Careers in Visual Effects Speaker Series
Presented By
Interested in learning more about exciting careers in visual effects? This global industry is the backbone of entertainment and other industries, creating the most stunning visuals in storytelling. Internationally acclaimed VES artists and professionals will speak about their work and different career pathways in visual effects. The series will be streamed live on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 2pm. Students will have the opportunity to interact with the speakers through a facilitated Q&A session. Teachers who register will receive information about each speaker and material to share with their classes prior to the events. This series will introduce students to career paths for the new BRIC registered apprenticeship for animation, VFX and games. Click here or follow this link (bit.ly/VESSpeakerSeries) to sign up.
View Past Webinars
Introduction to VFX
Fortunato Frattasio
VFX Artist | Supervisor | Educator
Fortunato has over 25 years of VFX Experience as an artist, supervisor and manager. He has gathered over 100 feature and television credits including Mars Attacks, Mission Impossible, Spider Man, Hunger Games. He is a leader at one of the best visual effects schools in the world.
Marketing for VFX
Naomi Goldman
Strategic Communications/Marketing/PR Consultant
Naomi Goldman is a nationally recognized expert in public relations and communications, and is the Principal of Los Angeles-based agency NLG Communications. She has directed award-winning campaigns for film and TV studios/production companies, above- and below-the-line talent, festivals, Fortune 100 companies, government agencies and nonprofits. Goldman has led worldwide communications and special projects for the past decade for the Visual Effects Society, including media relations, social media, messaging, brand/reputation management, counsel on industry issues, programming around diversity, equity and inclusion and other initiatives.
FX Supervision
Kaitlin Yang
VFX Supervisor | Alpha Studios
Kaitlyn Yang is the CEO and visual effects supervisor of Alpha Studios, and a disability advocate and a co-founder of 1IN4 Coalition.
Her credits include American Born Chinese, Raised by Wolves, and Grey’s Anatomy.
She is a recipient of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Hollywood, and USC’s Young Alumni Merit Award. She holds a BA from the USC Film school, an MBA from the Quantic School of Business and Technology, and leadership and psychology certificates from Harvard Business School.
Virtual Production
Rachel Rose
Director of Technology | Industrial Light & Magic
Rachel Rose is Director of Technology at ILM. She and her team were honored with an Emmy Award in October 2022 for their work developing STAGECRAFT. She has worked as lead tech on Rogue One, Noah’s Ark, Rango, Skyscraper, and has been Virtual Production lead on Mandalorian, Andor, Jurassic World, Captain America and Lone Ranger.
FX Production
Neishaw Ali
President/Executive Producer | Spin VFX
Neishaw Ali became the first women in all of Canada to become CEO of a vfx company, Spin VFX in Toronto. Credits include 5th Wave, Priest, Dragonball Evolution, Monster High among many others.
Compositing for VFX
Yulien Tso
Experienced film/TV Compositor & Trainer | Dupe VFX
Yulien has done compositing for feature films, commercials, and television shows. In 2007 Yulien was involved in the user interface design for the commercial release of Nuke, the high-end compositing application currently used in the industry. She worked as lead VFX Compositor on recent films including Horizon Line.
Lighting for VFX
Rebecca Forth
Look Development Lighting Technical Director| Industrial Light & Magic
Rebecca Forth is a Look Development Lighting Technical Director at Industrial Light & Magic in San Francisco. She began at ILM 11 years ago as a Resource Assistant before working her way up to the role of a Lighting Artist. She has contributed to many films and tv shows including The Lord of the Rings, The Book of Boba Fest, The Mandalorian, and more.
FX Animation for VFX
Erin Ramos
Head of Effects Animation | WDAS
She won a 2017 Annie Award in Outstanding Achievement, Animated Effects in an Animated Production for her work on Moana, the first animated and first Disney film she had worked on. Erin Ramos was head of VFX Animation for Encanto and VFX Supervisor and Artist on Frozen II, Transformers, the Hobbit and more.
Animation for VFX
Hal Hickel
Animation Director | Industrial Light & Magic
Hal Hickel is currently Animation Director at Industrial Light & Magic. He worked at Will Vinton’s in stop motion before landing a job as an animator for Pixar on Toy Story. Hal Hickel joined Industrial Light & Magic in 1996 as an animator for The Lost World: Jurassic Park and worked on several films including Star Wars, Mandalorian, Book of Boba Fett, Pacific Rim, Iron Man and more.
Painting of Assets for VFX
Jean Bolte
Senior Painter, Digital Artist | Industrial Light & Magic
Introduction to Animation and Direction
Mark Andrews
Director | ReelFX
Mark Andrews won an Academy Award for directing Brave in 2012. He directed Super Giant Robot Brothers, the first animated series done in Unreal Engine, Final Pixel. He also wrote and was second unit director on John Carter of Mars. Mark worked on several Pixar films including Incredibles 2, Coco, Inside Out, Monster University and more.
Introduction to Game VFX
Billy Shih
Technical Artist | Bonfire Studios
Starting out as an animator at Electronic Arts, Billy quickly discovered his true calling of being a technical artist with Blizzard Entertainment. There he focused on rigging, simulation, pre visualization, artist tools, and leadership.
Career Opportunities in Visual Effects
Fortunato Frattasio
VFX Artist | Supervisor | Educator