Visual Effects Society

Jeff Barnes – CEO, CafeFX/The Syndicate

Jeff Barnes is co-founder and CEO of the ComputerCafe Group and has broad oversight of the operations of its feature effects division, CafeFX, and its Santa Monica-based commercial visual effects and design studio, The Syndicate. Barnes also provides management support and development input for Sententia Entertainment, the company’s feature film production division.

Barnes is the driving force behind business development, sales and marketing for CafeFX and The Syndicate, where his leadership and vision has facilitated the company’s meteoric growth into a 36,000 square-foot facility on an eight acre campus and a high end post production studio in the creative hub of Santa Monica. As a visual effects production executive, his credits include The Kite Runner, Evan Almighty, Spider-Man 3, Ghost Rider, The Departed, Pan’s Labyrinth, Art School Confidential, King Kong, Memoirs of a Geisha, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Sin City, and The Aviator. He was also executive producer on Sententia Entertainment’s first feature film, Danika

2008/2009

Mat Beck, A.S.C. – VFX Supervisor, Director, DP, President, Entity FX

Mat Beck started out shooting personal films and documentary footage, then began designing and programming digital tools for the VFX industry, including what was likely the first microcomputer motion control system.  At the same time, he worked as a camera operator, eventually progressing to director of photography and VFX supervisor.  He has worked on more than 60 films and numerous television projects, as cameraman, VFX supervisor, producer and second unit director.  He has also served as first unit director, recently directing an episode for the Smallville TV series.  Beck founded Light Matters, Inc. in 1994 and Entity FX in 2002.

In addition to his membership in the VES, Mat is a member of The American Society of Cinematographers, The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, The International Cinematographers Guild (Local 600), The Directors Guild of America and The Writers Guild of America.

2006/2007

Colin Campbell – Digital Effects

As an effects artist, I have 21 years experience, from shooting motion control animation and optical effects to digital compositing. I have been fortunate to have worked at many of the traditional and digital effects facilities including DreamQuest Images, Boss Film Corp., Rhythm & Hues, Sony Imageworks and ILM. As those who have met and worked with me can attest, I have a deep appreciation for pre-digital effects films and techniques. Stop motion animation, miniatures, forced perspective, glass shots, Shufftan mirror shots, etc., these were the magic tricks that inspired me to pursue a career in visual effects. As the industry becomes more and more digital, we tend to be less aware of the techniques, equipment, and artists whose shoulders we stand on.

2008/2009

Mike Chambers – VFX Producer/Consultant

Mike is an experienced VFX producer & independent consultant. He has worked with many influential VFX studios and production companies, and as a freelancer, has worked on numerous feature film projects, most recently "I Am Legend" for Warner Brothers. He has been a member of the VES since 1998, previously serving two terms on the Board of Directors (2003/04 & 2005/06), and one year on the Executive Board, as Secretary, in 2005. He currently sits on the Membership Committee and Standards & Practices Committee, and in the past has served on the Strategic Planning Committee, the Awards Committee, and the Annual Membership Meeting Committee. He is also a member of the Producers Guild of America.

2008/2009

Jerome Chen - Senior VFX Supervisor/Sony Pictures Imageworks

Jerome Chen is one of the most innovative and artistic visual effects supervisors.  He has risen through the ranks of the visual effects profession, serving in such capacity as CG supervisor.  He was nominated for an Academy Award for Stuart Little and served as visual effects supervisor on the first performance capture feature, Polar Express.  He is currently working on Beowolf with Bob Zemeckis.

2006/2007

Terry Clotiaux – VFX Producer/Executive Producer

After many years of working in our industry, I’d like to give something back to our community by offering my participation and efforts to furthering the goals of VES. Hopefully, my wide range of experience, mostly from the production side but more recently from the facility side as well, will be of service to the interests and objectives of our membership. On the production side, my feature film VFX producer credits include Independence Day, Godzilla, Monkey Bone, Matrix Reloaded, Matrix Revolution and Oliver Stone’s Alexander. On Spiderman 3, I was Senior VFX producer for both Sony Pictures Imageworks and production. I’ve recently joined the staff of Digital Domain as the Executive Producer for feature films.

2008/2009

Bob Coleman - Founder & President/Digital Artists Agency

In 1998, Bob Coleman founded Digital Artists Agency (DAA) a Los Angeles talent agency exclusively representing an international and award-winning portfolio of artists for work in feature film, commercial television and related fields. He leverages his experience in top-level management positions at respected industry companies, with his high regard for artists, to further the development of the visual effects craft. Coleman’s visual effects and postproduction career spans over 16 years. Prior to starting DAA, he served as President of 525 Studios, a division of Virgin Digital Studios in addition to acting as Managing Director for Virgin Television de Mexico.

