SPEAKERS

Henrique Weber, MS, is a PhD student in Computer Vision and Systems Laboratory of Laval University. Previously, he worked as Computer Vision Researcher at Institute National d’Optique, Québec. He received a Master degree in Computer Science from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil in 2016. His main interests lie in interpreting the real world through images using Computer Vision and Deep Learning. More specifically, he seeks to uncover the environment surrounding already taken pictures.

Born in Mexico but adopted by Quebec Canada, Guillermo Dupinet is a film passionate, especially those involving animation. With his 20+year experience in the Animation and VFX industry, he’s collaborated on a numerous projects, bringing animated characters that tell a story to life. He has been credited in Advertising, TV series, high-end videogames and films using various methods in a broad variety of styles.

He joined Mikros Animation three years ago as Lead Animator on The SpongeBob Movie : Sponge on the Run and evolved as Animation Supervisor on PAW Patrol : The Movie.

François Lord has been working in the visual effects field for over 25 years. He first graduated from NAD, worked as a general CGI artist, then became a project supervisor and specialized in optimizing production pipelines and creating tools to facilitate artists’ work and workflow efficiency. François has worked at BUZZ, Big Bang animations, Oblique FX, Framestore where he was CG supervisor and Rodeo FX where he was Head of pipeline. François is an architect of solutions adapted to the VFX context.

Today Francois is deepening USD implementations in production contexts and works as a consultant to companies. Since June 2021 Francois is a professor at the NAD school of the University of Quebec in Chicoutimi.

Florian joined Ubisoft La Forge (Montreal) in January 2020 and is currently an R&D programmer on FaceShifter, Ubisoft’s internal face creation tool. He is taking advantage of recent research on 3D hair to take creative assistance to the next level.

Florian received his M.Sc.Eng. in Computer Science from INSA Rennes (France) and his M.Eng. in Information Technology from ÉTS (Canada). Prior to Ubisoft, he experienced academic research in Japan, which convinced him that he was made for industrial research

Before he became Technical Director at the NFB Animation Studio in 2011, Eloi spent nearly two decades helping advertising agencies and corporations go beyond their creative limits. Drawing on his VFX expertise and creative problem-solving skills, Eloi has worked on many award winning productions, including a number of stereoscopic films. Currently, he is working on a variety of linear and interactive projects using 3D printers, head-mounted displays, projections, different types of sensors and mobile platforms.

Brigitte joined SYNTHÈSE as Executive Director after more than twenty years as a manager in the media and entertainment field (film, television, digital media) in the public, private and association sectors, both nationally and internationally. She was previously the Executive Director of “Femmes du Cinéma, de la télévision et des médias numériques”, the Quebec chapter of Women in Film and Television International. She began her career as a legal advisor in television production companies before joining Telefilm Canada, where she was Director of Coproductions and Director of International Relations and managed several teams in business relations and in the administration of the Canada Media Fund programs.

Co-founder and Executive Producer Archita Ghosh’s business expertise has propelled E.D. FILMS’ growth trajectory since she joined the company in 2013. Working alongside the studio’s talented team to produce award-winning, artist-led animation, immersive and mixed reality (XR) experiences, she has also worked to commercialize unique creative tools at the studio.
Fluent in Bengali, English, Spanish and French, Archita sits on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Media Producers Association as well as M.E.D.I.A. (Media•Equity•Diversity•Inclusion•Accessibility).

Anne-Claire is currently Surfacing Supervisor at Mikros Animation. With over 9 years of experience in Surfacing and Look Development, she has worked on VFX and animation high-profile feature films in Europe and in Canada such as Minions, Despicable Me 3, Captain Underpants and The SpongeBob Movie : Sponge on the Run.

Her department works hand in hand with Art Directors and Directors to help them achieve the look they envisioned.
She enjoys paying close attention to the smallest details that make the assets of a film unique, and loves technical challenges.

