Expired March 15, 2021 6:59 AM
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This stream is all about the 5 W’s: Who, What, Where, When, Why. The creative teams from top studios present on the creation of some of the most thrilling, dynamic films and television series to date.


Featured in this stream are popular productions such as The Umbrella AcademyThe ExpanseStar Trek: DiscoveryMonster Hunter, and more. It’s not just the “talks” there will be some pretty cool clips and techniques shared too.


In this stream:


  • Creating Creatures with the VFX Team Behind Monster Hunter
  • Indie Projects Through the Lens of a Professional VFX Studio
  • Building the World of Bridgerton in VFX
  • From Mystical Caves to Outer Space: Creative Muti-tasking on Star Trek: Discovery Season 3
  • The VFX Story of The Umbrella Academy
  • The VFX Journey of Warrior Nun: From Pre to Post Production
  • Big Effects for the Small Screen: Destruction in The Expanse
  • Indie Voice: In Conversation with Gabriel Kalim Mucci
  • Advancing Diversity and Inclusion in Open Source Visual Effects and Animation

As the sole vendor on Netflix’ Warrior Nun, The Embassy was responsible for completing nearly 700 shots with a studio of 30 artists, bringing the same level of quality the studio achieves in their film and commercial work. The team will discuss all aspects of production, from creature concept and on-set planning, to post-production, focusing on elements that were unique to the series and interesting challenges that The Embassy faced throughout the production.


SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES


Michael Blackbourn

VFX Supervisor // The Embassy


Michael Blackbourn began his career as a visual effects artist in 2001 after training as both a pencil-and-paper and 3d character animator. Over his nearly twenty-year career, he has personally handled every facet of visual effects. He has specialized over time, in shading, lighting, and now as an overall VFX supervisor. He's been with The Embassy since 2006, leading the team to bring life a variety of projects in television, commercials, and feature films. While at Embassy, Mike has supervised projects including; Iron ManLost in SpaceHunger Games, and our current series Warrior Nun for Netflix.


The Embassy // IMDb.com


Nick Whiteley

Comp Supervisor // The Embassy


Nick has over thirteen years of experience compositing high end block buster features and TV. Some of Nick’s credits include Wrath of the TitansNarniaPirates of the CaribbeanSherlock Holmes IINight at the MuseumMaleficentSully, and more recently Wrinkle in Time and Skyscraper before turning to work on shows for Netflix and other streaming services.


Before coming to The Embassy, Nick had worked at three of the major VFX houses, Framestore, MPC and Cinesite.


As lead compositor at MPC, he won Employee of the Year for his work on Disney’s The Finest Hours — a challenging film about a boat rescue in a storm, involving over 600 shots with CGI water and weather.

With over a decade closely working with some of the most renowned VFX supervisors and producers in the field, Nick has a strong skill set that encompasses all aspects of the industry. As a compositing supervisor, Nick has built several teams throughout the years. Seen as a motivator and a leader, artists enjoy working alongside Nick to produce the best work that they can.


The Embassy // IMDb.com


Paul Copeland

Asset Supervisor // The Embassy


Paul Copeland has been at The Embassy VFX for over 14 years. His diverse skill set encompasses all aspects of digital asset creation, animation, on-set supervision and CG supervision. During his career as a generalist, he’s focused primarily on the creation of high-quality assets for film, television and commercials with a portfolio that ranges from the creation and animation of the Iron Man Mark 1 and District 9 Exosuit to making creatures, vehicles, and environments for some of the world’s biggest brands. Paul thrives on bringing amazing designs to life on screen and helping creators tell their stories.


The Embassy // IMDb.com


Marina Antunes

Film Critic, Podcaster, Festival Director


Marina has been writing and discussing film for over 15 years, first on a personal blog followed by a decade long tenure on the now retired Row Three. In 2008, she joined the writing staff at Quiet Earth, becoming Editor-In-Chief in 2014, a role she still holds. Over the years, she has also produced and hosted a number of podcasts including Before the Dawn, a long-running podcast on the Twilight franchise, Girls on Pop, a podcast on film and popular entertainment from women’s perspective and After the Credits, bi-monthly film podcast with nearly 300 episodes.


Marina is a member of the Online Film Critics Society and the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, is the Vice President of the Vancouver ACM SIGGRAPH chapter and has served on juries for several film festivals including DOXA, St. Louis International Film Festival, and the Whistler Film Festival. She joined the Spark CG Society as Festival Director in 2014.


Quiet Earth // After the Credits // Twitter // Facebook