While plans for the VIEW Conference for 2020 in Turin solidify, it is very heartening to be able to announce the latest keynote speaker, Pixar’s Co-Founder Ed Catmull.
Catmull has been revealed as a speaker at the conference, set for 18-23 October 2020. This appointment is a great chance to see and hear one of the big names in 3D visual effects and indeed the man who once was in the driving seat for 3D animation production in the USA. Catmull transitioned to an advisory role before retiring last year, and the story behind his work creating render technologies is complex and indeed riveting.
In an interview with AWN on his retirement last year, Ed Catmull in one paragraph gave such an insightful glimpse of the importance of his position in the industry. If it wasn’t for him, we would all be in a very different place. “Never in my wildest imagination could I have conceived of the path or the extraordinary people I have worked with over all of these years — the twists and turns, the ups and downs, along with exhilarating passion, talent, and dedication that have led to something extraordinary, something that has an enduring impact in the world,” said Catmull. “From the request of George Lucas to bring technology to the film industry, to the vision of Steve Jobs, and the extraordinary freedom provided by Bob Iger, Alan Horn, and Alan Bergman, we continue to dream of stories and ways of making those stories that always surprise. I have the mixed emotions that come with stepping away from a group of people I love, but also with the utmost pride and pleasure that we now have at both Pixar and Disney Animation the most dedicated and imaginative leaders I have worked with.”
The VIEW Conference is being preceded by some online PreVIEW events, the latest being a discussion between Ian Failes, VFX journalist, and Dylan Sisson, the marketing director for Pixar RenderMan. Ian previously a great chat with Hal Hickel, Animation Director, The Mandalorian, ILM (Academy Award-Winner). Both these PreVIEW events are recorded and are available on the VIEW site and can be sourced via YouTube.
Other speakers to be at VIEW include Peter Ramsey, Co-Director, Spiderman into the Spider-Verse, Sony Pictures Animation (Academy Award-Winner); Kris Pearn, Writer/Director, The Willoughbys, Netflix; Jorge Gutierrez, Writer/Director, The Book of Life; Sharon Calahan, DoP Onward (Pixar); Roger Guyett, VFX Supervisor, Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker; Nate Fox, Director, The Ghost of Tsushima, Suckerpunch; Paul Debevec, Academy Award Winner, Senior Engineer, Google VR; Scott Ross, Founder Digital Domain; Stefen Fangmeier, VFX Supervisor and Director, Game of Thrones; Alison Mann, VP Creative/Strategy Sony Pictures Animation; Don Greenberg, Jacob Gould Schurmann Professor of Computer Graphics, Cornell University, and concept artist Sebastien Hue.
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