition literacy: FEDSIM, OASIS+, IDIQ. Graphics that score, built with SMEs under the clock.

06

Web, Tools & Event Digital

Working web apps and interactive pages, designed and coded, plus booth and environmental screen content. The digital experience, end to end, on any surface.

MD
About

Eighteen years of
making the complex clear.

I'm a motion graphics and multimedia designer who translates complex defense systems, architectures, and technologies into visual narratives that win work and move audiences.

For the last decade I've supported federal pursuits across FEDSIM, OASIS+, and DoD acquisition vehicles while leading 3D animation, motion, and brand initiatives for enterprise clients. I sit at the intersection of marketing, engineering, and business development, and I ship under deadlines that would make most people quit.

When an external vendor failed on a flagship video series, I built the in-house production capability that replaced them: roughly one-fifth the cost, three to four times the speed, and award-winning results.

HII Impact Award — Honoree 2026  ·  Art Institute Best Project Awards

"Very dependable in completing projects in a short time period while balancing various requests from different angles. His attention to detail always gives my team the comfort that his projects will be precise and exactly what we requested."

— Director, Marketing Communications, PR & Brand Strategy
Experience

The road here.

2017 — PRESENT

Principal Designer

Alion Science & Technology → Huntington Ingalls Industries · Fairfax, VA

Recruited to Alion by leadership I'd delivered for at DRS; carried through the HII acquisition. Visual lead for federal proposals and corporate marketing: motion graphics, 3D animation, GenAI production pipelines, brand stewardship, and the internal tools that keep a creative team running.

2015 — 2016

Digital Marketing Manager

GW Medical Faculty Associates · Washington, DC

Integrated digital strategy for a major academic medical practice: web redesign, SEO, patient-acquisition campaigns, physician branding.

2006 — 2015

Senior Specialist, Multimedia & Design

Leonardo DRS · Arlington, VA

Nine years across brand management, internal comms, web, and 2D/3D animation for business development pursuits. Where the defense-visuals foundation was poured.

FOUNDATION

3D Animation & Game Design

The Art Institute

Best project, Digital Design. Best project, Animation. The habit of winning the room started early.

Contact

Let's make something
worth watching.

Available for select consulting:
Video & Motion  ·  Trade Show & Event Digital  ·  Brand Systems

Washington DC metro  ·  LinkedIn

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