Today, the Bay Area Section of the Visual Effects Society, the industry’s global professional honorary society, announced Karen Dufilho, Executive Producer of Google, as Keynote Speaker at its inaugural Summit, “Film & Beyond: The Changing Landscape of Entertainment.” The interactive forum on Saturday May 21st at PIXAR Animation Studios will bring together local and global experts from the fields of animation, broadcast & film, VFX, video games and new technology to explore and discuss new areas of the evolving industry and the contributions of the Bay Area digital arts community as it breaks new ground in art, education and innovative technology.
Dufilho, Executive Producer at Google ATAP, has been developing and producing animation for renowned directors, studios and start-ups for more than 18 years. She is the producer of Academy Award® and Annie Award-winning short films for PIXAR Animation Studios, where she helmed the Shorts Division overseeing and producing franchise work for A Bugs Life, Toy Story 2, and Monsters Inc. With a global network of animation talent, Dufilho launched house of k, a niche consulting business focused on garnering best of industry voices for studios and emerging platforms. Clients include Google, Paramount, Dneg, ON Entertainment, Disney, Rovio, Marza and Lucasfilm. Reuniting with Ratatouille co-creator Jan Pinkava, Doug Sweetland and Caldecott Award recipient Jon Klassen, she produced a first-of-its-kind, immersive VR short for Google, Windy Day. This launched Google Spotlight Stories and led to the creation, distribution and scaling of a new storytelling platform for VR. As Executive Producer, Dufilho oversaw Justin Lin’s Help, Glen Keane’s Duet, Aardman Animations Special Delivery and is in production on Patrick Osborne’s VR and theatrical short Pearl.
The VES Bay Area (VESBA) Summit will include a slate of featured speakers and business roundtable discussions moderated by innovators and senior executives, including: Mariana Acuna (The Foundry), Tim Alexander (ILM), Thad Beier (Dolby), Kevin Bruner (Telltale, Inc.), Sharon Calahan, ASC (PIXAR), Miles Perkins (Jaunt), Jules Roman (Tippett Studio), Apurva Shah (Whamix) and others to be announced.
"We're very excited to be producing this event for the Visual Effects Society Bay Area membership and the community,” said VESBA Co-Chair David Tanaka. “It's a collaborative endeavor on all fronts – from working behind-the-scenes with an eclectic group of professionals and top sponsors, to the event itself representing a wide spectrum of relevant topics." VESBA Co-Chair Lisa Cooke added “Highlighting new technologies in motion pictures, television, online content, games, apps, virtual reality, scientific research and ‘beyond,' the Summit will honor and celebrate the thriving visual effects community which we are so proud of supporting here in Northern California."
The VES Bay Area 2016 Summit takes place on Saturday, May 21st at PIXAR Animation Studios in Emeryville.
Thank you to our Supporting Sponsor – PIXAR Animation Studios; our Gold Sponsors – Quantum, Advanced Systems Group and Qumulo; and our Silver Sponsor – The Foundry.
For more information/registration, visit: https://www.visualeffectssociety.com/2016-ves-bay-area-summit
For sponsorship information, please contact: lisaecooke@comcast.net
About the Visual Effects Society
VES Bay Area is the Northern California branch of the Visual Effects Society, a professional global honorary society dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences and applications of visual effects and to upholding the highest standards and procedures for the visual effects profession. It is the entertainment industry's only official organization representing the extended global community of visual effects practitioners, including supervisors, artists, producers, technology developers, educators and studio executives. VES’ 3,100 members in more than 30 countries worldwide contribute to all areas of entertainment – film, television, commercials, animation, music videos, games and new media. To learn more about the VES, visit www.visualeffectssociety.com.