Prior to 525, Coleman served as President of Digital Magic and Transfer Company. Digital Magic specialized in visual effects for the television and theatrical motion picture industry. Perhaps best known for its Emmy Award winning work for special visual effects in Star Trek The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. Feature film credits included Universal's The River Wild, New Line Cinema's Dumb And Dumber, and MGM's Fluke. In 1991, he was recruited to join George Lucas' renowned audio postproduction facility Skywalker Sound South, as Vice President and General Manager. He also held the post of General Manager of EditDroid, which sold and leased Mr. Lucas' famed non-linear editing system.

In 1986 he was appointed President of Editel Chicago. Editel, then the largest video post- production facility in Chicago, featured telecine, editing, computer animation, visual effects and image compositing. During his leadership, he pioneered the creation of The Effects Animation Design Group, a separately marketed division within the company, which helped position Editel in 3D animation, digital optical effects and image compositing. Under his leadership Editel Chicago introduced the first digital audio suite in 1987 and the first component digital editing suite in 1989, one of four in the country at that time.

Bob currently serves on the board of the Visual Effects Society, chairs the Benefits committees as well as serving on the VES Awards Committee.  Previously he served as International Chairman of the Monitor Awards and as a board member of the ITS/Southern California Chapter from 1991 to 1997. He was a founding member of the Chicago Chapter of the ITS and served on its executive board. He was also a founding board member, of The Chicago Coalition, credited with turning around runaway production from Chicago.

2006/2007

Doug Cooper - Visual Effects Supervisor, DreamWorks Animation

As a visual effects supervisor on feature animated films, it is my responsibility to partner with the director and production designer to insure their vision reaches the screen. With 15 years of experience in computer animation, I have worked on six fully animated features, including my most recent projects for DreamWorks Animation: Bee Movie and Shark Tale. As an active member of the VES, I am proud of what our society has accomplished to educate our members, and provide recognition for our creative contributions to filmmaking. Some of my most rewarding experiences with the VES have included speaking at VES-organized student events, and recently serving as a mentor in the VES mentorship program. I would like to see the Society’s mentorship program grow to cover not only emerging talents, but to help refine and hone the skills of the Society’s more experienced members through master-classes and lectures on specialized and focused topics. I would also like to see the Society build even stronger bridges between the visual effects, animation and game industries to create better awareness of how our collective skills and experiences can be applied to image making in all of these fields. My experience in animation, passion for games, and shared contacts in the games industry will help me contribute to this goal. Cross pollination and collaboration between these art forms will only help to make our society, and its members, stronger and more flexible artists in their fields.

2008/2009

Valerie Delahaye - Executive Producer/Co-Founder, Make VFX

Valerie Delahaye has long been a champion of the artist, coming from the ranks herself. Beginning her career as a 3D artist, she quickly worked her way up to Lead and then Supervisor and on to VFX producer and is now executive producer and co-founder of a Los Angeles-based effects boutique. But Valerie has never forgotten her artist roots and has always worked to make the lives of her team as positive as possible. She also understands and has experienced the issues surrounding working in a foreign country; born and raised in France, Valerie came to the US for her education and stayed here to work. Because she has worked for studios large and small, in the US and the EU, she brings a well-grounded understanding of how to work in the global marketplace that our world is becoming. As a VES member, Valerie has been dedicated, outspoken and involved. She is an ardent supporter of education and would, if elected, be an active member of the Education Committee. She would also work to support programs that would entice women into the Society and our industry.

2008/2009

Richard Edlund, ASC– Visual Effects Supervisor

Richard has been a member of the visual effects community since the early ‘60’s, having worked on the original Star Trek, Wild, Wild West, The Addams Family and other shows. In 1975 while working at Bob Abel’s studio, he was chosen to be one of the founding members of ILM for Star Wars and then went on to supervise visual effects for The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Poltergeist and Return of the Jedi. He returned to Los Angeles to found Boss Film Studios with Ghostbusters and 2010 being its initial productions, and the company went on to do the visual effects for 30 or so movies, including Die Hard, Cliffhanger, Batman Returns, Alien3 and Air Force One; also many commercials and theme park ride films.

He supervised visual effects for Mike Nichols’ Angels in America, and just worked again with Mr. Nichols on Charlie Wilson’s War. Edlund has been a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for 11 years, and was chairman of the Visual Effects Branch from its inception. He has recently been reelected to another three-year term as Governor after sitting out a year due to the term limits clause in its bylaws; and now chairs its Scientific and Technical Awards Committee as well as the Academy Museum’s Collections Committee. A governor of the ASC, he is co-chair of its ASC Technology Committee. Having had considerable experience in the areas of bylaws, committee structures and management, and as a cinematographer and as a generalist in the field of visual effects, he feels he could continue be a valuable member of the Board of Directors of the VES.

