SPEAKERS
TALK - "Crafting Andor (Season 2): VFX Secrets from Pre-Production to Post"
This talk delves into the full scope of the VFX department's role in filmmaking, using Andor Season 2 as a case study to explore critical contributions—from pre-production and shoot support to final color—and reveal a side of VFX most artists never see.
TALK - "Framestore's Wicked Houdini Work"
Take a journey behind the scenes of Wicked and see how Framestore used SideFX Houdini to craft the environments, crowds, and magical effects of Oz. From subtle details to full-on spectacle, this talk explores how procedural workflows and simulations helped bring a whimsical world to life
TALK - "The Art of Expressive Sculpting" Vimal Kerketta
Capturing emotion and character is key to great head sculpting. This presentation explores techniques to go beyond form, bringing life and expression into your work through proportion and detail.
DNEG
TALK - Behind the Magic of DNEG Animation’s ‘That Christmas’
Step into the enchanting world of ‘That Christmas’ with DNEG Animation. This behind-the-scenes deep dive explores the magic of the holiday tale from Richard Curtis (‘Love Actually’), brought to life by director Simon Otto (‘How to Train Your Dragon’). Discover the artistry behind the film’s winter environments and uncover the challenges and techniques that helped bring this story to life. Join the DNEG Animation team as they share their insights into the craft of animation and the power of storytelling through stunning visuals.
TALK - "Learning how you learn. Actually I WILL be a VFX Supervisor"
Getting ahead in VFX isn’t just about technical skills, it’s about knowing yourself. In this talk, Beck shares how she carved her path to becoming a VFX Supervisor by 'learning how to learn'. From building soft skills and navigating team dynamics- Beck will talk about embracing neurodiversity, staying true to yourself and learning how to grow despite all the industry's challenges.
TALK - SIDEFX - Project Violet: From Rig to Ragdoll
An introduction to some of the exciting new features of KineFX in Houdini. Sam will provide an overview of a full character rig from Project Violet that is leveraging the power of APEX. He will walk through what makes this approach unique and particularly powerful compared to more traditional pipelines, highlighting its flexibility, performance, and efficiency. He'll also dive into some of the ragdoll setup and features that enable us to achieve dynamic results in our animation quickly.
PANEL - Recruiters Tips 101
Chair - Simon Davies - DAX
Panelists:
Harriet Edge-Partington - Union
Bridget Dash - DNEG Animation
Ian Landmann - Framestore
Ask us anything about recruiting! VFX, Feature, Games and much more!
TALK - Building Spatial Storyworlds: Bridging Physical and Digital with Animated Narratives - REVENANT
Revenant’s Executive Producer Chris Smith explores how animated narratives can break free from flat screens and come alive in physical space. Drawing from Revenant’s animated experience for Cheddar Gorge and Caves, Yeo’s Journey, discover how immersive, emotionally rich storyworlds are being built at the intersection of animation, experience design, and tech.
PANEL - DEVELOPING GAMES
This panel explores the diverse world of game development, featuring insights from professionals across the industry—from indie developers to AAA studios. Panelists will share their journeys, discussing the technical challenges, creative processes, and unique experiences working with engines like Unreal Engine, Unity, Custom engines, Fortnite Creative, and more!
Panelist coming soon...
TALK - "Guidance on Career Growth & Leadership"
Are you an artist eager to step into leadership or looking to improve overall but unsure where to begin? Wondering what supervisors truly do behind the scenes?
This session offers insights into navigating the transition from artist to leadership. We'll delve into the distinctions between junior, mid and senior roles. While suggesting proactive steps for career growth.
Additionally, we'll demystify the roles of Leads and Supervisors, sharing firsthand experiences about the responsibilities and complexities of leadership positions.
TALK "Fundamentals of Anatomy"
Henning Sanden will be covering the fundamentals of anatomy, providing a structured approach to how to work with anatomy. Instead of endless anatomical terms, the talk focuses on how to understand the core concepts of anatomy, how to internalize and simplify them, allowing you to use functional anatomy in your work.
