VES Los Angeles Revisited: Celebrating a Proud VFX Metropolis

By NAOMI GOLDMAN

The Visual Effects Society’s worldwide 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. The VES Los Angeles Section, the largest of the Society’s regional hubs, now touts upwards of 1,635 members. The Section is Los Angeles County-centric but encompasses a diversity of Southern California members from neighboring Orange and Ventura Counties, with a presence from Santa Barbara down to San Diego.

“Looking at the state of the visual effects industry, we’re experiencing the aftermath of what I call ‘strike-demic,’ coming off the dual labor strikes and continuing readjustments of how people work post-pandemic,” said Charlotte Nelson, Chair, VES Los Angeles Section, Vice President Strategic Organizational Planning at Digital Domain and Co-Founder and CEO of Slapworks Animation. “Because we are all dealing with multiple challenges – how remote work impacts our ability to nurture up and coming talent, the lag in expected work pick-up, the backlash around invisible CGI, and evolving issues around massive industry disruptor AI – the VES is so important, especially now. As our colleagues work to adapt to shifting dynamics, having this consistent feeling of community, a central group wherever you are in the world to connect, our Society network is tremendously valuable.”

Earlier this year, the Section issued a member survey to solicit feedback on the most sought-after programming and activities, which has proven to be instrumental in the planning process. “We are focused on reinvesting in our Section as a community to support our members, and aligning our programming to meet their needs and desire for networking, socializing and educational events,” said Theresa Patten-Koeckert, Co-Chair, VES Los Angeles Section and Business Development Manager at Halon Entertainment. “Our membership spans a wide geography across Southern California, and we are also diverse in terms of the disciplines our members represent and where they fall in their career trajectory, from people looking for work, new practitioners, hiring managers, to VFX Supervisors. So we are intentional in mapping our activities to differing social and educational demands.”

The VES Los Angeles Section has consistently fulfilled that mission with a wide spectrum of programs and events. Recent highlight include: a webinar about multi-vendor collaboration – “The VFX of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,” featuring VFX Supervisor Adrian de Wet and representatives from Ghost, ILP, Halon, Rise and Outpost; the Fuzzy Door demo at Gnomon with members from the TV Academy; a series of Unreal Engine crash courses for VFX-related tasks, including environment creation, sequencing and effects; and a special Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Demo of the Henson Digital Puppetry Studio plus a Q&A on Henson Real-Time Animation at The Jim Henson Company’s historic Charlie Chaplin Sound Stage. The Section’s holiday party casino night was wildly popular. And Section members and guests benefit from an ongoing slate of exclusive film screenings and Q&A panels, thanks to longstanding support from Sony Imageworks, Disney and Netflix.

“Continuing with our programming, our members are enthusiastic about being a part of the VES Awards nomination process, and our annual judging panels at FotoKem draw members from out of town to converge and participate in this prestigious VES event,” Nelson said. “We also take great pride in celebrating our global VFX community at SIGGRAPH through our hosting parties that bring our community together, and I want to give thanks to last year’s partners for our Los Angeles event in the LA Live entertainment district, sponsored by Netflix, Eyeline and Scanline.”

Both Nelson and Patten-Koeckert cited the exceptional work of the Section’s hands-on volunteer leadership. “Heather Baker, Social Chair, and Mark Spatny, Education Chair, put a huge amount of effort into organizing the events and the attention to detail that makes them so successful. We also want to give special thanks to our current Treasurer, Sarah McGrail, without whom none of our events would be possible, and our Secretary Ihimu Ukpo, who keeps us all organized.”

“The VES in Los Angeles is unique, not just because we are the largest Section, but because we live in the hub of film and TV,” Nelson said. “We take our roles seriously and have an eye towards trying new things that can be rolled out to other Sections and contributing to our global expansion. From our early launch of a Discord channel to connect our members, to spotlighting upcoming talent, which is now a feature in VFX Voice, we want to continually demonstrate a group that is proactive, caring and highly attentive to the changing market and the changing needs of our members.”

Said Patten-Koeckert, “Once I joined the Section Board, I felt a real responsibility to contribute, to do something important and provide value to our members. Whether that is amplifying the benefits of overall VES membership or coming up with fun and enriching local and regional opportunities. we are all in the same boat, and providing support to our members is paramount. We take on these volunteer roles because we care, we understand the industry and we want to give something back – it’s a very rewarding position to be in.”

“I have a very personal point of view,” shared Nelson. “As a Brit working in Los Angeles, I could not imagine this opportunity when I was just starting out. Because of my involvement with the VES, I am continuing to expand my global network. I continue to draw from and learn from people who work in every aspect of the industry. It is an absolute honor, and I am still giddy with excitement finding myself working in visual effects and with the VES, because we are where creation meets technology, and you never know what will happen next.”