2006/2007

Rob Engle – Stereographer and Digital Effects Supervisor, Sony Pictures Imageworks

Rob Engle has extensive experience in the resurgent field of stereoscopic cinema, having supervised the 3D adaptations of "The Polar Express," "Monster House," "Open Season" and, most recently, "Beowulf." In addition to his 3D work, Rob's broad background in live-action visual effects includes specialties in shot supervision, look development, lighting, rendering technology and software R&D. He holds an MS CS degree from Stanford University and a BS EE/CS from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

As a member of the VES Board of Directors and as co-chair of the Archives Committee, Rob's primary interests are in promoting history, education and outreach for the society.

For more information on his background, visit "http://www.linkedin.com/in/robengle" to view Rob's profile.

2008/2009

Jonathan Erland - Visual Effects Technologist

Jonathan Erland received his early training at the London Film School in 1956.  He was a member of the group formed by John Dykstra, A.S.C., to create the visual effects for Star Wars, and subsequently served as Director of Research and Development for Apogee productions. 

At Apogee, Erland received patents and Academy Awards for Reverse Bluescreen, Blue-Max and a method for making front projection screens.  As Chairman of the Visual Effects Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, he achieved the long sought goal of establishing Visual Effects as a branch of the Academy.  He presently serves on the Board of Governors of the Academy, the Executive Committee of the Visual Effects Branch, the Science and Technology Council, the Museum Committee and the Scientific and Engineering Awards Committee.

In 1993, he and his wife Kay, founded Composite Components Company, which specializes in traveling matte composite photography technology, and in 1996 the Academy awarded them a Scientific and Engineering Award for the Digital services of traveling matte backings.

2007/2008

Warren Franklin - CEO, Rainmaker

Warren Franklin was made CEO of Rainmaker in July 2006 after having joined Rainmaker in June 2005 to oversee its animation and visual effects division. As CEO, Franklin now oversees Rainmaker’s three limited partnerships – Rainmaker Limited Partnership, one of North America's leading film and video visual effects and post production companies; EP Canada Limited Partnership, a leading provider of payroll services for the film and television industry across Canada; and Canada Film Capital Limited Partnership, a provider of tax credit administration and financing services for film and television productions across Canada.

In charge of setting the vision for the creative, technological and future goals of the company, over the last year Franklin has opened a London facility and initiated the acquisition of Mainframe Entertainment which once combined with Rainmaker LP, will make the company the largest animation and visual effects group in Canada. Additionally, Franklin has attracted numerous high-profile films into the Rainmaker pipeline including The Da Vinci Code, Night at the Museum and Blades of Glory.

Franklin has twenty years experience managing studio operations and film production at Lucasfilm Ltd, Colossal Pictures, Cinesite, and Pinnacle Studios. Prior to Rainmaker he served as Executive Vice President, Production/Operations.

2006/2007

Frank Gladstone - Consultant

Frank Gladstone has been working as a professional animator, producer, director, writer and teacher for more than 30 years. From 1973 to 1989, he managed his own Emmy award-winning studio, Persistence of Vision, Inc., and has since worked for the feature animation divisions at Disney, Warner Bros., DreamWorks and IDT/Starz Media on such projects as Beauty and The Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, The Road to El Dorado, Spirit, Sinbad and Shark Tale. Additionally, Frank has been involved in independent animated projects such as Millennium Actress and Ghost in The Shell II. His most recent credit is IDT Entertainment’s 2006 feature, Everyone’s Hero.

Besides his studio credentials, Gladstone has lectured and taught animation courses at secondary schools, colleges, studios and professional guilds around the country, in Europe, Asia and the Caribbean, helping to train many hundreds of people who work in the animation industry. He regularly juries film festivals and grants programs and also serves on several school advisory boards, philanthropic and educational organizations, produces public service television announcements, is an ASIFA-Hollywood and Visual Effects Society board member and has been a commissioner and past chair of the City of Glendale Arts and Culture Commission.

Gladstone is currently consulting with studios world-wide as an animation and story consultant, acquisitions and co-production specialist and educator.

2006/2007

Pam Hogarth - Director, Industry Relations/Gnomon School of Visual Effects

Pam Hogarth is director of industry relations at Gnomon School of Visual Effects, a school specializing in training for careers in high-end computer graphics for the entertainment industries. Before joining Gnomon, she was Director of Digital Media Institute. Pam fell into the world of computer graphics 23 years ago at Digital Productions when they were working on the ground-breaking film The Last Starfighter. Since then she has done marketing, public and industry relations, and training for hardware and software manufactures, distributors and educational institutions. She has taught at The American Film Institute, Otis College of Art and Design, and DMI and has lectured on computer graphics, digital careers and visual effects at various international conferences here and abroad. Pam served two terms on the Board of Directors, the Strategic Planning Committee and is Co-Chair of the Education Committee of the Visual Effects Society. She is also a co-founder and Steering Committee member of the Alliance of Digital Effects Production Trainers (ADEPT). Her name can be found in the credits of Demonslayer and Faye Dunaway’s The Yellow Bird. She holds an M.Ed. from Kent State University. Her handmade glass beads have appeared in numerous books.

