1. technology and computing
2. software
3. graphics software
4. animation

Session – The Ten Essential Steps of 3D Animated Scenes
In this lecture Andrei will study a 3D scene with a magical setting, and go through its creation step by step. He will
analyze every stage in the process, from the reference gathering phase all the way to post-production. You will
understand the critical aspects of each stage, how these steps relate to each other, learn some optimization
techniques, and finally find out why these ten steps are so important to the overall end-result. Some Maya and
After-Effects software specific techniques will be touched upon, although they will not be an essential part of the
lecture. Every effort will be made to keep the discussion as software-independent as possible.
Speaker: Andrei Serghiuta, 3D Artist, Freelance
Session – The Visual Effects of Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron
Tim Belsher will discuss Industrial Light & Magic's work on Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron. From the creation of
Marvel's latest nemesis, Ultron, to the major advancements in the development of The Hulk, Belsher will highlight
the art and craft involved in creating these effects as well as an exploration of the massive virtual environments that
were created and subsequently destroyed in the film.
Speaker: Tim Belsher, CG Supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic
Session – Hire me now!
Join in as HR managers from different studios speak about the best practices and different methods used when
looking for talent. Listen what they have to say about the different production and studios’ needs, what they are
looking for in applicants, how to reach out and communicate with HR, how it's important to be prepared for the
competitive industry.
Speakers:
 Rosie Server, Sr, Recruiter at Sony Pictures Imageworks
 Yuko Shinyashiki, Recruiter at Nerd Corps Entertainment
 Christina Zervos, Global Recruiter at MPC
 Pierre-Luc Labbée, Recruitment Manager at Framestore
 Cassandra Nelson, Recruiter at Industrial Light & Magic
Session – State of the art by Nuke Studio
In this session, Deke will give a presentation of The Foundry State of the Art Node Composite and Real time FX with
the acclaimed software Nuke Studio.
Speaker: Deke Kincaid, Media and Entertainment OEM Development Manager at The Foundry
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Session – Creating Rocket Raccoon: Framestore’s VFX on Guardians of the Galaxy
How the team at Framestore created Rocket Raccoon and animated the fury ball of anger in Marvel's blockbuster
Guardians of the Galaxy. You'll also find out the secrets behind the complex digital environments of Knowhere, the
collector’s laboratory and the Kyln Prison. As CG supervisor for the project Mark will be covering the creative and
technical challenges of completing a project of this magnitude.
Speaker: Marc Wilson, Head of CG at Framestore
Session – Brace yourself: the VFX of Game of Thrones and Highly Rated TV Series
Mahmoud Rahnama talks about Pixomondo's involvement in creating visual effects for high-end TV series such
as Game of Thrones, Marco Polo andSleepy Hollow.
Speaker: Mahmoud Rahnama, Manager/VFX supervisor at Pixomondo
Session – Directing Through Art
The 3 panelists have worked their way up to be Art Directors and Executive Producers but the journey getting there
was very different for all of them. During this discussion and presentation, the speakers will talk about the methods
of taking an idea and turning it into a finished product while showing the creative process from concept to final.
Speakers:
 Bennie Terry III, Executive producer at Oddworld Inhabitants
 Justin Yun, CCO/Executive producer at Section Studios
 Daniel Cabuco, Principal artist at Sony Computer Entertainment of America
Session – The Client + Vendor Handshake
Paul McAfee has been a Producer representing interests both on the VFX/Animation vendor side, and on the
Feature Film / TV studio side. This session will touch on what factors contribute to success on both sides of the
“handshake."
Speaker: Paul McAfee, Creative producer at Viacom/MTV
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Session - The VFX of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy - Characters and Environments, from Concepts to Previs to
finals
Marvel's VFX supervisor for Guardians of the Galaxy, Stephane Ceretti, walks you through the creation process for
Rocket and Groot, as well as some of the environments created for the movie. Through a few case studies we learn
more about the shooting process and how a blockbuster like Guardians of the Galaxy, is put together from a visual
effects point of view.
Speaker: Stephane Ceretti, VFX Supervisor at Marvel Studios
Session - Creature Animation and the Importance of Reference!
The presentation will center on structured technique on how to create creature animation and to allow better
understanding of video referenced motion which is used as a baseline in the creative thinking process.
Speaker: Johnny Spinelli, Senior Animator at MPC
Session - Indie and IP Development
How to stay relevant and sell your vision to the world, maximizing marketing tools, platforms and digital
distribution channels to connect directly to your audience and control your IP.
Speaker: Lorne Lanning, Co-founder & CCO at Oddworld Inhabitants
Session - From Hotel Transylvania 2 to Open Season: An Artist's Growth
Michael Kurinsky shares insights and learnings from his experiences as visual development artist on
Sony Pictures Animation's first feature Open Season, art director on the studio's comedy hit Cloudy With
a Chance of Meatballs and his current role as production designer on the upcoming Hotel Transylvania
2, in theaters this September.
