VFX PRODUCERS ROUNDTABLE: ‘MY TOUGHEST CHALLENGE’ By IAN FAILES
TOP: A final shot from Mulan, on which Diana Giorgiutti was Visual Effects Producer. (Image courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures) OPPOSITE TOP TO BOTTOM: A greenscreen stuffy version of the baby elephant on the film Dumbo. Hal Couzens was VFX Producer. (Image courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures) On Blade Runner 2049, Murphy-Mundell VFX-produced effects ranging from holograms to vehicles and digital humans. (Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures) A greenscreen plate of actor Damon Wayans in the TV series Lethal Weapon, on which Mark Spatny was Visual Effects Supervisor. (Image courtesy of Mark Spatny)
It’s been a couple of highly unusual and disrupted years in the visual effects industry. Among the many weathering the storm have been VFX producers, those responsible for managing projects, undertaking and reviewing bids, tracking VFX shot delivery and so many other aspects of the visual effects process. Here, several visual effects producers – some operating for film studios, or as independent contractors, or work at VFX studios, and some who do both VFX supervision and producing – discuss the biggest challenges they’re currently facing. Our roundtable of producers include: Diana Giorgiutti, currently on Dungeons & Dragons, after having worked on Mulan; Terron Pratt, who recently finished three seasons of Lost in Space before moving to post on Season 4 of Stranger Things; Hal Couzens, in post on Beast, with past credits including F9 and Dumbo; Karen Murphy-Mundell, whose recent films include Blade Runner 2049 and Gemini Man, in post on Black Adam; Mark Spatny, experienced in both VFX supervision (Lethal Weapon and Station 19 series) and a VFX producer (currently on The Peripheral); Scott Coulter, a VFX supervisor and producer for independent features, most recently Reagan; Annie Normandin, a VFX producer at Rodeo FX on Jungle Cruise, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Season 5 of Better Call Saul; and Anouk L’heureux, Vice President of Production at Rodeo FX, with VFX producing experience at several other VFX studios. AN INTERESTING CHALLENGE: SO MUCH WORK
Diana Giorgiutti: “For me, the explosion of streaming content alongside theatrical releases has now created a situation where there is too much work and not enough crew to cover everything. This in turn leads to a lot of crew being thrown into positions they simply are not really experienced or qualified to do. The other key and equally important factor is that there are not enough VFX facilities to easily do all the VFX work across all the varying release timelines. You really have to be on your game to make sure you are doing deals well ahead to guarantee VFX capacity. “For my current project, we awarded the work to our vendors
26 • VFXVOICE.COM SUMMER 2022
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