TALK: "IS BIGGER ALWAYS BETTER?"
Having a big VFX studio on your CVs is a dream for many aspiring VFX artists, but is bigger always better? Black Kite will take you through what’s it like to work at an independent, creative VFX studio where, as a runner or junior artist, you have direct access to top talent and multiple opportunities to grow smart and wise. VFX Supervisor Amir Bazazi and Head of Talent Jess Harrison-Murray at Black Kite Studios, talk us though how to make the most of studio life when you're just starting out and how career changing moments can arise when you least expect it. We will also take a look at some recent work from the studio
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CHARITY FUNDRAISER RAFFLE
Throughout the day, visit the Games Aid booth in our exhibitor's area to check out some fantastic prizes, including donations from our participant studios and partners. Don’t miss your chance to buy a raffle ticket and support an amazing cause! At the end of the conference, we’ll be drawing the winners, so you could walk away with some awesome prizes while making a difference. This raffle is a charity fundraiser for Games Aid, a charity supporting UK organizations that help children and young people through the power of the games industry.
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COMPETITION AWARDS
Join us as we celebrate the next generation of creative talent. At the start of the conference, we’ll be screening the top three short films and top three demo games pre-selected by our incredible jury.
Throughout the event, attendees will have the chance to cast their votes by scanning QR codes around the venue. At the end of the conference, we’ll reveal the winner and present the award live on stage!
A huge thank you to our incredible competition sponsors for providing amazing prizes. Want to learn more? Check out the competition page to participate
MENTORING - BOOKABLE AT THE EVENT
Gianluca Dentici
VFX Supervisor / Compositing Supervisor
Award-winning VFX Supervisor with over 25 years of experience, has contributed to 85+ films, including Gladiator II, The Lion King, and The Marvels.
Visual Effects Society Co-Chair.
Ricardo Ferreira
Compositor Supervisor / Professor
Ricardo Ferreira is a Compositor Supervisor who worked on three Oscar-winning movies for Best Visual Effects: Gravity, Interstellar, and Ex Machina.
Board Member at VES
Adele Khawli
Marketing & PR Strategist
Former Head of Marketing at Axis Studios.
Animated Woman UK and Board of Directors Animation Scotland
Victor Perez
Spanish film director, producer, screenwriter, and visual effects artist who has worked on a number of Hollywood films, including Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Pirates of the
Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, plus many more
Jahirul Amin
CAVE Academy Founder
Computer Animation and Visual Effects Teacher and Consultant. He specializes in designing and delivering courses to create solid and diverse production-ready skills in all 3D-related departments and across a number of facilities worldwide.
Callum Harwood
Surfacing Artist / 3D Generalist
Kung Fu Panda 4, Dogman, Superworm Netflix: Wolf Kin,g and more. Passionate about mentoring, Callum has guided aspiring artists through Blue Zoo’s Bootcamp, BFX competitions, and networking events.
Hugo Guerra
Award-winning Director, VFX Supervisor and former Head of Nuke Compositing at the Mill London.
Member of the Visual Effects Society. YouTube channel Hugo's Desk
Klaudija Cermak
VFX Compositing Lecturer + VES London Board Manager
Phoebe Hurst
Groom TD
DNEG
Kev McCrae
Executive Producer at Revenant
From leading award-winning campaigns for global brands like L’Occitane, Kellogs, TAG Heuer and Vodafone, to directing the acclaimed feature documentary New Town Utopia, Chris has consistently explored how technology and narrative intersect. At Revenant, he oversees the studio's creation of high-fidelity animation, motion design, and immersive projects,, helping clients tell stories in high-fidelity ways with edge.