2006/2007

Richard Kidd - VFX Supervisor

Richard Kidd has been working in VFX for over 12 years.  He has owned his own boutique, Catalyst Media for six years.  In 2006, Kidd produced the independent feature, The Adventures of Johnny Tao for Kenn Scott.  He also supervised the visual effects for a ground breaking new 60-second anti-terror spot which is airing in Iraq.  Kidd consulted on Dimension Films’ August release Pulse and is currently creating visual design for award-winning director and photographer David Raccuglia’s new film.

Kidd is an active member in the visual effects community, a member of the Advisory Board for the Gnomon School of Visual Effects and recently directed a group of students who produced the Visual Effects Society’s Festival of Visual Effects opening piece.

Working on large studio projects as well as independent projects, he has overseen VFX work on 4 continents and understands the challenges facing VFX professionals to achieve work with shorter schedules and smaller budgets while maintaining quality. 

2006/2007

John Knoll - VFX Supervisor/ILM

John Knoll joined Industrial Light & Magic as a technical assistant in 1986, and was soon promoted to motion control camera operator for Captain EO.  After three years of operating, Knoll was called upon to work on the ground breaking digital effects for The Abyss.  Since that time, he has been promoted to visual effects supervisor helming the visual effects on more than twenty feature films and commercials. 

His film background, coupled with an advanced understanding of digital technologies, has made Knoll a much sought-after visual effects supervisor with three Academy Award nominations for Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, which earned him a BAFTA nomination, and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, in which he was also honored with a BAFTA nomination.  Knoll’s resume also includes Mission to Mars, Deep Blue Sea, Star Trek: First Contact and Mission: Impossible among others.  In 2005, he completed work on the final installment of the Star Wars series: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.  Knoll recently completed his work on the sequel to the Pirates of the Caribbean films: Dead Man’s Chest. 

Teaming up with his brother who was working on his Doctoral Thesis in computer vision at the University of Michigan, the Knoll brothers created Photoshop in 1987.

2006/2007

Gene Kozicki - Digital Production Manager/Rhythm & Hues Studios

A VES member since 2001, Gene Kozicki has been active in the visual effects community for more than 15 years in a number of freelance and staff positions. He has  helped organize the last two VES Festivals and is currently co-chair of the Education Committee. 

2006/2007

Marshall Krasser - Compositing Supervisor/ILM

Marshall Krasser has been a digital artist at Industrial Light & Magic since 1994.  He started in the rotoscope department and moved into compositing in 1995 an has been a compositing supervisor on 11 movies since 1999.  Marshall has been employed as a computer graphics artist for over 22 years and has seen the industry change from $250,000 workstations to the relative inexpensive workstations of today. 

2006/2007

Sandra Joy Lee – Visual Effects Archivist, Librarian and Researcher

Sandra Joy Lee is the director of the USC Warner Bros. Archives (WBA), where she works with researchers and the pre-1968 historical paper documents of that studio. The archival collection includes animation backgrounds, correspondence, exhibition records, music scores, patents, photographic stills, publicity, and scripts. Sandra's career in film started at UC Santa Barbara where she earned a B.A. degree in Film Studies and worked as a projectionist. Following through on her developing interest in film archiving, she studied Library and Information Science at UCLA and interned at LA area film archives. After graduating from UCLA, Sandra held positions at the USC Moving Image Archive, Industrial Light & Magic Media Library, and American Zoetrope. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Visual Effects Society and co-chair of that society's Archives Committee.

2008/2009

Van Ling – VFX Supervisor

Walkin’ the line between the classic and digital VFX worlds like a wraith, I believe in the importance of our legacy as well as in the future of our industry and erstwhile art form. Been on the Board before, so I know that there’s plenty of work to be done, and growin’ up to do. But just bein’ on ain’t doin’. So I’ve worked aplenty as an active member of VES committees, from Festival and Membership Meeting to Merchandising and Archives. Now, after celebratin’ our first shiny decade of bein’, we move into our turbulent teens …and I reckon we got a ‘verse of things we must do to be greater than who we are now, to better serve our folk both here and abroad, and to deal with the challenging and ever-changing times in our biz. There are some who feel we should bend the Society to serve their own infights, or to keep the status quo, or to expect the least from members and studios and just try to walk away with whatever we can get for our own. I do not hold to that. And I aim to misbehave.

