Jon V. Peters, CEO/Founder of Athena Studios, has been named to the Board of Directors for the Visual Effects Society’s Northern California chapter. The announcement was made by David Tanaka, VES Section Chairman, Bay Area/Northern California.
“We’re sincerely delighted to have Jon Peters become a newly elected VES Bay Area board member,” said Tanaka. “Over the years, Jon has helped the VES Bay Area Section many times as a dedicated local VES member, offering video-graphy, post-production and archiving services on numerous occasions, including a 2012 Ralph McQuarrie Tribute, the Mill Valley Film Festival ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ 30th Anniversary and ‘Star Wars’ 35th Anniversary retro-spectives, to name a few. We appreciate all that Jon and Athena Studios have done for the VES Bay Area Section in the past, and we look forward to future collaborations with Jon and his company through his new capacity as a board member.”
“I am thrilled to play a more integral role in the Northern California Visual Effects Society,” adds Peters. “I am looking forward to helping our members by creating a greater understanding of Visual Effects and their role in film-making, as well as having the opportunity to educate our members on other aspects of effects through panel discussions and other events.”
About JON V. PETERS
Jon V. Peters, CEO and Founder of Athena Studios, began his career as an industrial designer in San Jose, California. He went on to become a professional model maker, and helped design and build a special full-scale interactive spaceship, special venue project with the Optical Photography Coordinator from George Lucas’ Miniature and Optical Effects Unit on the original “Star Wars” and effects professionals from Universal Studios Hollywood. Shortly thereafter, Peters left model making to start his own advertising and design firm, which specialized in high technology clients.
Peters continued to pursue his passion for special effects and animation, however, writing articles and reviews for national publications on the convergence of 3D animation, multimedia and personal computers. While his advertising agency won awards and critical acclaim for its work, he concurrently served as a judge for a variety of multimedia competitions.
Peters founded AthenaOnline, the award-winning educational company, in 1994.
About THE VISUAL EFFECTS SOCIETY/BAY AREA CHAPTER
The Visual Effects Society (VES) is the entertainment industry’s only organization representing the full breadth of visual effects practitioners including artists, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and productions in all areas of entertainment from film, television and commercials to music videos and games. VES strives to enrich and educate its own members and members of the entertainment community at large through a variety of domestic and international events, screenings and programs.
The Bay Area Chapter of the VES is comprised of nearly 400 members, including those working at LucasFilm, Pixar, Tippett Studios, Atomic Fiction, Dreamworks, 32TEN Studios, Athena Studios, and many other Bay Area FX studios.
About ATHENA STUDIOS
Athena Studios was launched in Summer 2012 as a full service production facility designed to help companies seeking to produce their own videos or shoot a feature film. Athena has a fully lit green screen stage available for daily or long-term rental, and can help outfit its clients with lighting and camera equipment through its alliances with local area vendors DTC Grip and Chater Camera.
Athena Studios is conveniently located off Highway 80 in Emeryville, CA., in the heart of Northern California’s “New Hollywood” — near Pixar, Tippett Studios and Ex’pression College for Digital Arts.
For more information, please see: www.athenastudios.com.
Contact:Media Contact for Athena Studios: Dan Harary The Asbury PR Agency Beverly Hills, CA 310/859-1831 Contact Dan via email
“Ǝvolution” Comes Full Circle At The Chelsea Film Festival
The Chelsea Film Festival, running from October 16th through October 20th, 2024, at Regal Cinemas here in Union Square, is set to host the East Coast premiere of Ǝvolution, a thought-provoking experimental micro-short film that proves big ideas can come in small packages and in perfect circles.
In just 1 minute 16 seconds, this cinematic gem by Award-Winning Director Romina Schwedler, with original music by Argentine Composer Ignacio Montoya Carlotto, explores a cycle as old as time: life leads to progress, progress leads to destruction, and destruction, well, leads back to life. But is this vicious circle unbreakable? Ǝvolution suggests the answer is yes, unless we decide to open our eyes.
Inspired by the overwhelming number of recent events that threaten human existence, Ǝvolution, possibly the shortest film in this 12th edition of the festival, plays out entirely through the symbolism of circles, cleverly illustrating —in the blink of an eye— the repeating patterns of history, and confronting viewers with the uncomfortable truth that our so-called “progress” may, in fact, be guiding us to our own ruin.Premiering at the Regal 14 Union Square, New York City, on October 18, 2024, at 11 a.m., Romina Schwedler's micro-short, featuring Leah Young with cinematography by Alan J. Carmona, will be sure to spark conversations longer than the film itself! Forcing viewers to reconsider the true meaning of evolution, not just as a biological process, but as a reflection of our collective journey as humans.
With a string of festival appearances across the globe, including CineGlobe at CERN (Switzerland/France), Oscar®... Read More