Don’t Hide Your Troubleshooting, Highlight It | WETA Digital & Yoobee Colleges | Houdini Educati...
0Fearing your mistakes will hold you back. Instead, you should embrace them and learn from them. Not only are hard skills important, but so are soft skills when it comes to working in the VFX industry. In this discussion, you’ll hear from WETA Digital representatives and a Yoobee College instructor on how you can enhance skills like interviewing and team collaboration.
Tristan McMahon is the Assistant Technical Directors Head of Department at Weta Digital. He was made Team Lead of the ATD group in late 2014, and became the Head of the Department when it became part of the Shots group in July 2015.Tristan started at Weta Digital in 2002 as the sole charge night shift Render Wrangler for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. He went on to become the Manager of the Wrangling team during I, Robot and King Kong, then worked as part of the infrastructure team as a Systems Administrator before moving into an ATD role during the production of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.As HOD, he is responsible for identifying, hiring and training candidates to move into roles in the Shots Department at Weta Digital and acts in a mentoring/supervisory role during an ATD's first couple of years at the company.
Anna Middleton is passionate about creating respectful, authentic, and collaborative teams by championing inclusion, equity, and diversity. She supports her crew by enabling them to maintain a sustainable work/life balance while continuing to produce great VFX. Originally trained in ballet and contemporary dance, Anna went on to join a showband and worked as an entertainer and singer in NZ, Australia, and Asia for seven years. Graduating with a Bachelor in Broadcasting and Communications in 2003, Anna worked in various production roles for commercials and films before forming a video and stills production company, Flying Saucer, with her partner. Anna has worked as a Crew Manager at Weta Digital for the last six years, focusing on recruitment and career progression for junior artists by helping them obtain their dream roles within the studio.
Jack Parkinson is a Houdini specialist and Multimedia Tutor at Yoobee Colleges in Christchurch, New Zealand. 3D students at Yoobee learn a wide variety of skills, in all areas of the 3D pipeline. Using industry standard practices and workflows, students create engaging, portfolio ready, content. After numerous years teaching Design, Film, Animation and 3D Modelling, Jack steered his focus towards the VFX pipeline. Bringing the curriculum up to industry standard, Jack is now the resident expert on Houdini. In his spare time Jack is creating VFX for some independent productions, releasing later in the year. Outside of Houdini, Jack is passionate about cheese fondue and enjoys karaoke.