2008/2009

Tim McGovern - Visual Effects Supervisor

Tim started with CG and VFX work in 1981 at Robert Abel and Associates. There he won 5 Clios for his work in commercials including “Sexy Robot”, the first use of human motion on a CG character in a commercial or film, it premiered on the 1985 Super Bowl. He also got his first screen credit there for his work on Walt Disney’s movie “Tron” for the CG sequence called “Flynn’s Ride”.

Tim went on to being a founding member of MetroLight Studios in 1987, and to win an Academy Award for his work on “Total Recall”, the X-ray Skeleton Sequence, in 1990.

In 1992 Tim was offered the position of VP of Visual Effects at Sony Pictures when they inaugurated Sony Pictures Imageworks. Within three months he was asked to take the creative and technical helm as SVP and Senior Visual Effects Supervisor of Imageworks. While there he grew the company from 8 to 250 people. Tim supervised eight of Imageworks first fifteen films, and then hired two other supervisors to share the mounting work with.

In 1998 Tim named his own successor at Imageworks and became a freelance Visual Effects Supervisor. Being on the production side of the film now gave him another whole perspective working on multi-facility and multi-national productions of visual effects work for film.

In the last two years Tim has taken some time off from visual effects to write ,full-time, a screenplay and has begun pitching it.

Tim was an early member of the VES and joined Jeff Okun as a Co-Chair for the VES Awards committee for its first five years, and has served numerous times as MC for Awards Nomination events, Awards Show & Tell events, and the Awards Dinner Show (2005). Tim has been involved internationally on behalf of the VES BOD at the FICCI Frames 3/2005 Conference in Mumbai India, the FICCI-VEC kick-off event in Chennai India 4/2005, and the VES Tour of India 10/2007.

He has worked in this industry for twenty-nine years and as a visual effects supervisor for sixteen years

2007/2008

Robert (Bob) Nicoll – Director EA University, Electronic Arts

My production experience spans broadcast, film and games. I’ve been in the trenches as a CG production artist, compositor, art director, designer, and teacher for 25 + years. I would happily contribute this diversity of experience and knowledge with the Visual Effects Society. Currently, our workforce is in transition largely due to the rapid evolution of hardware and closer ties between the games, broadcast, and film industries. Today’s games deliver in real-time, broadcast quality imagery and effects. Our artists regularly transition from games, to broadcast, to film and back. I believe my past experiences in all of these areas will provide the VES with a unique perspective on today’s challenges for our membership, as well as significant insight into the kinds of issues and opportunities that lie ahead.

2008/2009

Marianne O’Reilly - President, CIS Visual Effects, Vancouver

As a key representative of our visual effects facilities in both London and Vancouver, I believe that I could make a great contribution to the Board of Directors. I have helped in the growth and refinement of the industry in Vancouver as a whole, and am now working more closely with our operations and growth in London. My passion for this business is grand and I look forward to working together with the Board to help make a difference. Please consider my nomination as a Board member.

2008/2009

Toni Pace Carstensen – VFX Producer

As a founding member of the VES (former Treasurer), former Chair of multiple committees (the Education, Compensation, and Vision Committees), Toni believes that the VES has a significant role to play in both the industry and the lives of its members. For the members, she believes the Society has the responsibility to develop more programs for professional skill development and creativity enhancement and she would work actively to create those programs. Additional outlets for the members’ personal creative efforts (like the VESAGE book) could be and should be sought out and developed. For the role of the VES in the industry, she believes the members have the expertise and insight to write and publish “White Papers” that establish current industry technical standards. She would actively support VES efforts to take a leading role in creating those standards.

2008/2009

Loni Peristere - Creative Director, CEO & VFX Supervisor, Zoic Studios

Loni Peristere was born in Newton-Wellesley hospital on April 25th, 1971.  He grew up in the small town of Natick where he began his passionate pursuit of filmmaking at age ten.  Loni and his best friend screenwriter Paul Salamoff began making movies in place of written homework in junior high.  In high school they made their first feature film, War Remembered, Friends Forgotten, a fictionalized portrait of Vietnam.  Loni’s passion for the art continued through college where he graduated magna-cum laude in Renaissance Literature and Poetry and won the prestigious Paul Tucker Prize for his short film Twilight upon graduation from The University of Massachusetts Boston.

During college Peristere began to plant his roots in Los Angles by becoming involved with “The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror films”.  He directed the “Saturn” awards in 1990 and 1992.