Charles Chorein
VFX Supervisor and ArtFx UK
VFX Supervisor with 16 years of experience, has worked on iconic films such as The Hobbit, Prometheus, The Hunger Games 2, and Harry Potter 7
Vice-Chair and Treasurer VES London
Vladislav Solovjov
Creative Director & Artist
With over 15 years of experience in the CG and motion design industry, Vladislav has collaborated with different clients and agencies like Apple, Google, L'Oreal, Audi, Lotus, AKQA, Saatch & Saatchi, Ayzenberg, Downtown Paris and Dix Sept Paris.
Iki ikram
VFX Director / Art Manager / Co-Founder
Game industry veteran with 30+ years of experience across 20+ titles, including The Last of Us, Uncharted, God of War, and League of Legends.Bard member VES and a recipient of the VES award for Best Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project for Uncharted 4,
Simone Giampaolo
Director
Directed and Written over ten multi-award-winning original short films, including the Oscar®-shortlisted and BAFTA-nominated 'Only a Child'. Experience with clients such as Netflix, Google, Cartoon Network, Disney, LEGO, Nickelodeon, Marvel, and more!
Lucia Alvarez Cisneros
Surfacing Artist/ CGI generalist
Surfacing Artist with experience in both film and commercial work. I had the opportunity to contribute to the feature film DogMan for DreamWorks, and I’m currently part of the 3D department at Ford, where I work on renders for their advertising campaigns.
Rodrigo Roldan Romero
Programmer - Games Development
Specializing in engines, performance, platforms, and optimization. AAA projects like Minecraft Dungeons, Hogwarts Legacy, F1 Manager 24, and Quidditch Champions
TANGLEWOOD GAMES
Amy Ash
Character Supervisor/Vis Dev Sculptor
With over 20 years of experience. Former Head of Characters at Axis Studios, worked on renowned productions, including the Tales of Runeterra series (Riot Games), Love Death and Robots (Netflix), and the Blizzard. Now working as a Freelance Character Visual Development Sculptor with Netflix Animation.
Ana Maria Savastre
Senior Rigger
Over five years of experience in award-winning productions. Passionate about solving technical problems using advanced algorithms and mathematical principles.
BLUE ZOO
Camille Fourniols
Groom/Creature Supervisor
With 12 years of experience, Camille Fourniols, the former groom/creature supervisor at Axis Studio, is now the co-founder of CG Flickers, a studio where she uses all her experience and skills to bring the best fluff to any CG universe.
CG Flickers
Rebecca Meilak
Feature Animator
With over nine years of Feature, VFX, and TV experience. She has been worked on titles such as The Addams Family 2, How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming, Dog Man, Nautilus, and Man Vs Bee. She recently Twits for Netflix.
DNEG Animation
Benjamin Le Febre
CFX TD
CFX TD for feature VFX, with a particular focus on costuming. His recent work includes Wicked and Paddington in Peru
FRAMESTORE
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Sam Taylor
Head of Innovation & Development
Over 10 years of experience in game trailers, cinematics, and advertising projects. His experience has seen him take on a variety of Roles. Established REALTIME's junior training scheme to help new junior artists get their first job in the industry.
REALTIME
Sian Warren
Senior Character/Creature Modeler
I have worked on a wide variety of creatures for large VFX Films, TV productions, Advertising, and games, from big cats, dinosaurs, sea creatures, insects, and monsters, both real, imagined, and extinct.
TRIXTER
Henning Sanden
Co-Founder of FlippedNormals
I'm the co-founder of FlippedNormals, a marketplace for 3D artists. I used to work as a character artist in the VFX industry (MPC, DNEG), and now I make YouTube videos and premium tutorials and mentor students.
FlippedNormals
James Boyle
Character Animator
James Boyle is a character animator with three years of experience in TV and feature animation. His most recent work can be seen in the animated feature 'Dog Man' for Dreamworks and on the series 'Wolf King' for Netflix.