Speaker: Michael Kurinsky, production designer at Sony Pictures Animation
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Session - Woman's Creative Impact
A panel where our female guests talk on how women share the development, creation, production of
animation and discuss their personal struggles, triumphs and thoughts of the Animation and VFX
Industry.
Moderator: Anne-Marie Perrotta, Screenwriter and story editor
Speakers:
 Samantha Youssef, Artistic Director at Studio Technique
 Corinne Merrell, Production Designer
 Chloe Grysole, General Manager at Cinesite Montreal
 Victoria ItowTsering, Producer- Feature Animation at Cinesite
 Marie-Claude Beauchamp, President and Producer at CarpeDiem Film & TV
Session - Getting the Job with Real Training and Education!
Are you ready for the workforce? Studio Training and Studio University’s - Why are we seeing
more? What’s the trend and future of learning? How do you keep with up with the demands and
competition of the Industry? Are you learning the right skills?
Speakers:
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Anthony Walsh, Director at Syn Studio
Suzanne Guèvremont, General Manager at NAD
Samantha Youssef, Artistic Director at Studio Technique
David Hubert, Animation and Cinematic Director at Eidos
Emily Paige, Strategy Director & Cofounder at e.d. Films
Session - Visual Effects on the Frontline: Pre-Vis and Post-Vis
An in-depth look at the critical importance of collaborative design in preproduction, on-set shoot and
throughout the director's cut phase of feature films, with highlights from Captain America 2: The Winter
Soldier, Riddick, The Grey and 007: Quantum of Solace.
Speaker: Gunnar Hansen, Freelance visual effects supervisor
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Session - BATTLE ROYALE! Budget vs. Quality in animation
What producers already know, but shouldn't hear.
In this conference we explore the struggles brought on by money and why it shouldn't dictate over quality. We
build a discussion, in groups, where a pretend budget is given for re-enacting an animation production cycle. The
groups will reveal advantages and disadvantages to the scenarios where control over the money helps in
leveraging over standards in the animation production cycle to keep businesses afloat.
Speaker: Ian Johnston, Founder of Too Many Legs Animation Studios
Session - Managing Large Environments with Autodesk® Maya® and Shotgun
In this session, Dave and André will explain the different techniques and tools used to recreate 19th Paris City
for Ballerina feature animation film. The technique is an hierarchical layout and set dressing system based on
Autodesk Shotgun, which allows multi-site collaborative workflow for digital environments. The tools are designed
to be multi-platform / multi-applications, allowing the artists to re-construct an entire scenery using versioned
published assets for a different level-of-detail. The system was designed to work in various software such
as Autodesk Maya, Foundry Mari, Foundry Nuke, Mercenaries Guerilla Render and Python API.
Speakers:
 Dave Lajoie, R&D Director at L'Atelier animation Inc.
 André Bastien, R&D Director at L'Atelier animation Inc.
Session - Directors mentoring and teaching the next generation of creative's
A panel on the ins and outs of what is expected in the industry and how each Director looks at the relationship
between artists who are seeking mutually beneficial professional and personal development. Each Director can
offer valuable insight into your career field and can help you decide the best courses of action for situations you
may encounter. This is also a panel that offers insight on how some of the other studio are developing and
investing into their talents.
Moderator: Brent George, Animation Director WB and Dawson 3D Animation Teacher
Speakers:
 Aaron Gilman: Animation Director at Weta Digital
 Jason Ryan: Animation Director at Cinesite
 Ted Ty: Animation Director at L'Atelier Animation
 David Hubert: Animation & Cinematic Director at Eidos (Previous DreamWorks Creature Lead/Supervisor)
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Session - Creating mutant warriors and their nemeses: the VFX of X-Men: Days of Future Past
A look at how MPC created a whole band of mutant warriors and their mechanical nemeses for last summer's
Oscar-nominated blockbuster.
Speaker: Anders Langlands, Visual effects consultant at MPC
Demo – Technical and Artistic Matte Painting
These two Matte Painters have 18 years of combined industry experience, having recently contributed to
projects such as Prometheus, Star Trek Into Darkness, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Gravity.As
teacher and student at Syn Studio, they're also a currently a formidable Matte Painting team at Rodeo
FX. One is more of an artistic matte painter while the other is more technical and together they will
present their pipelines and demo some of their favourite techniques.
Speakers:
 Antoine Goncalves, Matte Painter, Rodeo FX
 Dhamindra Jeevan, Matte Painter, Rodeo FX
Demo – Live Demo with Justin Yun: Environment Painting
A live demo on Photoshop on how to design environments for VFX backgrounds. During this
presentation, Justin will demonstrate a few rendering techniques that he uses to speed up the process
and also get the look that the client wants by using photo textures, custom brushes, filters, etc… He will
also talk about and show the importance of your foundational skills like understanding composition,
perspective, and values.
Speaker- Justin Yun: CCO/Executive Producer, Section Studios
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