The success of Twilight and subsequent development on a feature brought Loni and his young family to Los Angeles permanently in 1996.  He began his career professionally at Digital Magic where he had done post production on Twilight.  Under the mentorship of Visual Effects Supervisor Ralph Maiers and uber-writer Joss Whedon he became more and more involved with visual effects, eventually becoming the visual effects supervisor on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Peristere went on to work with Whedon for nine years.

He co-founded Zoic Studios in 2002 with partners Chris Jones, Tim McBride, Andrew Orloff, and Steve Schofield.  He is an acting creative director for the commercial, episodic, and feature film divisions.  He won the Emmy in 2003 for Special Visual Effects in a Television Series for Firefly.  He was a multiple nominee, with a second nod for Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  He also won the VES award in 2002 and 2003 for Outstanding Special Effects in a Television Series.

In 2004, Peristere began directing television commercials and in early 2005 won a Clio, a London International award, and a Gold Pencil for his work on Mini-Cooper’s “ROBOT” campaign.  Later that year, he went back to work for Joss Whedon as his visual effects supervisor and second unit director on the feature film Serenity. 

In 2006, he supervised and directed second unit for the Twentieth Century Fox’s pilots Beyond and Drive.  Drive will premiere this April.  He recently sold an original drama to Imagine called Arbor Gate which is in development for 2008.

Peristere is also the Chairman of the Board for The Blank Theater Company, the leading independent theater company in Los Angeles.

2006/2007

Gene Rizzardi – Model Supervisor, Modelmaker, Propmaker, Special Effects

I have served on the Board in the past and I like the way the VES is progressing, I feel that I need to be part of the team in creating the new and continuing vision for the VES and to move us forward. I have served and continue to serve on the Awards and Membership Committees and I see many new members coming into our organization from many countries. I firmly believe that you should ask not what the organization can do for you, but what can you do for the organization to move it forward and make it stronger, better, and more valuable as a resource for all visual effects professionals, from the people slugging it out in the trenches to the supervisors and producers. I have seen this organization grow and the only way for it to continue to grow is to be involved. I call on all members to get and stay involved, talk only good about your organization and work to make it better.

2008/2009

Stuart Robertson – Visual Effects Supervisor, Teacher

I guess it’s a little pushy, but I’d like to nominate myself – Stuart Robertson - as a candidate for the Board of Directors. Having been active in visual effects for a long, long time, and having had the amazing good fortune to work with so many wonderful and talented artists over these years, I believe I can be a conscientious and effective representative for the interests of the working professionals in our field. As a teacher – I’m currently on the faculty of the Film School at Florida State University, and in December will assume the chair of the visual effects department at the Savannah College of Art and Design – I’m deeply concerned with the education of the young people who will enter and ultimately define the future of our field. As a former member of the Board, I appreciate the importance of the Visual Effects Society to our professional community, and I believe the Society will have a pivotal role in shaping that future for all of us. I’d like the opportunity to represent you in this important, and maybe exhilarating, adventure.

2008/2009

Carl Rosendahl - Independent

I am a Founding Member of the Visual Effects Society, and have served on the Society’s Board of Directors. Most recently, I chaired the Board from 2004-2006. I have over 20 years experience in the visual effects field, beginning in 1980 when I founded Pacific Data Images (now PDI/Dreamworks). The VES is an important organization for practitioners of our art. Our industry continues to change rapidly – from the commoditization of tools, to the maturing of an international workforce, to a radical shift in how media is distributed and consumed. To continue to flourish, we must recognize these forces and work together to adapt to these changes. The VES can be instrumental in making that happen. I believe that my business experience, and past work with the VES, can be of benefit to the Board and thus the Society, and would be honored to be elected to serve.

2008/2009

Tim Sarnoff - President/Sony Pictures Imageworks

Tim Sarnoff has distinguished himself as an industry leader. As President of Sony Pictures Imageworks, he has guided its expansion into a comprehensive digital production studio. Under his leadership, Imageworks artists and projects have been recognized with seven Academy Award nominations and numerous other honors.

2006/2007

Ray Scalice – VP & General Manager/Pixel Magic

Ray Scalice is a founding member of the Visual Effects Society, and was elected to the board once before.  While serving on the BOD, he paid close attention to the business side of VES including, fiscal planning, fund raising, and monitoring costs of VES show events.

Working behind the scenes for over 25 years, Ray has served in various management positions with Lucasfilm, ILM, Walt Disney Pictures, Pacific Title Digital, and currently with Pixel Magic. He holds an MBA degree from Golden Gate University, San Francisco, CA.

