Galvanizing the VFX Community – Deep in the Heart of Texas

By NAOMI GOLDMAN

The Visual Effects Society’s global presence gets stronger every year – and so much of that is because of our regional VFX communities and their work to advance the Society and bring people together. Established in January 2024 as our 16th Section, the VES Texas Section is thriving with 75 members, and cites the diversity of its membership as a strength and underpinning of its unique culture. “Texas is not really a hub of VFX for entertainment, but we’re trying to change that,” said Colin Campbell, Digital Compositor and Founding Chair of the VES Texas Section. “Visual effects companies in Texas are few and far between with only a few entrepreneurial start-ups scattered around the state. We have a chance to change that with our business-friendly incentives and tax structure, lower cost of living and now with the creation of our Texas Section of the VES – all of which make Texas a prime location for VFX production.”

“I was born and raised in Fort Worth and remember what it was like in 1980s/90s with shows like Dallas and Walker, Texas Ranger at the heart of massive production here,” said Will Nicholson, VES Texas Section Board of Managers member and Visual Effects Supervisor on The Chosen. “While I’ve done a lot of work outside of Texas over the last 30 years of my visual effects career, I’d love to see more production come home to Texas.”

“Given that we are not yet that entertainment-centric region for visual effects, our members encompass college educators from the University of Texas at Dallas and Texas A&M, professionals using VFX in architectural visualization and aerospace, as well as those working in games, film and TV,” Campbell said. “Assembling our foundational members from a spectrum of industries makes it all the more validating that we achieved Section-hood and have built our VES regional community.”

It was a dream of numerous VFX professionals in the region to establish a VES Texas Section. With the support of Tim McGovern, VES, longtime Chair of the VES Committee for Outreach to Developing Regions, Campbell and other members galvanized an enthusiastic new member recruiting push in Fall 2023 when they learned they were close to the needed 50-member threshold to petition and be granted a charter. It’s a point of pride for Texas Section leaders that the petition had 62 members sign on as it was formally established.

“I was a founding member of a nonprofit called A Bunch of Short Guys – which was a group originally organized to make a short film – and it was very successful bringing together VFX artists, animators, game developers and students,” Nicholson said. “Establishing our VES Section was a smart next step to bring the well-established global Society to Texas and grow a network on a more professional level.”

The VES Texas Section spans a broad geographic reach across the state. The majority of its members work and live in Dallas; its second hub covers South Texas, with a bulk of members in Austin, as well as professionals in Houston, San Antonio and College Station.

In its first 18 months, VES Texas held a number of happy hours and pub nights to spur member recruitment and foster a sense of community. They participated in the VES Awards nominations events – in January 2024, as they were newly established, and in 2025, as part of the Central Time Zone panels along with members from Chicago and Tennessee. They also held a 23rd Annual VES Awards watch party at Corgan headquarters, thanks to Section member Ludovick Michaud.

The Section held a dynamic virtual demo on AI workflow featuring VES Texas member Alan Chan, CG veteran and expert on game cinematics at Blizzard Entertainment. Moving forward, the Section would like to hold more unique workshops featuring the expertise of Section members, such as the use of VR technology to explore the impacts on Alzheimer’s disease – a project being spearheaded by a founding member.

And VES Texas held their first-ever screening (Gladiator II) at the end of 2024, thanks to the generosity of the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), which provided their screening room with state-of-the-art sound and laser projection, free of charge. “The University has been a great collaborator and is interested in growing their animation and filmmaking programs, so an association with the VES is a win-win for us both,” Campbell said. “I believe we are the first Section to get screenings up and running in the first year. This is largely due to the efforts of our member, Nelson Lim, a professor at the University who championed this effort. We are now working to identify venues and sponsors in our Austin/South Texas hub, and are committed to creating a robust VES experience for all of our Section members.”

VES Texas has also had a presence at area events to increase its visibility and reach, including the Texas Production Expo, sponsored by the Dallas Producers Association, and other University-hosted panels offering career advice to graduating students. The Section is exploring future opportunities to be a part of panel conversations about VFX in “Texas: Present and Future” and forums that would help shine a light on the industry and the potential to create jobs and contribute to economic growth.

“Moving forward, I would love to see us host some events that focus on bringing Gen AI into our industry,” Nicholson added. “I know it’s a complex subject, but it also feels inevitable; so let’s delve further to see how our industry can best embrace and benefit from AI, learning from people who already are using it and developing the tools.”

“My viewpoint on working in this industry is to leave it better than I found it,” Campbell said. “If I can use my position to advocate for our industry and help spur more options for students and the next generation to work in VFX here at home – I will have accomplished that. I’m excited about our ability to educate civic leaders on the rich workforce potential of VFX and animation and help to foster a cohesive and viable regional industry.”

Reflecting on his 20+ years as a VES member, Campbell shared: “Because of the VES, I have had the opportunity to meet and work with VFX professionals from around the world, and that exposure is a great joy. Here in Texas, many people have migrated to the region because of the quality of life and cost of living, but the trade-off often meant leaving their artist circles behind. The VES has given some of that community back, and we have a bright shared future.”

“The key to understanding our Section is embracing why people move to Texas – we embody the spirit of Texas, a maverick mentality that means we will always find ways to do what needs to be done,” Nicholson said. “VES Texas can be that place that assembles the best ideas of how to build our industry up across the state, and we will end up being some of the big innovators shaping the future of our industry.”