VFX Tech to be Explored at First PGA Conference

Produced By 2009, the first conference sponsored by the Producers Guild of America about the state of production, will take place Saturday and Sunday at Sony Pictures, with more than 100 producers and filmmakers participating.

The highlight will definitely be a James Cameron session on AVATAR (Saturday, 10:00-11:30 a.m.). According to the website (www.producedbyconference.com [1]), Cameron "will unveil the craft behind the making of [AVATAR] with its combination of live action [3-D] and computer-generated, photo-real visual effect..."

"The Collaborative Process of Visual Effects: From Previs to Post" will be explored on Saturday (3:30-5:00 p.m.). Among the panelists will be previs gurus David Dozoretz (founder, Persistence of Vision), Chris Edwards (CEO, The Third Floor), Ron Frankel (president/founder Proof), Daniel Gregoire (owner/CEO, Halon Ent.), Roger Guyett (Vfx supervisor, ILM), Gayle Anne Hurd (producer, THE INCREDIBLE HULK), Alex McDowell (production designer, WATCHMEN) and Marc Weigert (co-producer/Vfx supervisor, 2012 and CEO, Unchartered Territory). VFX vet Richard Edlund will moderate.

Meanwhile, on Sunday (2:00-3:10 pm), Pixar will discuss its unique production style, with producers Darla Anderson (TOY STORY 3), Jim Morris (JOHN CARTER OF MARS, WALL-E), Denise Ream (CARS 2) and John Walker (1906, THE INCREDIBLES).

Also on Sunday will be a 3-D panel (3:30-5:00 p.m.) with VFX vet Hoyt Yeatman, director of G-FORCE, Joshua Greer (president/founder, REAL D and Steve Schklair (founder, CEO, 3ality Digital Systems). Buzz Hays, senior producer, Sony Pictures Imageworks, will moderate.

Finally, Performance Capture/MoCap will get plenty of attention (5:20-6:30 p.m.) with a panel of experts that includes Rob Bredow (creative technology supervisor, Sony Pictures Imageworks), Debbie Denise (EVP, production, Imageworks), Greg LaSalle (founding partner, Mova), Steve Preeg (animation supervisor, Digital Domain, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON), Mike Sanders (digital supervisor, ILM), Steve Sullivan (senior technical officer, ILM). Demian Gordon (chairman, Motion Capture Society) will moderate.