Film Academy offers free virtual career summit for high school, college students

Panel discussions with Rick Baker, Tobin Bell, Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz,
John Carpenter, Annie Chang, Jamie Lee Curtis, Lora Hirschberg, Andrea Kalas,
Shannon McIntosh, Gerard McMurray, Theresa Rygiel, Luis Sequeira,
Terri Taylor and more on Oscars.org

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present its 6th annual and first virtual Careers in Film Summit on Saturday, October 24 and Saturday, October 31.  The two-day event will provide high school seniors and college students the opportunity to learn about careers in the motion picture industry from Academy members, Oscar®-winning and nominated filmmakers and other industry professionals.  

In partnership with the Academy’s Science and Technology Council, the first day of panel discussions on October 24 highlight careers in science, technology, engineering, visual effects and other post-production careers. The program schedule is as follows:

10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Visual Effects from Around the World
Visual effects supervisors from Rome, Mumbai, Taiwan, Vancouver, New York and Los Angeles 
Greg Anderson, “Spider-Man 2”
Geeta Basantani, senior compositor, “Spider-Man: Far from Home”
Gaia Bussolati, “Ford v Ferrari”
Sherry Bharda, “War”
Ahdee Chiu, “The Wandering Earth”
Moderator: Theresa Rygiel, “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum”

11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Color, Sound and Editorial
Corinne Bogdanowicz, Senior Colorist, Light Iron
Jill Bogdanowicz, Co-Head of Features Color, Company 3
Lora Hirschberg, re-recording mixer, Skywalker Sound
Kate Morrison-Lyons, Manager, Production Workflow, UCAN Netflix
Joan Sobel, ACE film editor
Moderator: Shannon McIntosh, producer

1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Science, Technology and Engineering 
Abigail Brady, software engineer (2017 Scientific and Technical Award recipient) 
Andrea Kalas, SVP Asset Management, Paramount Pictures 
Brian McLean, Director of Rapid Prototype, LAIKA (2015 Scientific and Technical Award recipient)
Rachel Rose, R&D supervisor, Industrial Light & Magic (2017 Scientific and Technical Award recipient)
Paige Warner, digital artist, Industrial Light & Magic (2016 Scientific and Technical Award recipient)
Moderator: Barbara Ford Grant, consultant, Movielabs

3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Virtual Production Technology
Girish Balakrishnan, Director, Virtual Production, Netflix
Nomish Bhardwaj, FX technical director, “Puss in Boots 2,” DreamWorks Animation 
Adrienne Klotz-Floyd, digital imaging technician (DIT)
Carol Alynn Payne, Imaging Specialist, Netflix
Horst Sarubin, Director, Production Technology, Universal Pictures
Moderator: Annie Chang, VP Creative Technologies, Universal Pictures

The October 31 Halloween edition features a horror genre theme highlighting animation, music and careers in front of and behind the camera.  The program schedule is as follows:

10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
All Things Animation
Mike Belzer, animator, “The Nightmare before Christmas”
Kendal Cronkhite, assistant art director, “The Nightmare before Christmas”
Sandra Equihua, character designer, “The Book of Life” 
Jennifer Kluska, director/story artist, “Hotel Transylvania” films
Jackie Koehler, lead animator, “The Book of Life”
Michelle Murdocca, producer, “Hotel Transylvania” films
Moderator: Randy Haberkamp, SVP Preservation and Foundation Programming, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Music in Horror Films 
John Carpenter, writer/director/composer, “Halloween”
Jamie Lee Curtis, actor, “Halloween”
Moderator: Mike Muse, host of SiriusXM’s “The Mike Muse Show”

1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Lights, Camera, Action…Boo!
Maxime Alexandre, cinematographer, “The Nun”
Rick Baker, special makeup effects creator, “The Wolfman”
Luis Sequeira, costume designer, “It Chapter Two”
Jennifer Spence, production designer, “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It”
Checco Varese, cinematographer, “It Chapter Two”
Moderator: Audrey Cleo Yap, multimedia journalist

3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Working Above the Line
Tobin Bell, actor, “Saw”
Gerard Bush, co-writer/producer/director, “Antebellum”
Ian Cooper, producer, “Candyman”
Gerard McMurray, director, “The First Purge”
Christopher Renz, co-writer/producer/director, “Antebellum”
Terri Taylor, casting director, “Get Out”
Moderator: Mike Muse, host of SiriusXM’s “The Mike Muse Show”

The Academy’s Careers in Film Summit is supported by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation.  

The event is free, but registration is required to obtain the Zoom access.  For more information and to register, visit Oscars.org/events.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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