2006/2007

Sande Scoredos, Executive Director of Training and Artist Development, Sony Pictures Imageworks

Sande Scoredos is the executive director of training and artist development at Sony Pictures Imageworks and has an extensive background in feature film production, art education and computer science. She has been an active member of the Visual Effects Society since the beginning and served on the Education Committee, mentoring program and awards jury. At Sony Pictures Imageworks, Scoredos has developed a highly evolved training facility and program for
teaching production methods and management. She educates experienced visual effects artists, animators and production teams in Culver City and supervises several remote locations, teaching the use of proprietary and third-party tools needed to produce world-class visual effects. The training program, with over 50 technical and studio courses, special presentations and lectures has a staff of dedicated trainers delivering specialized production classes to enrich not only the artists' technical skills, but also to inspire their aesthetic abilities.

Sande is committed to education and working with industry programs and academia and is active in the community. She works closely with schools and was instrumental in founding the Imageworks Professional Academic Excellence (IPAX) program in 2004 to bring faculty and industry professionals together. Scoredos serves as the Chair of the program to provide faculty fellowships, internships, scholarships, mentors and curriculum guidance to faculty, students and industry organizations, including the Visual Effects Society, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Science Technology Council Internship Program. Her goal is to educate current and future generations of digital artists and inspire them to create flawless visual effects. Sande serves on various ACM SIGGRAPH committees and chaired the SIGGRAPH 2001 Computer Animation Festival and is the curator for the SIGGRAPH 2008 Computer Animation Festival. She teaches computer graphics for production at the studio and university level and as UCLA alum, she works with UCLA Entertainment Studies program and also teaches a production course at MIT. Sande served as the worldwide training manager at Wavefront Technologies for many years, designing its curriculum and instructing many of today’s professionals in the use of 3D computer graphics and animation for broadcast, engineering, gaming, and scientific visualization. She then moved to
Rhythm and Hues, where she again designed a training facility and curriculum before joining Imageworks.

Sande's Credits include: Stuart Little, Hollow Man, Spider-Man, Stuart Little 2, I Spy, Spider-Man 2, Early Bloomer (short), Full Spectrum Warrior (game), The Polar Express, Open Season, Spider-Man 3, Surf’s Up, Beowulf, and I Am Legend.

2008/2009

Scott Squires – Visual Effects Supervisor

As a long time member of the visual effects community I now have an opportunity to become more involved in the VES and to give back. I think my experiences (freelance VFX supervisor, VFX company owner, software developer, non-digital to digital, etc) can provide another perspective for the board. The Visual Effects Society has the potential to help shape the growth and perception of visual effects artists, individually and as a group.

2008/2009

Mark Stetson - VFX Supervisor

Stetson began his film career in 1978 as a model maker on “Star Trek – The Motion Picture,” learning the arts and techniques of visual effects as the industry transitioned from triumphs of clever mechanical gizmos and photochemical alchemy into the liberation of the digital age. He was fortunate to spend his first decade working for visual effects luminaries Robert Abel, Douglas Trumbull, and Richard Edlund.  He first gained international recognition for his landmark miniature work on Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner.” Other credits from 1978 through 1988 included “Brainstorm,” “Ghostbusters,” and “Die Hard.” Stetson received his first Oscar® nomination in 1985 for his work at Boss Film Corp. on Peter Hyams’ “2010.”

In 1989 he founded his own miniature effects studio, Stetson Visual Services, Inc., with partner Robert Spurlock.  They operated that business through 1994.  They counted 60 film credits from 1989 through 1995 including “Dick Tracy,” “Batman Returns,” “The Hudsucker Proxy,” “True Lies,” and “Waterworld.” Stetson Visual Services, Inc. earned a Saturn Award nomination for “Total Recall” in 1990.

Mark has worked as a Visual Effects Supervisor for feature films since 1995. He won his first BAFTA Award for Visual Effects for Luc Besson’s “The Fifth Element” in his debut effort in that role at Digital Domain. After completing his second assignment at DD, Walter Hill’s “Supernova,” Stetson spent a year and a half in New Zealand, supervising effects during pre-production and production, for Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. In 2002, he won an Academy Award® and his second BAFTA Award for Visual Effects for “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.”

From 2002 to 2004, Stetson supervised VFX at Sony Pictures Imageworks, for McG’s “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” and P.J. Hogan’s “Peter Pan.”  He then worked for Warner Bros. from 2004 to 2006, spending a year in Australia, for “Superman Returns.”  That picture earned him his third VFX nominations from both AMPAS and BAFTA. Mark spent 2007 at Twentieth Century Fox for the Eddie Murphy comedy “Starship Dave,” directed by Brian Robbins. As 2008 begins, Mark has returned to Disney for Jonathan Mostow’s “Surrogates,” starring Bruce Willis. Punctuating his own personal odyssey, Stetson was elected to a place on the Hollywood Reporter/PGA’s first annual “Digital 50” list of digital content creators in 2006.

