Announcing Speaker Jeremy Vickery

Jeremy Vickery has over 12 years experience in animation, film, video, and concept design. He worked as a Lighting Artist /Technical Director for Pixar Animation Studios for many years and  helped create the films The Incredibles, Cars,Ratatouille and Wall-E. Before joining Pixar he was the Lighting Supervisor at Fathom Studios in Atlanta Georgia, and before that a Modeling/Texture Artist at Big Idea Productions in Chicago, working on several of the popular kids animated videos, “Veggie Tales”. Jeremy has also lectured on many occasions, speaking recently at the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco and Paris, has consulted with many studios around the world,  and has been interviewed online many times, and has even produced a DVD about light and color for the Gnomon Workshop. His artwork has been published in the Ballistic Publishing book “Painter” and “Expose 6”.

His workshop will teach you how to create compelling lighting that will bring your story to life.

http://www.jermilex.com

Announcing Speaker Eric Ryan

Eric Ryan is a concept artist with over 7 years experience in both the film and video game industry. Using solid art technique and a strong knowledge of creature anatomy, Eric creates images that are at the same time fantastic and believable.

Beginning his studies at the University of Berkley in Molecular and Cell Biology, Eric moved to the Art Institute of California to study Media Arts and Animation in 2001. A short two years later, Eric started work as a 3d and Concept Artist for Liquid Entertainment in Pasadena California working his way up to Associate Art Director. Eric has offered his talents as an instructor of Character Design at Gnomon School of Visual Effects, Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art and the Art Institute of California.Presently, Eric works as a Senior Concept Artist at Sony Computer Entertainment of America.

Eric’s workshop will take you step by step through the creation of amazing yet believable creatures and characters.

Announcing Speaker Kenny Roy

Kenny Roy started his career in 1998 as a dustbuster on the animated film,Marco Polo: Return to Xanadu. From those humble beginnings, he’s gone on to animate some of the most memorable characters on screen. In 11 years, Kenny has animated for TV shows, pilots, commercials, games, web, ride films and feature films, with his most notable credits being Scooby Doo 2, Garfield and King Kong.

In 2006 Kenny founded Arconyx Animation Studios, LLC in Los Angeles, Calif. The boutique studio caters solely to character projects, and has found major success pleasing high-profile clients from Mattel to MTV, Nike to Nickelodeon, Saban to Sci-Fi Channel.

Kenny will be focusing on the different techniques and aspects of character animation for various productions.

http://www.kennyroy.com/

Announcing Speaker Peter Zoppi

Peter Zoppi is a Senior Character Artist at Teryarch/Activision. Most recently, Peter worked on Call of Duty: Black Ops, which holds the record for largest entertainment launch in history. Peter’s character models reflect a great level of believability while maintaining a unique feel that gives each character its own personality.

Peter has a long list of credits in both film and video games including Silent Hill the movie, Underworld Evolution, The Golden Compass, James Bond: Quantum of Solace the game, and Call of Duty Black Ops. He is a graduate of Trinity College with a B.A. in Studio Art. Peter’s Master workshop will focus on character creation for one of the highest grossing games of all time “Call of Duty: Black Ops” and his overall approach and techniques when it comes to creating believable characters.

http://www.zopfx.com/

Announcing Keynote Guest Shane Acker

Shane Acker is an award-winning director, animator and designer. Shane is the director of 2009 film “9″. The Focus Features/Universal Studios picture is produced with Jim Lemely and executive producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov.

The 11-minute short “9″, which the feature is base on, premiered at Sundance in 2005 and has garnered numerous awards including the gold medal at the student Academy Awards, “Best in Show” at the 2005 SIGGRAPH Electronic Theater, and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2006.

Shane has a multidisciplinary background, studying architecture for several years before becoming a filmmaker. He is a graduate of UCLA’s School of Arts and Architecture where he received both a Masters Degree in Architecture and a MFA in Animation.

Shane currently resides in Los Angeles where he freelances as a 3d artist, director and instructor while actively developing his own independent films. We are honored to have Shane Acker share his experience and journey from student to Director of an award winning feature film.

http://www.shaneacker.com/

Evolve CG | April 31-May 1, 2011

Greetings,
When I first thought about hosting this conference in South Florida (a little over three years ago), people thought I was crazy to suggest such a thing. They commented that since Florida does not have a “real” VFX industry to speak of, I should just do it here in Los Angeles (where the majority of our community resides). Well, as much as I Love the convenience of working for— and living within —the VFX industry here in California, my home is still back east; among the sunshine and beaches. And like many students from communities in South Florida (or anywhere outside of California), I know what that slight disconnect from the “real” industry feels like. And this was something that always bothered me (ever since leaving my home state). Thus began my pursuit of bringing a little bit of Hollywood back home.

With the help of numerous industry friends, colleagues, and local colleges (from all over my home state), I was able to help bring this vision to pass. Evolve CG has become the premier CG animation and design venue in the region. With industry professionals and students now rubbing shoulders on a regular and consistent basis, it was only a matter of time before studios took notice, and began taking a new interest in what we were doing. And now couple this with the addition of Digital Domain’s presence in the region, it’s wonderful to see the community finally taking shape; and it’s only the beginning!

With that being said we are excited to announce that we have an amazing conference lined up for next year. If the header image on this press release is any indication of what’s to come, then you better get ready. Here’s a breakdown of some of the amazing activities planned so far.

Master Classes

CGMW will be sponsoring the first ever series of Master Classes at Evolve CG 2011. These classes will be limited seated (2o students per class) and will be taught by industry professionals such as Jason Ryan (Animation Supervisor-DreamWorks)

Master Workshops

Since last year’s Master Workshops were such a huge success, we decided to bring them back again. These will again be taught by professionals from the industry, and will focus on more advanced concepts and techniques.

LAN Party /Game Tournament

Those lucky few who make it to the main tournament will compete for various games, prizes, and bragging rights of being the very first tournament “Grand Master!”

Online Conference

This will be our first ever online event. Evolve CG online will be a streaming service providing coverage of the event’s main floor, key presentations and workshops. This is perfect for our domestic and international audience that cannot attend the physical venue, but still want to be a part of it.

CG Challenge

The Heroes and Legends Challenge asks participants to study the ancient gods, goddesses, and legends and bring them to life once again. Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Nordic, the choice is yours! Register today!

Evolving BTS (Behind The Scenes)

A wonderful series of presentations that focus on the various processes needed to make productions from some of the biggest blockbuster films and games possible.

Intro Workshops

For students who are just starting off, we will offer intro workshops that will be taught by some of the many amazing instructors at colleges throughout the area.

Conference Wrap Party

Last evolve we got a lot of request to do a little party for everyone to relax, have fun, and unwind. Well, our team heard you, and is putting a little something together for the last night of the event. Please stay tuned…

Job Fair

Our Job Fair is a great opportunity for students to network with recruiter and supervisors from different studios in the game and film industry.

As you can see we have an amazing line up of activities planned ahead. This year’s Evolve will be an event you don’t want to miss! And for some of us on a budget, we will be offering entry passes that will allow you:
- Catch the BTS presentations
- Participate in conference activities
- Watch Intro Workshops
The last bit of exciting news is that we are moving up north (as in northern Florida), for next year’s event. Since this conference is a Florida based event, we thought it only fair for some of our friends up north, to have this event take place in their own backyard.

That’s it for now. More to come soon…

Thanks!

-Evolve CG Team