The Visual Effects Society announced a number of extraordinary industry leaders are confirmed as speakers for the VES’ Production Summit 09. The industry-wide event will feature sessions on topics including pre-production, production, and post production, as well as creativity, technology and the global economy, from the perspectives of everything from acquisition to projection. The day-long event will be held on October 24th at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Marina del Rey.
Eric Roth, VES Executive Director, commented, “We’re thrilled to have the caliber of panelists from such a wide cross section of the entertainment industry come together for this event which will delve into current and future paradigms on how films are created and completed. Because the times demand new ways of thinking through these challenges, VES is happy to provide the leadership to bring so many talented people together who ordinarily wouldn’t get to collaborate with each other to generate new thinking and models.”
Joining the previously announced keynote speaker, futurist Eric Haseltine, former
head of Walt Disney Imagineering and Director of Research at the National Security Agency (NSA) and CTO for the U.S. Intelligence community under the Director of National Intelligence, are:
• Victoria Alonso, Executive Vice President of Visual Effects, Marvel Studios
• Eric Barba, Visual Effects Supervisor, Digital Domain
• Jeff Barnes, CEO & Co-Founder, CafeFX/The Syndicate/Sententia Entertainment
• Thaddeus Beier, Head of CG, Digital Domain
• Steve Beres, Director of Engineering, nextLAB, a division of FotoKem
• Lee Berger, President, Film Division, Rhythm & Hues Studios
• Colin Brown, British Film Commissioner, UK Film Council
• Chris DeFaria, Executive Vice President, Digital Production, Animation and Visual Effects, Warner Bros. Pictures
• Anshul Doshi, Global COO, Prime Focus Group
• Volker Engel, Producer and VFX Supervisor
• Ben Grossman, Visual Effects Supervisor, CafeFX/The Syndicate
• Catherine Hardwicke, Director
• Dennis Hoffman, Senior Vice President and General Manager, CIS Vancouver
• Richard Hollander, Producer, Pixar Animation Studios
• Jeffrey A. Okun, Visual Effects Supervisor / Chairman – VES
• Bob Osher, President, Sony Pictures Digital Productions, COO Columbia Pictures Motion Picture Group
• Steven Poster, ASC, Director of Photography, President – International Cinematographers Guild
• Art Repola, Executive Vice President of Visual Effects and Production, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
• Steve Scott, Vice President, Creative Director / Colorist – EFILM
• Alan Silvers, Vice President of Business Development, Lowry Digital
• Marc Solomon, Executive Vice President, Feature Post Production, Warner Bros. Pictures
• Marc Weigert, Producer and VFX Supervisor
The VES Production Summit 09 will convene an international group of directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, technologists, executives and visual effects leaders responsible for moving the industry into the next decade. The day will offer a rare opportunity to examine and discuss innovative approaches to producing challenges, technology developments and the globalization of the production industry. Attendees will be encouraged to interact with each other and the session speakers, to envision the future of the industry from a community perspective.
Sessions include:
Through the Kaleidoscope: Three interactive one-hour sessions deliver a multifaceted examination of pre-production, production and post production.
Every component in the production process affects every other, creating an intricate, complex structure. In a vital format designed to stimulate conversation among our speakers, this three-part session brings together creatives to explore every facet of making a feature, from the first idea to the final render. Directors, art directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, visual effects supervisors and other members of the various guilds discuss the overlaps, gaps, cooperation and collaboration essential to the process.
X-Ray: Decoding the 21st Century Post-Production Pipeline Our industry has evolved into a stew of multiple file formats, color space issues, incompatible pipelines, and content designed for everything from an iPhone to IMAX. Add 3D stereo to the mix, then try archiving all your data, and what do you have? A post-production environment that looks more like sorcery than the last step of a wellorganized process. This vital session addresses how studios, colorists, visual effects supervisors, and postproduction supervisors can work collaboratively to triumph over the challenges moving their projects to release effectively while maintaining their sanity.
Hot, Flat and (getting) Crowded: Production and the new Global Economy
As our world continues to shrink, businesses must adjust to the challenges of a universal economy. This session brings together business leaders from around the industry and around the world to engage in a discussion of the cultural, technological, ethical and economic issues that both stimulate and impede our progress.
Additional panelists will be announced over the coming weeks. For more information and to register go to http://www.visualeffectssociety.com/productionSummit2009.
About the VES
The VES is a non-profit, professional, honorary Society dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences and applications of digital visual effects and to upholding the highest uniform standards and procedures for the visual effects profession. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the VES is a global organization and has Sections in Australia, London, San Francisco and Vancouver.
The VES is the entertainment industry’s only official trade organization representing the extended community of visual effects practitioners including supervisors, artists, producers, technology developers, educators, PR/marketing specialists and studio executives. Its 1,800 global members contribute to all areas of entertainment from film, television and commercials to music videos, games and new media. The VES strives to enrich and educate its members and the entertainment community at large through many domestic and international events, screenings and programs. Visual effects professionals constitute a vital creative force in content creation and are literally shaping the future of entertainment. www.visualeffectssociety.com