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Stetson studied industrial design at the University of Bridgeport, Conn. from 1972 to 1974, and then moved to California to continue his studies at Art Center College of Design from 1975 to 1978.  It took him twenty years to realize that Los Angeles was his home.

Stetson served on the VES Board from 2003 – 2004, and is now serving his second term. He has been a part of the Membership Committee since 1999, and served as the Membership Committee Chair in 2004. After a term spent primarily overseas, he returned to the Chair of the Membership Committee. He has also served two terms on the Strategic Planning Committee.

2006/2007

Ed Ulbrich – Sr. VP/Executive Producer, Digital Domain

According to the VES’s own statistics a substantial percentage of its constituency works on television commercials. Digital Domain, MPC, Framestore CFC, R&H, Weta Digital, Animal Logic, Asylum, The Orphanage, Hydraulx, CafeFX, Buf, etc., all operate healthy commercial operations dedicated to producing animation and visual effects for television commercials. Yet the VES has no senior leadership from the advertising industry on its Board. I am interested in lending my nearly 20 years of experience and relationships spanning the advertising industry to help the VES address the issues facing its members working in the advertising industry. Ed is the chief architect of the Digital Domain's commercial, music video, and interactive businesses and executive produces select feature film projects. Ed joined DD during its startup in 1993 as one of its founding executives. Under his leadership, DD has garnered international recognition as a leader in creating animation and visual effects for the most recognized directors, advertisers, film studios, record labels, and recording artists. Ed’s duties include sales, marketing, strategic planning, strategic alliances, acquisition and management of talent, interaction with the creative community, new technologies, operations and liaison to the press. He has responsibility for P&L performance, cash flow, capital equipment and operating budgets for the Commercial Division. Ed’s feature film credits include executive producer of visual effects for both James Cameron’s Titanic and Vincent Ward’s What Dreams May Come as well as David Fincher’s Fight Club and Zodiac, Spike Jonze’s Adaptation and over 500 commercials. He is currently overseeing visual effects production on David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Ed is a member of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) and is a member of its AICP Next Committee and Digital Production Council. Ed was a producer at the Leo Burnett Company where he produced commercials for many of their blue chip clients. Before Leo Burnett, Ed worked at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications while earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Illinois in 1987.

2008/2009

Richard Winn Taylor II - Cinematic Director/Electronic Arts LA & World Wide Cinematic Consultant/EA

Richard Winn Taylor II has been a member of the board for the last two years. He has been active in numerous sub-committees including trying to define the scope of the VES. He organized and moderated a panel on Next Gen “The Future of Gaming” for the 2005 VES Festival and is one of the key board members representing the gaming community.

At EA, Taylor designs and directs the NIA (None Interactive Scenes) in games as well as the real time game play cameras in PC and console games. He is a member of the DGA and has directed live action commercials and special effects for over thirty years. He has directed animation and computer graphics for over 25 years.

He is interested in seeing the VES grow in its understanding of new media, gaming and new venues.

2006/2007

Susan Zwerman - VFX Producer 

Susan Zwerman has been a member of the VES since 1998. She is a successful and high respected visual effects producer whose effects credits include The Guardian, Fat Albert, Around the World in 80 Days, The One, Men of Honor, Alien Resurrection, Broken Arrow, Jane Austen’s Mafia, and Tall Tale.  She also frequently acts as a visual effects consultant on VFX breakdowns, budgets, and schedules to studios such as 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, Walden Media and others.  Prior to entering the field of visual effects, Susan worked on more than 50 films as an assistant director and unit production manager.  She is an ardent advocate of strengthening the role of visual effects supervisors and producers on film productions. 

As Chair of the DGA’s VFX Digital Technology Committee, she consistently emphasizes the importance of the visual effects teams to directors, UPM's, AD’s and producers at DGA visual effects seminars organized under her guidance.  During her past two years on the VES Board, Zwerman worked with the Educational Committee and the New Technology Committee in putting on three successful seminars: “Artistic Pitching for Animation,” “The Nuts and Bolts of Animation Producing” and “DI Demystified”.  

2006/2007

Eric Roth - Executive Director, Visual Effects Society (VES)

Eric Roth brings more than 15 years of strategic management, communications and public affairs experience to his position as Executive Director of the Visual Effects Society (VES). During the past 3 years he has helped grow the VES by 50% and is frequently consulted on worldwide visual effects trends by journalists and vfx practitioners of all stripes. VES now has approximately 1600 members in 17 countries comprised of the most talented visual effects artists worldwide in film, TV, animation and video games.

Prior to joining VES, Eric was a former Chief of Staff at Los Angeles City Hall, in addition to managing the Government Affairs Department for the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) and being the Executive Director of L.A. Works, the largest Volunteer Action Center in Los Angeles.