Dublin’s Science Gallery will this weekend play host to the flesh-and-blood practitioners of an otherworldly art, as Screen Training Ireland launch the country’s inaugural VFX, Animation and Games summit.
Set to run from today, Friday November 29th, to Saturday the 30th, the VFX summit will see practitioners from the United States, United Kingdom and Canada among others mingle with Irish talent both established and upcoming in the visual effects and animation industry.
Featuring sponsored talks and panel discussions among myriad software demos and show-reel screenings, the two day event is designed both as an educational format and as a networking opportunity to encourage collaboration, skill-sharing and ultimately act as a catalyst towards establishing a sustainable VFX industry here in Ireland.
Among the speakers billed to attend are:
William Sargent, co-founder of Framestore with previous credits on ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’, Spielberg’s ‘War Horse’, Alfonso Cuarón’s ‘Gravity’ and the upcoming samurai saga ’47 Ronin’.
Anthony Smith, Compositing Supervisor at Framestore who has worked on ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’, ‘Iron Man 3’ and Ridley Scott’s ‘Kingdom of Heaven’.
William Hall of Academy Award-winning MPC, whose advances in software development have seen them complete work for upcoming titles such as ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, ‘The Amazing Spiderman 2’, ‘Maleficent’ and ‘Cinderella’.
Matt Leonard, Director and Head of Training at spherevfx, a company which specializes in teaching 3D, Compositing and Visual Effects tools and techniques.
Des Carey, a pioneering VFX figure who apprenticed to George Lucas in the early 90’s, also Partner and Vice President of Post-Production at LIGHT IRON.
And, finally, Vincent Aupetit, Previsualisation Supervisor at Third Floor London studio, who collaborated with Alfonso Cuarón on ‘Gravity’ and Alan Taylor on ‘Thor: The Dark World’.
Providing a platform for open discussion, the summit seeks both to ensure Ireland can continue to punch about its weight on the world VFX stage, as well as highlighting the innovation already occurring on screens both big and small.
Says Teresa McGrane, deputy chief executive of Irish Film Board: “This event is a unique forum in which to explore the highly specialised artistic and technical skills that link the animation, VFX and games industries, and a wonderful opportunity for local industry to hear from top international visual effects talent and discuss international growth opportunities for the sector”.
The inaugural VFX, Animation and Games summit is run by Screen Training Ireland under the Irish Film Board, and is supported by Enterprise Ireland. For more information on venue, programming, or ticketing arrangements, visit the website.