Emma Ihecherenoma
Senior Production Coordinator - ILM
Over a decade of experience. Known for her infectious energy, sharp eye for detail — from Aladdin (2019) and The Mandalorian (Season 2) and many more!. Whether she’s lighting up a room with a good Dad joke or planning her next trip to Nandos, Emma loves diving into a production schedule and thrives on bringing order to chaos with a flame-grilled perfectly timed punchline.
Stefan Vassalos
Organising Official - BECTU
Stefan Vassalos is a full-time union officer who has supported the Visual Effects and Animation Branch of Bectu, a union with 40,000 workers in the creative industries. Stefan has aided workers through redundancies, their employers going into administration, bullying, discrimination, disciplinaries, performance management, starting to unionise, understanding their employment rights, and more.
Paula Crickard
Producer & Co-Founder HaZimation.
Over 30 years of experience, debuting as award winning documentary director in Belfast in 1994. She has worked across multiple genres as a producer and post-production supervisor on over 45 feature films, games, and VR. Co-founder of HaZimation, currently in production feature animation based on the game Mutant Year Zero and producer on games Max Beyond, Hidden River and MODS.
Nene Parsotam
Creative Director / AccessVFX
Nene is an Advertising Creative Director. With a love for all things visual, she has been a commercial side Art Director for over 2 decades. Having recently worked at Amazon Prime Video Studios, she has directed advertising campaigns, content, and brand activations for House of the Dragon, Black Panther, Disney, Dove, Dior, Shea Moisture, Lego, L'Oréal, and Lewis Hamilton's initiative Mission 44.
Florian Gallier
Strategic partnerships manager at Mo-Sys
He is a previous speaker at TEDx, BSC, RTS, Cannes and Production Forum in Paris, and a recipient of a Royal Television Society award nomination. Florian forges collaborative partnerships to advance Virtual Production technology, enabling greater access to this transformative content creation process that is delivering new levels of creative freedom and flexibility to filmmakers worldwide.
Amy Heyes
CG Artist - Coffee & TV
Amy Heyes is a CG Artist at Coffee & TV, holding a BA (Hons) degree in Animation. Her early passion for Pixar and DreamWorks films, along with her love for games like Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy, inspired her to pursue a creative career in visual storytelling. With a versatile skill set across various 3D disciplines, Amy aims to bring the same joy and energy to her work that originally ignited her love for animation and design.
Marcus Chaloner
Creative Director - FutureDeluxe
He has over 17 years of experience working on a range of projects across many media, including digital out of home media, live music events, projection mapping, and 3D stereoscopic cinema. Marcus has worked with brands such as Dolby, Renault, Rolex, Aston Martin, Apple, Google, Converse, Adidas, Sony, LG, Samsung, and Bentley.
Laura Sanchez Acosta
Compositor / 2D Technical Director - One of Us
Professor and MA in Audiovisual Arts, specialized in compositing and color science/color management for VFX. Over eight years of experience, working on both the vendor and client sides. Projects include Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022), Thor: Love and Thunder (2023), Secret Invasion (2023), Doctor Who (2024), Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024), Mission: Impossible (2025), Black Mirror (2025), among others.
Claire Louise Hodges
Lead Animator - WILD CHILD
Over 10 years of industry experience in TV, Feature Film, and Games, at studios like Jellyfish Pictures, Blue Zoo Animation, and Wild Child. You can see my work in Dog Man, Pip and Posy, and Lloyd of the Flies, to name a few, plus others that are yet to be released. I specialise in cartoony animation and love to see folks push their poses and experiment with timing and spacing to enhance the impact of their shots.
Alice Aires
3D Artist
London-based 3D artist and motion designer working across commercial and artistic contexts. Blending technicality with a conceptual, experimental approach, she creates content for brands, artists, musicians and cultural clients. Her personal work explores otherworldly environments influenced by ecology, biology, and philosophy. Past collaborators include Daata, Because Music, Instagram, and Sony Music.
