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VES Announces Featured Speaker For Production Summit 2010

The Visual Effects Society (VES) announced today that Dr. Rich Terrile, NASA astronomer and evolutionary computer visionary, will be the featured speaker at the VES Production Summit 2010 on October 23rd.

Press Release from VES

Los Angeles, August 16, 2010 -- The Visual Effects Society (VES) announced today that Dr. Rich Terrile, NASA astronomer and evolutionary computer visionary, will be the featured speaker at the VES Production Summit 2010 on October 23rd.  Dr. Terrile is the Director of the Center for Evolutionary Computation and Automated Design at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  His unique and professional perspective on how the future of evolutionary computation and artificial intelligence will impact the entertainment industry and its business models will be insightful and informative.

Among his other accomplishments, Dr. Terrile uses techniques based on biological evolution and development to advance the fields of robotics and computer intelligence.  He has a Ph.D. in Planetary Science from the California Institute of Technology and has developed missions to Mars and to the outer solar system.  Dr. Terrile’s other areas of expertise include the development of medical instrumentation for neurosurgery and the study of planetary rings and geology.  He has discovered four moons and is the first to photograph another solar system.

Eric Roth, VES Executive Director, states, "We're honored to have such a distinguished scientist as Dr. Terrile as our featured speaker.  His real world experience is what inspires so many of our members to get into our industry, and continues to provide fertile ground for creatively telling stories in all aspects of entertainment.”

Dr. Terrile is also a science and technical consultant for films, television, corporate and financial customers including work with Academy Award®-winning directors James Cameron and Steven Soderbergh.  Several science shows including this year’s Discovery Science Channel series “Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman,” in addition to “Destination Mars” and “The Astronomers – Prospecting for Planets,” have featured him and his work.

VES Chair, Jeffrey A. Okun adds, "Having a speaker of the stature of Dr. Terrile is essential to helping those of us in the entertainment field lift our heads out of our day-to-day work and envision possibilities that we have never considered before.  It is all about gaining perspective and then applying it to our current vision of the work and the future.  Our industry is in the throes of a technological tsunami that will effect both the business and the product and we need to look at innovative ways to define and create a viable future for ourselves.  Dr. Terrile is a leader in this.”

Because of rapid technological advancements and the globalization of production, the Production Summit 2010 will convene a unique consortium of leading entertainment industry creatives, executives and visionaries to examine innovative approaches in order to navigate tomorrow’s business models.  The one-day event will bring together an international group of filmmakers, technologists, visual effects leaders and practitioners from all crafts to look at how the industry might evolve over the next five years and how to stay relevant in this time of immense change.

The day will feature sessions on topics including technology, evolving roles, how to harness inspirational opportunities, and the global production marketplace, from the perspectives of everything from acquisition to distribution.  The event will be held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Marina del Rey.

For more information and to register go to www.visualeffectssociety.com/production-summit-2010.

About the VESThe VES is a non-profit, professional, honorary Society dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences and applications of digital visual effects and to upholding the highest uniform standards and procedures for the visual effects profession.  Headquartered in Los Angeles, the VES is a global organization and has Sections in Australia, London, San Francisco and Vancouver.

The VES is the entertainment industry's only official trade organization representing the extended community of visual effects practitioners including supervisors, artists, producers, technology developers, educators, PR/marketing specialists and studio executives.  Its 2,000 global members contribute to all areas of entertainment from film, television and commercials to music videos, games and new media.  The VES strives to enrich and educate its members and the entertainment community at large through many domestic and international events, screenings and programs.  Visual effects professionals constitute a vital creative force in content creation and are literally shaping the future of entertainment.

To learn more about VES, please visit www.visualeffectssociety.com.

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