Richard Cormier’s impressive track record includes more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment industry, working in leadership and executive positions in both the US and Canadian market. Known for his organizational leadership and his ability to assess and integrate resources, Richard is an eminent figure on several continents. He has been twice on Caldwell’s “Top 40 Under 40” list, Canada’s most prestigious honour for young leaders. Before joining MELS, Richard was responsible for the global production of content for Moment Factory and his latest project included The Discovery District for AT&T headquarters in Dallas, and the Moynihan station in New York city.

Simulation artist, CG supervisor, VFX supervisor and, finally, Co-Head of CG, Louis-Philippe has had the opportunity to play a number of roles in the visual effects industry. A skilled communicator, he is passionate about sharing his expertise, helping practitioners acquire new skills and knowledge in the classroom and in the workplace. He has also contributed his many talents to great films such as Sympathy for the Devil and Just a Breath Away, for which he won two Iris (Prix du cinéma québécois).

Yvett Merino (Producer) is the Academy Award®-winning producer of Encanto and the first Latina to receive the Oscar® for Animated Feature. Merino first came to Walt Disney Animation Studios more than 20 years ago, and has worked in a variety of production capacities on some of the most popular animated features of all time. Among her most recent credits, she served as production manager on the Oscar®-winning feature, Big Hero 6, as well as the Oscar®-nominated Moana. Launching her Disney Animation career in the Technology department, she moved into the world of Production as a supervisor on Tangled. She went on to work with the Stereo team on The Lion King 3D, and with various departments on Wreck-It Ralph.

Merino was also a part of the team that started Voces@Disney, the Studio’s first Latinx employee resource group, where she served as co-president for two years.

Merino lives in Los Angeles, Calif., with her family. She holds an MBA from Loyola Marymount University and an undergraduate degree in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

After 10 years in the animation industry, Tad Topping has touched a wide variety of exciting projects and styles. As an animator, he worked on video games, TV shows and features films. His hard work and dedication quickly led to a Lead Animator position on the Troll feature film, a Tale of a Tail. His talent and passion drove his desire to inspire others and on every project he has worked on, he invested a lot of time and effort into coaching and teaching his team. Tad is now an animation teacher at O’Sullivan College, a pro at animationcritique.com and an Animation Director at Squeeze Animation Studio where he is directly involved in developing the animation style of Cracké Family Scramble, Squeeze’s latest original production.

Philippe is the co-founder and senior VFX supervisor at FOLKS. He brings 15 years of experience and an unwavering dedication to his work, which is reflected in everything he does. His collaborative approach and innate ability to put people at ease make him an outstanding supervisor. His time spent on film sets has given him an impressive capacity for managing major projects.

Philipp Wolf (He/Him) is Executive-In-Charge, Corporate Strategy at DNEG based in Montreal with an impressive line of projects spanning more than a decade. His recent projects include Denis Villeneuve’s Dune and Kenneth Branagh’s Death On The Nile.

Philipp has established strong working relationships with numerous directors through his role as a VFX Producer, collaborating with Guy Ritchie on King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, David Yates on The Legend of Tarzan and with Shane Black on The Predator.

An active force in the industry, Philipp is a Member of the VES Board of Directors as well as Chair of the VES Montreal Section and Co-Chair of the VES Health & Wellbeing committee. He is also Co-Chair of the Animation and VFX committee at the Producers Guild of America, and a Board Member of Access: VFX Montreal.

Beginning his career as a Producer on shorts, Philipp gained early recognition for his skills with a VES Award nomination. After breaking into the world of television with HBO’s multi award-winning Game of Thrones, he quickly rose the ranks from Associate VFX Producer to VFX Producer, working in this role on titles such as The Mummy and Godzilla: King of Monsters.

Philipp’s more recent projects as Executive Producer include Men in Black: International, Fast & Furious 9, Togo and Ghostbusters: Afterlife among others.

Doing practical effects in a live action studio can demand a surprisingly diverse set of skills and Olivier’s career path gave him just that. Working as a freelance photographer, a digital image technician, and camera operator for 14 years before practical effects, gave him a deep understanding of imagery and kept him trained on the evolving cinematic technologies.
For the past 5 years, he’s been applying those skills in the visual effects industry as an in-house VFX photographer at the live action shooting stage where he must expertly place the camera, light the stage properly, and resolve any challenges that arise with creative solutions to get seamless shots.

