VES Elects 2022 Board of Directors Officers: Lisa Cooke Re-Elected Board Chair; Historic All-Women Executive Committee to Lead the Global Organization

The 2022 VES Board of Directors Officers, who comprise the VES Board Executive Committee, were elected at the January 2022 Board meeting. The Officers include Lisa Cooke, who was re-elected Board Chair, and is the first woman to hold this role since the Society’s inception. And for the first time in the Society’s 25-year history, the five-member Executive Committee is comprised of an all-women group of venerated industry professionals.

“It is my honor and privilege to continue to Chair this society of outstanding artists and innovators and I appreciate the trust placed in me,” said Lisa Cooke, VES Chair. “I’m proud to work amongst an exceptional group of impassioned and talented leaders, who are committed to advancing our mission and serving our members worldwide. As an all-women Executive Committee, I hope that this representation encourages other women to seek positions of leadership in our industry, and that organizations continue to lift up people from diverse backgrounds and experience to fully reflect our global community.” 

The 2022 Officers of the VES Board of Directors are:

• Chair: Lisa Cooke

• 1st Vice Chair: Emma Clifton Perry

• 2nd Vice Chair: Susan O’Neal

• Secretary: Rita Cahill

• Treasurer: Laurie Blavin

A producer at Tippett Studio, Lisa Cooke has several decades experience as an animation/VFX producer, creative consultant, screenwriter and actor. Firmly believing that it is vital for science to effectively communicate its truths to a broader audience, she started Green Ray Media, and for the last 10-plus years has been producing animation and VFX to create scientific, medical and environmental media for a broad audience. She served six years on the Bay Area Board of Managers, currently serves as Chair of the VES Archives Committee and was previously 1st Vice Chair of the Board of Directors.

Emma Clifton Perry is a Senior Compositor with more than 16 years experience working across feature films, longform/TV series, commercials and advertising at VFX facilities worldwide. Based in Wellington, New Zealand, she offers remote compositing and VFX consulting services. Perry has served several terms as Chair, Co-Chair and Secretary/Treasurer on the VES New Zealand Board of Managers and was previously 2nd Vice Chair of the Board of Directors. 

Susan O’Neal is a recruiter for BLT Recruiting and has worked as an Operations Manager at The Mill, Operations Director at Escape Studios in Los Angeles and as an Account Manager at Side Effects Software. Recipient of the 2019 VES Founder’s Award, O’Neal has previously served on the Board of Directors and Chair of the Legacy Global Education Committee and Membership Committee, and has been instrumental in the Society’s membership growth.

Rita Cahill is an international business and marketing/PR consultant and has worked with a number of U.S., Canadian, U.K., EU and Chinese companies for visual effects and animation projects. Previously, Cahill was the Vice President of Marketing for Cinesite and a founding Board member of the Mill Valley Film Festival/California Film Institute. This is Cahill’s seventh term as Secretary. Previously, she served as Chair or Co-Chair of the VES Summit for eight years.

Laurie Blavin’s 20-year career spans the culture, creativity and technology of both Hollywood and Silicon Valley. She was thrilled to join Scanline VFX as their Global Head of Talent Acquisition. Blavin counsels companies and professionals in strategy, brand-value stewardship, full-cycle staffing, and recruiting for international companies large and small, start-up and established businesses. This is Blavin’s third term on the VES Board of Directors.