[ VES SECTION SPOTLIGHT: TORONTO ]
Toronto Revisited: Doubling Down on Innovation By NAOMI GOLDMAN
TOP: Introducing the 2022 Toronto Section Board of Managers. MIDDLE TWO: VES Toronto members and guests at a pub night meetup pre-COVID. BOTTOM: VES Toronto gets ready for a viewing of Matrix Resurrections.
The VES’s international presence gets stronger every year, and so much of that is because of our regional VFX communities and their work to advance the Society and bring people together. The Toronto Section exemplifies adaptability, resilience and growth – continuing to thrive amidst the pandemic – as they developed interactive educational and entertainment experiences and bolstered community among their 130-plus members and the local industry. Profiled in the inaugural VFX Voice in April 2017 and now in the magazine’s 5th anniversary issue, VES Toronto is excited to mark this moment and celebrate their evolution. “We are in a great place jump-starting 2022, poised for a rich year of programming and community-building, says Tavia Charlton, VES Toronto Section Co-chair and Post Production Producer, Originals Marketing at Amazon Studios. “With our recent election, we have the largest and most diverse Board of Managers since the Section’s inception in 2013, with 12 passionate and extremely impressive leaders fully engaged in elevating our craft and supporting our members.” Filmed entertainment is thriving in Toronto. More film studios and VR facilities are being built every year, and an increasing number of projects are coming into the market for production and then staying for post-production to tap into the veteran VFX workforce. This boom is creating enormous growth and job opportunities for local VFX talent, while attracting international artists and technicians to the region. “And the attraction is not limited to the production arts, but goes deep into the technology side,” says Roy C. Anthony, VES Toronto Co-chair and Global Head of Research at DNEG. “Toronto has a rich research and innovation culture. There is a lot of interaction with universities to underpin technology solutions and develop new ways of generating revenue and IP for studios.” Continues Anthony, “The Toronto Section has always done intense hands-on, technical arts-focused presentations. A great example is a two-day session we hosted on lighting where we brought in Dave Stump, author of Digital Cinematography. He trained people working in 3D to understand how people light on set and on stage, to break down barriers between digital content creators and on-set creators. We want to help foster that common language and make sure our members are at the forefront of the industry.” The Toronto Section continues to offer its popular “Tech Talk” series, making skills-building and information accessible for both technical artists and practitioners. Last year they held a highly attended “Tech Talk” on “USD Pipeline Successes and Challenges (Universal Scene Description)” with guest George ElKoura, former Lead Engineer at Pixar Animation Studios, and have many programs in the pipeline. “The USD event is a great example of the value we bring, as there is really exciting energy around USD to streamline the production process and leverage technologies in a more flexible way,”
92 • VFXVOICE.COM SPRING 2022
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2/28/22 2:49 PM