Natasia kickstarted her career in Visual Effects at Framestore in 2014; quickly evolving in her role as she supported the studio’s growth from 100 to 300 employees during her tenure. Discovering her passion for creating a positive work environment, she was given the opportunity and dove into the role of Facility Manager where she endeavored to build a strong and diverse company culture.

In 2016 she joined Atomic Fiction as the Senior Manager of Facilities where she focused her efforts on the expansion and build out of the studio, while fostering a creative work environment where each individual felt supported, welcomed, and empowered to do their best work. Following the acquisition by Method Studios in 2019, Natasia took on a new challenge as Head of Operations, where much of her focus was dedicated to a smooth transition as Method Montreal settled-in with its new family of studios globally. Over the past couple years, she has played a key part in building a strong, interconnected global company culture and supporting the team as Method Montreal navigated through the global pandemic.

Natasia is an Executive Board member for Women in Animation in Montreal and is an active Access VFX member.
Natasia continues to make a difference in the Visual Effects industry by creating relevant events, experiences, traditions, and encouraging a sense of belonging for all!

Mathieu joined Framestore’s studio soon after its 2013 launch. Joining as a Lighting Technical Director he was soon promoted to the role of CG Supervisor, working on titles such as the BAFTA-nominated Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Denis Villeneuve’s Oscar-nominated Arrival and Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant. Now Head of CG, Mathieu ensures the best teams are in place to deliver the highest quality work. He is proud to contribute to the studio’s work, from the creation of key animated characters to complex environments and intricate visual effects – all from his home city.

Josée Chapdelaine started in the VFX industry a bit later than most. Though she began her academic career in French Literature, she went back to get a Bachelor in Interior Design and discovered a passion for 3D software in
creating interior renderings. After graduation, she went right back to school to get a Bachelor in 3D Animation then promptly got hired by Oblique FX in Montreal where she was mainly doing FX and rigging. With the studio being
small, she ended up touching a bit of everything and after 5 years there, she got a job at Rodeo FX, first as a CFX artist, then as a CFX lead, then as a CG Supervisor. Since the beginning of 2021, she’s been back on the CFX side as Head of the Creature FX Department and loving every minute of it. Josée has worked on well-known productions in the past few years such as Lovecraft Country (nominated for a Creative Arts Emmy Award), Dumbo, The Aeronauts, and Paddington 2.

After completing both her BA and MA in Computer Graphics at the Institut des Arts de Diffusion in Belgium, Laureline embarked upon a successful VFX career in compositing. Now a VFX Supervisor with Oscar, Emmy and BAFTA-winning creative studio Framestore, she has delivered an incredible range of work, including the detailed comp work for Disney’s Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made and Flora & Ulysses, as well as the epic Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore. Her most recent project is Foundation s2 for Apple TV+.

Ken Steel is a seasoned VFX artist who has been working in the visual effects industry for over 25 years. He began his prolific career after graduating from the VFS Animation Intensive Program in 1992.

Throughout the years, Ken has acquired extensive experience and in-depth knowledge of the industry and possesses a varied and rich professional background. He joined the team at Hybride in 2001 working as lead animator on films such as the Spy Kids trilogy, Once Upon a Time in Mexico and Sin City. He later moved on to pursue his career as Senior and Lead Animator in other studios such as Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), MPC, Digital Domain, Sony Entertainment and Animal Logic.

Back at Hybride since 2018, Ken has now taken on the role of Animation Supervisor and has contributed his creative and technical skills to multiple shows, leaving his mark on major films such as Aladdin, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and Colin Trevorrow’s upcoming film Jurassic World: Dominion.

His extensive experience and strong background in animation had also lead him to play a major role in producing some of the most iconic characters for acclaimed television series like The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi, the new Disney+ limited series from Lucasfilm. A skilled communicator, Ken is one of Hybride’s primary spokespersons at conventions, conferences as well as for other corporate events.