Alfie Vaughan
VFX Supervisor - Coffee&TV
VFX Supervisor and YouTuber. Has worked at the mill and Coffee&TV
Hannah Wong
Surfacing Supervisor at DNEG Animation
Surfacing Supervisor with over nine years of experience in feature films, television, and commercials. She most recently supervised Dog Man and Kung Fu Panda 4 for Jellyfish Pictures and DreamWorks Animation. Hannah's portfolio also includes contributions to Nimona, Garfield, Wolf King, and the Paddington Bear TV series, demonstrating her versatility across various animation styles and technical approaches.
Vimal Kerketta
Lead Creature/ Facial Modeller at DNEG
Over 14 years of experience in the video game, toy, and movie industries. Specializing in lifelike sculptures, Vimal has earned recognition for his exceptional ability to capture human emotions and expressions. Lead Facial Modeller at the renowned VFX studio DNEG.
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Evan Peignet
FX Lead TD at Framestore
After a scientific baccalaureate and studies in 3D and digital visual effects at ArtFX Montpellier. Evan Peignet worked in Brussels, then London before returning to France. He has collaborated with 8 different studios and 1 school, in Belgium, England, France and Scotland. He currently works as a Lead Effects Technical Director at Framestore London.
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Johannes Sambs
Head of CG (IA) at Framestore
Johannes joined Framestore in 2016, where he has been instrumental in a number of major projects including Framestore’s first dark ride, Pearl Quest for China’s Wanda Group and the technically challenging immersive experience for Comcast’s Philadelphia-based planetarium-style theatre, the Universal Sphere.
Arpita Venugopal
Head of FX at One of Us
Arpita Venugopal has 15 years’ experience in the VFX industry, beginning her career at MPC in 2010, followed by roles at Sony Pictures Imageworks, DNEG, and Wēta FX over the next 9 years. In 2019, Arpita joined One of Us as Lead FX TD.
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Calum Hart
Senior Producer at Goodbye Kansas Studios
Calum is a senior producer and interim Head of Production at Goodbye Kansas Studios. His career has spanned over a decade, working on several full CG projects from AAA game cinematics, high-end cutscenes, immersive to long form tv content, collaborating alongside some of the biggest game companies in the world.
Adam Vincent
Animation Design Director HundredStar Games
Animation veteran in the games industry. I've worked on the Batman Arkham series, Suicide Squad and Bond.
Karim
Gameplay Engineer
Full-stack Gameplay Systems Engineer with experience working in Unreal, Unity, and the C++ STL. Despite my passion for single-player games, I've worked primarily on multiplayer games with a focus on building player-facing gameplay systems. My current game obsession is Blue Prince.
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Max mead
Lead Environment Artist Maverick Games
I am a Lead Environment Artist with over 10 years of experience across AAA projects such as Division 2, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Homefront: The Revolution and Dead Island 2. Currently working at Maverick Games on a new AAA narrative lead driving game.
Florence Crawshaw
Character Artist Maverick Games
Character artist for games, working at Maverick Games on an unreleased AAA Narrative Open-World Game
BOOTHS AND EXHIBITORS
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Framestore
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ETC
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Maverick Games
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SideFX
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Chaos
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Renderboxes
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COFFEE & TV
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ASUS UK
Games Aid
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AccessVFX
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Bournemouth University
VENUE
THE EVENT IS HELD IN THE HEART OF LONDON AT 26 LEAKE STREET ON THE 6TH OF JUNE FROM 9 AM.
THE AFTERPARTY WILL BE HOST DIRECTLY AFTER THE LAST TALK AT THE VENUE'S BAR UNTIL LATE IN THE NIGHT.
A HUGE THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS!!!
More announcements coming soon..
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PARTNERS
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WANT TO SPONSOR?
As a non-profit event we are entirely dependent on the goodwill of sponsors who are helping us make this event possible. If you would like to contact us to help sponsor or would like to learn more about the benefits of sponsoring then please email us here: cg101conference@gmail.com or via the button below: